Banana Carrot Cake

I spent yesterday making four lovely healthy gluten-free carrot cakes for a client, and the intoxicating aroma of baking carrot cake prompted me to make a version of the delectable cake for my own snacking purposes (ok, I shared some).

This recipe is easy, which I love, and quick.  But those perks aside, it's also a great fluffy texture: not dense or gummy as some traditional carrot cakes tend to be.  And no messing around with raisins or walnuts or coconut or anything else that in my opinion distracts from the true deliciousness of carrot cake.

This is a versatile recipe: any mashed fruit can replace the banana and you can even limit or omit the coconut sugar.  You can also omit the sugar and use honey or maple in place of the carrot juice.

I can also attest that this treat is quite nice after an hour long dog walk and long busy day of work.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think!  Oh, and my suggestion for the honey is to browse your local farmer's market: local raw honey may help with allergies (and let me tell you, my allergies are full force in Monterey County right now--I can use all the raw honey I can get!)

Banana Carrot Cake
Yields 11 muffins or 12 "donuts" or 1 two-layer cake

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cup gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
1 cup carrots
1/3 cup melted coconut oil or sunflower oil
1/4 cup carrot juice
1/3 cup mashed banana (1/2 of a large banana)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional glaze: raw honey and honeycomb for a truly divine treat!

*This is my favorite "baking powder" as it is corn-free and aluminum-free

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tins or spritz donut pans with nonstick oil.
2.  Sift all dry ingredients together; set aside.
3.  Stir coconut oil and apple cider vinegar together and let sit to curdle.
4.  Whisk all wet ingredients together including carrots, then slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet.
5.  Divide into tins greased with coconut oil, filling 2/3 full.

5.  Bake 15-18 min or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, let cool 2 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack or surface.

6.  Enjoy warm with raw honey, or store extras once cooled in an airtight container.

By the way, most of these ingredients are found on Vitacost.com; they have tons of organic ingredients and ship in one day, which is hard to beat.  If you sign up through this link, you'll receive a $10 off coupon, and when you're order ships, I'll get a $10 coupon too--it's a win-win for both of us, and I'll have a reason to buy even more delicious organic ingredients to play with!