The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
If you’re looking for a carrot cake recipe thats perfectly moist, warmly spiced, and guaranteed to impress, you’re in the right place. My version is easy to make with pantry staples and produces consistently excellent results. Top it off with my popular cream cheese frosting for truly the best carrot cake recipe.
If I had to choose a favorite cake recipe on my blog, I think this carrot cake recipe would be it. Maybe I’m biased, but even though I’ve shared some fun and flavorful cakes like my pistachio cake, lemon blueberry cake, and tiramisu cake, this carrot cake is hands-down the classic I will reach for first every time.
There’s something about its unbelievably moist crumb, the perfect amount of warm, cozy spices, and yes, that all-time favorite cream cheese frosting. It’s sweet without being too sweet, carefully crafted with both butter and oil and just the right amount of carrots –the flavor is so good that even Zach reaches for a second piece.
I know you are going to love this one just as much as I do, so let’s dig in!
What You Need
Here are a few of the key ingredients that make this carrot cake recipe the best carrot cake:
- Flour. All-purpose flour works best here. Avoid cake flour whichi s lighter and finer and doesn’t give us the structure required for this heartier cake.
- Sugar. A blend of granulated and brown sugar is best. For the brown sugar, you can use light or dark (makes the cake a bit richer and sweeter) or use a blend of both (my preference, also what I do in my brown butter chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chip cookie recipe).
- Oil AND butter. This combo is key for maximizing the flavor and texture of the cake. While oil adds moisture (and helps keep the cake soft and moist, even after refrigeration) butter adds rich depth of flavor. A blend of these two ingredients balances flavor and texture (and it’s a trick I use in many of my cakes, like my vanilla cake recipe and chocolate cake recipe!).
- Eggs. Since we’re working with room temperature ingredients (and possibly even slightly warm butter, your eggs should be room temperature to ensure a batter that combines evenly (cold eggs can “shock” the batter and make it difficult to combine properly).
- Carrots. Do not use pre-shredded or “matchstick” carrots! They are way too thick to use in this carrot cake recipe, unless you like biting into discernible chunks of carrot (I do not!). I usually need about 4 carrots for this cake, and I always peel my carrots before grating them (I do the same thing for my carrot cake cookies). You could use a box grater, but I prefer to use my food processor.
- Nuts. You can use either chopped walnuts or pecans, or you can leave them out entirely.
- Cream cheese. This is for the cream cheese frosting. Make sure you’re using brick-style cream cheese, as the tub-style can make for a frosting that’s too runny.
As always, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Sam’s Tip
To grate your carrots in the food processor, first use the “shred” blade. Once your carrots are shredded, switch to the standard blade and briefly pulse until the carrots are fine pieces. Don’t overdo this step or you’ll end up with carrot puree (this is also why I start by using the shred blade on my processor; I’ve found that just tossing the carrots in with my standard blade quickly breaks down the carrots too much).
How to Make My Carrot Cake Recipe (Step-by-Step)
- Whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the oil and butter and mix well, until the dry ingredients (and sugar) are well-moistened (an electric mixer makes this easier). Then, add the eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Finally, stir in your vanilla extract.
- Fold in your carrots and nuts (if using) and make sure they are well distributed through the cake batter.
- Evenly divide the batter between two 8″ baking pans that have been greased, floured, and lined with parchment circles (key for keeping cakes from sticking!). Bake at 350F for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Let the cakes sit in their pans for 10 minutes after baking, then invert them onto a cooling rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting, frost your cake, and serve!
Sam’s Tip
While a single batch of frosting will cover this cake, I typically increase the recipe by 50% (or even double it!) to allow for a thicker coating and decorative piping on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
While you could, I personally found this carrot cake recipe to be a bit too heavy for cupcakes, causing them to be a bit trickier to eat in hand-held form. Because of this, I developed a carrot cake cupcake recipe that I would recommend using instead. It’s still flavorful and delicious, but not so moist that it requires a fork for eating.
If you’re interested in more carrot cake variations, I also have a carrot cake cookie recipe you can try out, too.
Yes, you can. I’d recommend stirring in a heaping cup when you add the carrots and (optional) nuts. The amount is up to you, about a cup should be a good amount.
The best way to prevent a green carrot cake is to peel your carrots before shredding. If this step is skipped, the peels sometimes take on a green color after baking. This is harmless and the cake can still be enjoyed, but it’s not quite as attractive.
Some sources also claim that your cake may turn green if you accidentally use too much baking soda or if you don’t mix your dry ingredients well enough (and the baking soda isn’t evenly distributed). The baking soda in my recipe is well balanced so that is not an issue you should run into if you bake my carrot cake recipe.
More Frosting Options:
Instead of cream cheese frosting, this carrot cake recipe would also be excellent with my brown butter frosting, Swiss meringue buttercream, ermine frosting, whipped cream frosting, or vanilla frosting.
More Spring Recipes to Try:
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube
The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 2 8" round cake pans (see notes for using different sized pans)
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (200 g) light or dark brown sugar¹, firmly packed
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup (235 ml) cooking oil, use canola, avocado, or vegetable oil
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups (340 g) grated carrots², peel before grating
- 1 cup (125 g) chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
Cream Cheese Frosting³
- ½ cup (1 stick) (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, softened (brick-style, not spreadable)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups (500 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8-inch pans⁴ (see note for using different sized pans) by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing and flouring the sides.
- In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.2 ½ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 1 cup (200 g) light or dark brown sugar¹, 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon table salt, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Add your canola oil and melted butter and stir well (batter will be pretty stiff and thick at this point, I usually use an electric mixer or my stand mixer to combine everything nicely).1 cup (235 ml) cooking oil, ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
- Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.4 large eggs
- Stir in vanilla extract.1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- Stir in carrots and nuts (if using) until ingredients are well-combined.3 cups (340 g) grated carrots², 1 cup (125 g) chopped walnuts or pecans
- Evenly divide carrot cake batter into prepared baking pans and bake on 350F (175C) for 37-40 minutes (a toothpick inserted in center should come out mostly clean with only few moist crumbs).
- Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.
- Allow cake to cool completely before covering with cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy, well-combined, and lump-free.½ cup (1 stick) (113 g) unsalted butter, 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese
- Add vanilla extract and sprinkle salt into the bowl and stir well to combine.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
- With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until ingredients are completely combined (be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula).4 cups (500 g) powdered sugar
- Once your cake has cooled completely, cover with frosting.
Notes
1Brown sugar
Either light or dark brown sugar will work fine, dark brown sugar will make your cake slightly more moist and rich, but light brown sugar works perfectly if you don’t have dark on hand.²Carrots (& how to grate them)
For me, this usually requires about 4 large carrots. I always peel my carrots before grating. Make sure to use the small shred of your box grater. Another way I like to prepare my carrots is to use the “shred” setting on my food processor and then switch to the blade and briefly pulse the carrots so that you have fine pieces of carrot (don’t over-do it though, or you’ll have carrot juice!). Whatever you do, don’t use store-bought “matchstick” carrots, they’re not nearly thin enough!³Frosting
A single batch of my cream cheese frosting recipe will cover this cake, but because I like a lot of frosting and will usually pipe decoration on the top of the cake, I sometimes increase the recipe by 50% or even double it.⁴Cake pans, different sizes
The following bake times have been reported by readers who have tried making this cake in different sized pans. Keep in mind bake time will generally be longer when using a glass pan, and very dark pans may require less time. The best way to test that your cake is finished baking is to use the toothpick test: a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake should come out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter) or clean.- Two 9″ pans: bake for approximately 30-33 minutes.
- 9×13″ pan: bake for approximately 45-50 minutes
- Bundt pan: bake for approximately 55 minutes.
- Four 6″ pans: bake for approximately 40 minutes
- Cupcakes: See my carrot cake cupcake recipe.
Storing
If you’re eating this cake the same day you make it or within 48 hours of making it, and you are able to store it somewhere cool and dry, you do not have to refrigerate it–though you do want to store it in an airtight container. Any longer than that I would recommend storing in an airtight container in the fridge where it will keep for about 5 days.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
This recipe was originally published August 22, 2018. Recipe is unchanged, but has been updated with new photos and more helpful information and a video.
Same as the Carrot Cake Cupcakes, this IS the best carrot cake recipe. So far, all of your recipes have turned out scrumptious and I get many compliments and requests for the recipe. Which, of course, I share your website. Thank you!
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Patty! Thank you so much for trusting our recipes and sharing them with your friends–that means so much to us ❤
I am a huge fan of this site—I love the videos and always have success with the recipes. I tried this recipe for the first time—I chose this recipe because I loved the carrot cake cupcakes; however, I had a lot of issues with this recipe. My cakes were liquid in the center after 40 minutes (ended up leaving them in for about 15 more minutes before the centers were normal). The cake itself did turn out delicious—however, for some reason the raisins sank to the bottom of the cakes instead of spreading evenly throughout; is there a way to fix that?
Also, I LOVE the cream cheese frosting (I doubled the recipe and used only 4 cups of sugar and it was the perfect amount of sweetness). Only issue—when icing the cakes, the frosting would not stay on (kept dripping down and out of the middle, and the cakes were completely cooled). Thus resulted in a massive mess in my kitchen. Is there a way to fix that without adding more sugar or changing the flavoring?
Thank you for sharing your recipes! Any feedback you can offer is greatly appreciated. I’m still a fan and will continue to follow your recipes!!!
Hi Marcy! I’m disappointed to hear about the raisins sinking. I’ve added nuts to this cake without any issue before. Did you make any other substitutions that may have thinned the batter? I would think the raisins would be able to suspend just fine in the cake. As far as the frosting goes, the powdered sugar really gives the frosting the stability. Unfortunately, only using half the amount of powdered sugar you need for a double batch will result in a pretty runny frosting. 🙁
Hi Sam, thanks for writing me back! No, I followed the recipe exactly–only way I deviated was with one cup of raisins and a half cup of walnuts.
Then I am honestly not sure why the raisins would sink. 🙁
Hi Sam, this recipe looks amazing and I’m excited to try it! I wanted to know—if I want to add walnuts and raisins:
1. How many raisins do I add? Half cup?
2. Do I need to soak the raisins in water first?
Thank you for your guidance and for your incredible recipes (your coffee cake is still a family favorite!)
Hi Marcy! That will work fine. Just stir the raisins in when you would stir the nuts in–no need to soak them first. 🙂
Can you use this recipe as a Bundt cake?
Hi Elaine! That would work just fine. Other readers have told us it takes 55 minutes in a bundt pan. Enjoy! 🙂
Does anybody know how many cups of batter this recipe makes 😅
It should make about 8 cups of batter. 🙂
I always make this recipe and my family loves it. I baked mine in two 9 inch pans for 30 min at 350. Comes out perfect every time.
For some reason, 40 minutes was nowhere near enough time. It was still liquid in the center. Not sure went wrong.
Hi Ron! Your oven may just be running a little cooler than it is letting on. It’s always cooked by 45 minutes for us, but even if it takes a little longer, it should still be delicious in the end 😊
Hi Sam! I’m going to bake this in a quarter sheet (9×13) pan, but I need the cake to be a full 2″ tall, so I’m trying to decide if I want to increase the recipe by .25 or even .5 to get a nice tall layer. Can you tell me if you recall if this cake rises much when it bakes? Judging by the video it doesn’t look like it does, but I don’t want to underestimate it, and have it overflow in the oven, haha! I’m so excited to try this recipe! I’ve never tried anything of yours that wasn’t amazing.
Hi Lauren! This does fit a 9 x 13 pan perfectly. It’s the same amount of batter that you would normally fit in a 9 x 13. It doesn’t rise a lot and get puffy, but I do believe it will come out just like any other cake baked in a 9 x 13 does. I’m sorry I can’t be much more helpful than that. 🙁
No, that’s wonderful, thank you!! I actually ended up making 1.5 recipes, and it rose right to the top of my 2″ tall 9×13 pan. I had to use a crusting cream cheese buttercream, since this was a fondant decorated cake. Everyone absolutely LOVED it! I can’t wait to try it with you frosting, as I know that will only make it better! Thanks Sam, you’re the best!!
That’s so great to hear! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I just have a quick question…do you think the recipe will split into 3 6in rounds? Also if I adjust to the 6in rounds I would probably need to adjust the bake time as well and would appreciate any suggestions you have.
Hi Sarah! Yes this will split into 3 6 inch pans with maybe a little excess batter. Make sure you don’t overfill your pans. I haven’t baked them myself in 6 inch pans, but others have reported a 40 minute bake time so I would just keep an eye on them while they bake. 🙂
This cake is absolutely delicious!! Thank you so much Sam for sharing this wonderful recipe with us all. It’s moist, delicious, & had my house smelling wonderful 😋. I made this in a 9×13 pan & it baked perfectly at 350° for 50 minutes exact in case anybody was wondering.
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much! Thank you for the feedback on the baking time. 🙂
Thank you for the temp and time. I made this recipe and it was delicious! Instead of putting the nuts in the cake, I toasted them and put them on top of the frosting. Delicious!!!
I made this for my two daughters birthday family celebration. Everyone luved it. I followed the recipe and used walnuts. Very moist and yummy.
I was looking for something to do with the pulp that my cold-compress juicer creates, and this recipe is perfect! I’ve never been a fan of carrot cake but I hated wasting the pulp so I made it for my husband, and I ended up LOVING it! (He also says it’s the best cc he’s ever had).
You can try a flax egg: 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal (ground raw flaxseed) +
2 1/2 Tbsp water to replace 1 egg. Mix together and let it thicken for about 5 minutes and then it’s ready to use.
Can I use this recipe for carrot loaf cake?
Hi Danica! We haven’t tried it ourselves, but others have reported baking it in a 9 x 5 loaf pan (the recipe should fill 2 of these). The temperature will be the same and others have reported it taking 55 minutes, but just keep an eye on it. 🙂
Hi Sam I tried your recipe…. it’s moist…. and a favorite of my family.. I add walnuts, pecans, almonds, pineapple and coconut …. and the texture is just amazing………..
I have no formal training in baking and your recipe results in an amazing product.
One question, what can I do to make it an eggless recipe?
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Shobha! Thank you for commenting! Unfortunately I am not sure how to make this recipe eggless without experimenting, maybe someone who has tried a substitution can chime in, though!
Can I make this with wheat flour
Hi Sudha! While you may be able to get away with substituting some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, it’s a much “thirstier” flour and will make for a cake that is very dense and dry if you substitute all of it.