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.
Turned out delicious, the whole party loved it!!
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the carrot cake, Kristina! 🙂
I’m making a cake for a church function and need to make it in a 9×13 dish. I know it will work, but how long should i bake it without making it dry. I’d say 40-45 minutes. Thanks I’m excited about making it.
Hi Marsha! Unfortunately, I have not made this cake in a 9 x 13 pan so I can’t advise on the baking time. 🙁
I made this cake for my mother in law. My mother in law LOVES carrot cake and she said this is the BEST carrot cake she has ever eaten in her 57 years! LOL! It made me so happy to see her smile on her birthday with this cake.
This cake needs a warning because now my family ask for it regularly. Ha ha!
Can the carrots be substituted with chocolate? My hubby summoned me to craft a chocolate coffee cake of sorts. Thank you! xoxo
Hi Sallie! I am so glad everyone enjoyed the cake! I would not recommend substituting chocolate for the carrots. Check out my Chocolate Cake recipe, if you are looking for a good chocolate cake. 🙂
Turned out great!
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Melissa! 🙂
Does this have to be refrigerated?
Hi Laura! I normally refrigerate it if I need to keep it longer than a day or two. Be sure to store it in an air tight container to keep it from drying out. 🙂
I have never made a carrot cake before, and based on the feedback, I would really like to make this one! My question is, about how full does this make the 9-inch pans? I have the 2 inch in height Wilton pans, and I am curious if I need to double the batch to get the cake thickness I like. Thank you and I look forward to making this!!
Hi Cait! You would only need to increase the recipe by 25% to get the same thickness in 9 inch pans. 🙂
Amazing! super yummy!
Thank you so much, Elsia! 🙂
I love this recipe it isn’t too sweet for me its amazing but I did add a cup of shredded coconut to mine and it came out perfect
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Christi, thank you for commenting! The coconut addition sounds AMAZING!
THanks for the recipe. Overall, it is a good recipe. I tried it once and it is a bit too sweet for me. So this time I tried reducing sugar but then the cake is a bit too oily. Do I need to reduce oil if I want to cut down some sugar?
I’m sorry to hear it turned out oily. You shouldn’t have to cut the oil if you cut the sugar. My best guess is that you may have needed a little more flour in the batter. I hope this helps! 🙂
Followed the recipe and this cake was SO YUM. My go to recipe for carrot cake!
Yay! So happy to hear you enjoyed it, Martina!! Thank you for commenting 🙂
I’ve made this cake twice & my family absolutely loves it! Great recipe!
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you for commenting, Mimi 🙂
i tried this recipe and i love it. i also thought about the sugar amount so i 1 1/2 cups and it was good. carrots can be sweet also so i used less sugarand there was a nice balance. i wasnt able to do the frosting but next time.
good recipe
I’m glad you enjoyed, Shari! Thank you for commenting 🙂
This is THE best carrot cake I have ever had the pleasure of making. The frosting on top was perfect too even for someone who doesn’t care for frosting. I have had 3 people ask me for this recpe since I last made it, thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that it was such a hit, Jim! Thank you for commenting 🙂
I made this cake according to the recipe, ate a piece and was up ’til 6 a.m. from sugar overload. 4 of us ate it and none of could deal with how much it tasted like sugar cake and NOT carrot cake. It calls for 2.5 cups of flour and 6 cups of sugar, 2 in the cake and 4 in the frosting. So basically, the cake is over 50% sugar and it tasted horribly sweet. I would not recommend this recipe unless you are looking for a diabetic coma. Good carrot cake should not be mega-sweet, the frosting should be the only sweet part. I would put 1/2 the sugar in the cake, 1 cup instead of 2 for starters, possibly less. Other than that, the moisture was nice but I’m not sure how that will change by cutting the sugar in half, which really needs to be done. The excessive sugar tasted like yuck.
Hi Aaron, disappointed to hear you didn’t enjoy. However, these are very standard ratios for both the cake and the frosting. In fact, the cream cheese frosting is one I recommend because it’s considerably less sweet than typical buttercream frostings. Do you not eat cake, or sugar, often?
The sweetness isn’t overwhelming but it is sweet, typically so I would say. Not overly sweet, but it is cake, after all. I think you may be looking for a carrot bread instead (which is fine, but not what to expect when making a carrot “cake”). It’s also not at all 50% sugar, there are more carrots & nuts in the cake than there is sugar. I’d have to guess this is a matter of personal taste.
I made this tonight and it was so good. I used one 9-inch springform pan, because that was all I had lol. I was a little nervous about it but it turned out really well. I baked it for double the amount of time and put aluminum foil over it half way through so it would not get any more brown. I will definitely be baking this again.
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Amber! Thanks for the feedback on baking time in that pan. 🙂
Thank you, Samantha. Your video is charming! I learned soo much. Trying it out today on my ex who used to love my carrot cakes, but I have a feeling this will be the best one ever!
Thank you so much, Suzy! I am so glad you enjoyed the video. 🙂
Did he like it?