The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
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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!
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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.
Awesome cake! I’d like to bake in an 11×15 sheet pan. Should I 1.5or double the recipe?
Hi Roxy! Increasing the recipe by 50% should give you enough batter. Enjoy 😊
We had to have our Easter celebration this year a week afterwards due to illnesses and I couldn’t find my carrot cake recipe that everyone loved! Out of all the online ones I looked at I picked yours, even though I wasn’t to sure about adding brown sugar as well bcuz it would be too sweet! I’ve got to tell you, it was soooo good and everyone LOVED it! I think I like it better than the one I had and that was very good! I added a little crushed pineapple too! And I don’t usually make my cream cheese frosting with butter, never have liked it but this was really good! Hats off to you! I also added just a touch of orange zest to it… l like to do that with the cream cheese frosting with a carrot or spice cake, it just adds another depth of flavor without sacrificing the cream cheese flavor! I will try other recipes of yours for sure!
Thank you so much for the feedback, Lynette! I’m so glad it was such a hit. I hope you love everything you try and I can’t wait to hear how it goes. 🙂
I made this cake for my daughter birthday everyone love it. The cake was moist and delicious.
That’s great to hear, Candi! Thanks so much for using our recipe. We hope your daughter had a lovely birthday 😊
I just made this, and I love it!! So moist and flavorful! I did add some half n half to the frosting to thin it out, but overall it was great! Will be making again!
We’re so glad you loved it, Shawna!
I made this carrot cake on Easter. It was delicious and we had no leftovers. Tonight I am making your banana bread. I love your videos and recipes.
So happy to hear you’re enjoying everything, Karen! Thanks so much for commenting ❤
Hello!
I will be trying this cake this weekend. I loved the carrot cupcakes!!! I was wondering if I wanted to do a three layer cake with 8 inch pans, is it ok to do 1.5 times the ingredients?
Thank you
Hi Becky! That should work just fine. 🙂
I’ve made many carrot cakes over the years, trying a different recipe each time, and wanted to love this one based on the many great reviews. The batter was easy to prepare, the cake looked great and had a very nice flavour, but unfortunately it wasn’t as moist as most of the cakes I’ve made in the past, which was surprising given the amount of fat in the batter. I followed the recipe with no changes, and used the weight measures. The layers baked in 35 minutes, and were fairly level so didn’t require levelling when it came time to frost the cake.
I’m so disappointed to hear this, Sadie! The most common causes of a dry cake are over-mixing the batter or slightly over-baking. 🙁 It should come out very moist so I’m really disappointed to hear yours didn’t. 🙁
Made this cake for Easter and was away! The taste and the density of the cake was perfect!!! My 5 and 3 year olds even enjoyed it and they are hard to please!!!
This is indeed the best carrot cake. The ratios work well. Moist but not wet or dense. Definitely use the fine side of a box grater for carrots, and emulsify the batter well with a mixer. There’s not enough ‘power’ in a hand wisk. Carrot cake uses the mayonnaise method after all, so you’ll want to make sure there’s no runny oil left.
You can get by with less sugar in the cake and frosting both, depending on preference. If you usually increase the amount of cinnamon in recipes, you can do this here as well, I guess some cinnamon is weaker.
We’re so happy you like the cake, Maria! Enjoy 😊
Can this recipe be used to make a carrot cake roll?
Hi Kristin! I haven’t tried it so it’s really tough to say. I would suspect it probably wouldn’t. 🙁
This is an excellent carrot cake recipe that I made for the first time to serve to uests. It is rich, dense and moist…exactly what a carrot cake should be. Unbeknownst to me, three of our guests said carrot cake was their favorite type of cake, and they all raved about this one. Note: I used a combination of fingerling carrots and matchstick carrots, chopping them in small batches in my 4-cup food processor, and the size and texture turned out perfectly!
We’re so happy it was a hit for you and your guests, Debbie! Thanks so much for coming back to let us know how it turned out for you 😊
Everything I hoped this glorious cake would be!! We had a few friends over for dessert after a night out. Received rave reviews all around – even from my husband who earlier that morning commented – but I like carrot cake muffins. 😜🤦♀️💕💕
Only change next time will be making additional frosting, as Sam reccommends. Thank you for an incredible recipe.
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Chris! 🙂
The cake turned out amazing! My only issue was when I took it out of the oven, it was cooked perfectly however the middle rose so much it became a dome shaped cake. This made it difficult to stack. How to I get it to be even?
Hi Shanny! You can always level it afterwards if it doesn’t bake up evenly. 🙂
I used baking strips and my cakes turned out flat
You have officially become my go to. My 94 yr old father wanted a good carrot cake. After two disappointments, one from a fancy grocery and one from a bakery, I decided I would have to make my own. Your recipe exceeded my expectations! I added a cup of raisins. Absolute perfection!!!
That is wonderful, Jeanne! We are so happy our recipe was the winner. Enjoy ❤
Sam is my go-to for ALL sweets. (We especially love her chewy oatmeal cookies.) You’ll never be disappointed!
I would love to try this recipe but unfortunately I can find any place that sells cream cheese in blocks here in the U.K, only the spreadable kind, so I’m not sure what else I can do for the frosting. Any suggestions?
Hi Natalie! Unfortunately I don’t really have a suggestion. I’m not sure how it would turn out. I’d be afraid the frosting would turn out runny, but if you do try it let me know how it goes. 🙂
Hello! I realize you asked your question a while ago, so I hope you have found a solution, but I have done this before and it turned out fine, a little soft but still worked fine as frosting, so I hope this suggestion helps! 1. If you can find Neufatchel bricks, those work the same as cream cheese. 2. If you can only find the spreadable cream cheese, use the same amount by weight (or 1-2 grams more).
The reason spreadable doesn’t usually work is due to the moisture added to make it spreadable, to avoid this shape it into a log or brick and wrap in a dry paper towel for about an hour on the counter to absorb the excess moisture and then proceed with frosting recipe.
Make sure you beat the butter really, really well first and then incorporate the cream cheese as you don’t want to beat the cream cheese too much as it is already spreadable, just enough that the two are combined, then follow the rest of the recipe. . Take Care!
This is amazing!! Thanks so much for this tip. I’ve been in the UK 10 years, love baking and just make do with slightly too soft cream cheese frosting. I will def look up Neufchâtel and try the paper towel method!!! Thanks so much!
Holy moly this is good! So moist and not too spice-y! I used avocado oil because that’s all I had but it came out perfectly. You don’t even need frosting it’s so good by itself but the frosting makes it next level! Definitely making again for Easter!