Adapted from carrot cake and pumpkin bread, this supremely moist carrot cake loaf is even more wildly delicious than it looks. It’s dense, yet ultra soft and flavored with brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Serve plain or spruce it up with walnuts, raisins, pecans, and/or top with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. No matter how you serve it, this quick bread will become a staple in your kitchen. 1 loaf disappears FAST!
This is carrot cake turned into a carrot cake loaf and you have total control over its sweetness and dessertyness.
Why yes, dessertyness is a new word we’ll explore today.
One reader, Lori, commented: “I’ve eaten many variations of carrot cakes over my years, and I must say, this is probably the best I’ve triedโand bakedโyet! The flavors of the warm spices are rich in the crumb, it is so very moist, and who doesn’t love a delicious cream cheese frosting! I am thinking of making this for my Easter family dinner to end a yummy meal! This will now be my go-to carrot cake loaf! โ โ โ โ โ ”
Is it Cake? Is it Bread?
Both.
As pictured, this carrot cake loaf is basically carrot cake in a loaf pan. If you skip the frosting and reduce the sugar, you have a lightly sweetened carrot quick bread. I tested this batter with all different amounts of brown sugar. 1 cup (200g) of packed brown sugar produced a sweet cake-like loaf. 3/4 cup or 2/3 cup produced a lightly sweetened loaf. Any less than that produced a bland loaf. Feel free to use anywhere between 2/3 – 1 cup depending on the flavor and level of dessertyness (ha!) that you want.
Also, feel free to substitute the brown sugar with white granulated sugar or coconut sugar. But keep in mind the loaf won’t be as tender and moist.
Video Tutorial
This Carrot Cake Loaf Is:
- Wonderfully spiced and flavorful
- Stick-to-the-back-of-your-fork moist
- Sweetened with brown sugar
- Easy to makeโfrom mixing bowl to oven in minutes
- Excellent plain or with cinnamon cream cheese on top
Most of its flavor comes from cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, brown sugar, and carrots. Ginger adds a tasty zing, but isnโt overpowering at all. Like my favorite apple cinnamon bread and banana bread, the crumb is dense but still super soft.
Plus, you can create plenty of variations from this recipe. Leave it plain or add raisins, chopped pecans, chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, etc. Turn the loaf into carrot cake muffins or even add a cinnamon swirl & topping like we do with this cinnamon swirl quick bread. The streusel topping from orange cranberry bread would taste awesome on this loaf too. I always appreciate basic & multipurpose recipes like this!
Overview: How to Make Carrot Cake Loaf
You need 2 mixing bowls: 1 for the dry ingredients including flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices and another mixing bowl for the wet ingredients including oil, brown sugar, applesauce/yogurt (either work), eggs, vanilla, and carrots. Combine everything together and pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake time is about 1 hour, give or take.
Success Tip: When baking with carrots, my #1 tip is to shred whole carrots at home. Do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots because they are hard and dry. When you shred them, youโll notice how wet they areโthat’s essential moisture for your carrot loaf! Just like shredded zucchini creates unparalleled moisture in peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread.
Optional Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
I LIVE FOR toppings on my baked goods. Cinnamon swirl? Totally. Streusel? Yes, please. Glaze? Absolutely.
Keeping this in mind, trust me when I say that this bread tastes phenomenal without an accessory on top. But if cream cheese frosting fits, we’re definitely wearing it. You need brick cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt. Add a little vanilla and cinnamon and you have a whole new level of flavor to complement your spiced carrot loaf.
You will not regret this.
If you’re not a fan of cream cheese frosting, vanilla buttercream will work great here, too.
Recipes with Carrots
Carrots are an underrated baking ingredient. They add natural sweetness, extra moisture, and taste wonderful with fall’s favorite spices. Why not bake with carrots more often?! Here’s a list of my favorite recipes using carrots.
- Carrot Cake: This is the golden standard for carrot cakes. It’s equally spiced, moist, and soft as today’s quick bread.
- Super Moist Carrot Cake: This is my go-to simple one layer carrot cake. It tastes a little denser than today’s carrot cake loaf.
- Pineapple Carrot Cake: This cake includes pineapple, a flavorful pairing with carrot. It’s slightly denser than today’s carrot cake loaf.
- Coconut Carrot Cake Cupcakes: These cupcakes include shredded coconut and coconut extract. They taste cakier than today’s quick bread.
- Harvest Spice Bread: Equally dense, yet soft. This bread is sort of like carrot cake, pumpkin bread, and apple bread all in one. One of my favorites!
- Cheesecake Swirl Carrot Bundt Cake: This big bundt cake is denser than today’s recipe. Fresh orange zest adds a pop of flavor and that cream cheese swirl is out of this world.
Carrot Cake Loaf (Quick Bread)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 4 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This carrot cake loaf is dense, yet ultra soft and flavored with brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Serve plain or spruce it up with walnuts, raisins, pecans, and/or top with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g)ย all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoonย baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoonย baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoonย salt
- 1 teaspoonย ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cupย (120ml) vegetableย oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar* (see note)
- 1/3 cup (80g) unsweetened applesauce or yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (200g) peeledย andย shredded carrots* (about 3 large carrots)
- optional add-in: 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, raisins, or dried cranberries
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (Optional)
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons (28g)ย unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Grease a 9ร5-inch loaf pan. See notes for muffins or mini loaves.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, brown sugar, applesauce, vanilla, and carrots together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently whisk until *just* combined. Fold in the nuts/add-in. Batter will be semi-thick.
- Spread the batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55 โ 65 minutes. (I like to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent heavy browning on top.) Baking times vary so keep an eye on yours. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out *mostly* clean with zero raw batter. Remove the bread from the oven.
- Cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack before removing and frosting.
- Optional Frosting: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Beat in the butter until combined. Add the confectionersโ sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt (I usually add a little less than 1/8 teaspoon), then beat on low speed until smooth and creamy. Taste. Add more cinnamon and/or salt if desired. Frost cooled bread, slice, and serve.
- Storing without frosting: Cover and store leftover bread at room temperature for up to 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to about 10 days. Storing with frosting:ย Cover and store leftover bread in the refrigerator for up to about 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Loaf freezes best without frosting. Freeze baked & cooled loaf for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. If desired, bring to room temperature and frost before serving. To learn more details about how to freeze quick breads, see my post called Make-Ahead Baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links):ย Vegetable Peeler |ย Box Grater |ย 9ร5-inch Loaf Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Brown Sugar: I tested this batter with different amounts of brown sugar. 1 cup (200g) of packed brown sugar produced a sweet cake-like loaf. 3/4 cup or 2/3 cup produced a lightly sweetened loaf. Any less than that produced a bland loaf. Feel free to use anywhere between 2/3 – 1 cup depending on the flavor you want. You can substitute with white granulated sugar or coconut sugar, though the loaf won’t be as moist or flavorful. I don’t recommend liquid sweeteners.
- Applesauce/Yogurt: You can use either. If you don’t have either, use the same amount of mashed banana, crushed pineapple, or sour cream.
- Carrot:ย Donโt use pre-shredded carrots found in the produce aisle. Theyโre on the dry side. Rather,ย freshly grate 3 large carrots to yield approximately 1 and 1/2 cups of moist carrot shreds. Instead of carrots, you can use shredded apple or even shredded zucchini.
- Muffins: Prepare this batter as directed in step 2 and follow the baking instructions for morning glory muffins (steps 1 and 3). Makes about 14 muffins.
- Mini Loaves: Grease a mini loaf pan. Prepare batter as directed in step 2. Spoon batter evenly into greased cups, filling to the top. Bake at 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Bake time and yield depend on the size of your mini loaf pan.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Absolutely delicious!!! Such an easy recipe to follow. The hardest part is simply waiting for the loaf to cool down. Thank youuuuuuuuu!!!!!
I have homemade applesauce that has some sugar and cinnamon in it. Can I use it and just decrease the amount of sugar in the batter?
Hi Mary, yes, you can use it!
This was amazing. I’d like to make it again but was thinking of baking it in a 6 inch spring form pan so it looks like a mini carrot cake when frosted… do you think it’s enough batter to make a decent size ‘cake’ in a 6 inch spring form pan? Thank you!
Hi Jack, here’s everything you need to know about cake pan sizes and conversions.
Hi Sally, I made this (and Iโm not a baker) and it came out perfect! Thank you. Fan for life.
Quick question – could I sub with date sugar instead?
Hi Monica, we’re so glad you loved this recipe! We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
This carrot cake recipe turned out wonderfully moist and full of flavour. The warm spices paired perfectly with the cinnamon frosting .
Itโs easy to make, bakes evenly, and tastes even better the next day., Although you need half of the stated cream cheese in the frosting recipe.
Hi Sally, Can I make the cream cheese frosting about 3 days ahead of time? The loaf is in freezer. Thanks!
Hi Betty, that should be just fine. You may want to re-whip it before using. Enjoy!
So. I relied on Sally’s recipes before I had to cut wheat, dairy, eggs…and many things from my diet. So gluten free and vegan recipes in general come up short. Subbing a regular recipe has for me gone better.
Half all purpose gluten free flour blend and half cassava flour โ 2 tablespoons apple sauce in place of eggs with one table spoon of oat milk and a tea spoon of molasses because there’s already sooo much apple โ olive oil โ streusel on top (also made with olive oil) โ
Best gluten free and vegan baked good I’ve made so far. No probably not how it’s supposed to turn out. But my options are limited and it’s pretty darn awesome considering…
I made as mini loaves and wow, so delicious; these may be the tastiest muffin type bake I’ve ever done. I added soaked craisins. I also made a loaf with pecans but have not cut into it yet. I have no doubt it will be wonderful. Thank you!
Hi Sally,
If I wanted to use walnuts, coconut and crushed pineapple as add ins, could I still use this recipe or should I go a different route? If I can still use this recipe, can you suggest adjustments to the recipe or amounts for the add-ins?
Hi Kevin, we recommend keeping the total amount of add-ins to 3/4 of a cup – adding walnut and coconut sounds delicious! Crushed pineapple acts more like a wet ingredient rather than an add-in, so the batter would be too wet if using both the applesauce/yogurt and crushed pineapple. You can use the crushed pineapple in place of the applesauce/yogurt. Please let us know how it turns out!
Just made this (without icing or nuts/currants) and itโs delicious! Itโs tasty and a lovely light texture. Will definitely be making this again perhaps with a crumble topping.
What kind of yogurt should I be using for this?
Full fat plain yogurt or Greek yogurt is best!
Didn’t have vanilla extract in the house ๐ still tasted amazing! Perfect consistency and flavour. I didn’t find the one cup of brown sugar to make it too dessert like. Added 3/4 cup of dried cranberries and works really well in the recipe.
I’d like to add more protein to the bread to give to my elderly mother (who LOVES carrot cake but can’t tolerate chewing walnuts). I’ve been considered almond flour. How much would you use? Thank you.
Hi Tracy! Almond flour has very different baking properties than all-purpose flour and would not be a 1:1 swap here. We recommend searching for a carrot cake loaf recipe that calls for almond flour for best results since adapting this one will be tricky.
What would be the baking time for a 3.9″x 8″ x 2.4 inch loaf pan
Hi Christine! This will be too much batter for a smaller loaf pan. You can fill yours halfway and make some muffins with the extra batter. The bake time will be shorter, but we’re unsure of the exact bake time.
Thank you for the reply, im adding a comment incase anyone does decide to bake a smaller loaf ๐
Double the recipe, follow the prep instructions for the loaf ( parchment paper and oil spray) fill 3 3.9โณx 8โณ x 2.4 inch loaf pans an inch and a half from the top ( ends up being about 2.5 cups of batter in each) bake at 325F for an hour and 5 minutes. Turned out perfect.
Thank you for an awesome recipe!
I love all your recipes!! Wanted to let you know that I have successfully used Avocado Oil as the oil in this recipe and Carrot Cake recipe. And other baking projects.
Made this for the first time, your recipes never fail, always wonderful.
I doubled the recipe and added about a half cup crushed walnuts and 1/2 cup raisins,, I soaked the raisins in water first to plump them. I did not frost as I wanted a simple. Coffee type morning bread. Delicious.
Question: Can you substitute pure maple syrup or honey instead of brown sugar?
Hi Joleen! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. We do not recommend liquid sweeteners in this batter, they would add too much moisture.
Hi Sally! Can I put a Streusel for topping this cake? Or do you think it would sink?
Hi Camila! A crumble topping adds a lovely crunch. Simply combine 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, then using a fork, mix in 2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter until crumbles form. Sprinkle over loaf before baking. (this is what we do with our blueberry muffin bread!)
Your recipes are so nice! I tried banana bread and it turned out AMAZING. Omw to try carrot loaf now ๐
Hello
Can we use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour in this recipe ? Thank you!
Hi Patricia! Using whole wheat flour would yield a more dense loaf. We would try a 50/50 mix.
Could I substitute the eggs with flaxseed
Hi Jin, we haven’t tested using a flax egg substitute, but let us know if you do!
Not a fan of the recipe. Gummy outcome, no discernible spice flavor. Will not make again
You may not have baked long enough. You can always add more spices. I do that all the time .
This is a nice recipe! I added a bit of coconut sugar and a bit more cinnamon because I prefer a sweeter bread and a bit more pronounced spice. The bread did sink in the middle, even though my pan was not even full. I might try an 8×4 pan next time instead of 9×5. Will make again!
Great recipe! I subbed browned butter for the oil and it came out perfect! Also used browned butter for the frosting!
Great Recipe!
I love, love this recipe and the rave reviews I received. I am making it for someone who doesn’t want any add ins but likes crushed pineapple. If I use the yogurt in recipe can I add some crushed pineapple as add ins? If so how much can I use please? Cheers
Hi Diana, crushed pineapple acts more like a wet ingredient rather than an add-in, so the batter would be too wet if using both the yogurt and crushed pineapple. You can use the crushed pineapple in place of the yogurt/applesauce.