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.
You are correct! This is the best ‘old fashioned’ carrot cake recipe. Ihave been baking my Aunt Rosie’s recipe since 1982,and have loved baking it all these many years, but young lady, this lays over the other ‘ like a dollar over a dime’ ! This is the second recipe of yours I have replaced of my own, the other being italian cream cake. I LOVE your site and will be baking through your listed recipes.
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! I tried it last month and I received very good compliments! I was wanted to bake it again for my birthday. Would it be enough to triple the recipe for 35 servings?
Thank you again 🙂
Hi Paula! We’re so happy it was a hit! This recipe makes 14 slices of cake; you can use that to determine your adjustments (depending on how large you want the servings!). Hope that helps!
OMG THE BEST CARROT CAKE EVER! The frosting is light, addicting, the cake is moist and delicious! We used cranberries instead of raisins. My husband ate a HUGE piece! Will make again soon!
AMAZING!! I used a 9 by 13 dish. you’ll need to add more time to the baking process. BEST recipe for sure.
Hi! how are you? so far seeing this carrot recipe, I’m loving the ideas into I haven’t baked it yet, planning to do so really soon but I have a question my pans are 9″ can I still use the same amount of all the ingredients listed or do I have to add more? Thanks God Bless.
You can use 9″ pans. You will just want to reduce the bake time by a few minutes. 🙂
THE BEEEEEEST CARROT CAKE EVER!!!! PERFECT AND JUST PERFECT! KEEPING THIS RECIPE TILL I DIE AND YES YOU CAN MAKE IT INTO A LOAF JUST LIKE POURING DOWN INTO A NORMAL CAKE TIN I CAN NOT STRESS HOW GOOD THIS RECIPE IS!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️
Best carrot cake I’ve tried!
How can I make this recipe diabetic friendly?
Hi Larissa! Unfortunately I am not very familiar with making desserts diabetic friendly. 🙁
I made cupcakes with this recipe first. then my boss asked if I would make the carrot cake for her graduation party. I made the appropriate measures for the cake in a 14 x 14 pan and it came out perfect! Sugarsunrun never lets me down.
We’re so glad it turned out well for you. Thanks for trusting our recipes!
AMAZING cake! So delicious!
Will the cake and frosting freeze well, separately &/or assembled together?
You can freeze them both. You could do it separately, but it will also freeze just fine if you frost the cake first. 🙂
🎉 Thank you for the reply! 😊
This carrot cake recipe is definitely a five star for me. I have used other cake recipes and I Always come back to your cake recipes. none compared to this well done , thank you Sam.
AMAZING! PERFECT!!!!!
Amazing!
Hi! I tried this recipe twice yesterday, followed EXACTLY as written, and both times the cakes sunk in the middle. The toothpick came out clean, they were springy to the touch and I even left the second ones to bake 5 mins longer. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Everything was freshly purchased including the baking soda and baking powder. I am going to try again now because I’m supposed to be bringing this dessert to a work function today…please, can you help me figure out what’s going wrong.
Hi Raye! I’m so sorry to hear this is happening! Are you opening the oven too early? Is it possible the batter is under or over-mixed? Without being there it’s hard to say exactly what is going wrong especially if you aren’t making any substitutions and your ingredients are fresh. 🙁 Were you able to watch the video? That could potentially help. Good luck! 🙂
Thanks for your reply! Even if you were here, it still wouldn’t make sense to you! Haha! I watched the video and followed it exactly, pausing it every few seconds to do the next step. I bake often so I know not to over/under mix and definitely not to open the oven. It’s truly mind-boggling and very disheartening. I made a total of 8 round cake layers (I even used a 9 in thinking maybe the 8 in was too small) while trying this recipe a total of 4 times. Each and every single one sunk…much like my hopes of baking a great 2-layer cake to share with friends lol. I now have a freezer full of perfectly moist and delicious, ugly cakes which my doctor says I should not be eating hahaha. It’s really frustrating because this recipe is sooooooooo delicious!!!
UGH! I’m so sorry! I wish I could provide more insight. I’ve just never run into this issue. 🙁
Hi Sam! Just wanted to follow up on our previous conversation. It was 100% my oven!! I finally got a new one and have made this recipes at least 5 times since…every single one has come out perfectly!! This is definitely my go-to for the most moist, delicious carrot cake. Thank you for being amazing!
Oh that’s great to hear! I’m so glad it’s been a success! 🙂
You claim to bake all the time and swear that you followed every single step perfectly, pausing her videos every couple of steps to ensure that you’re doing everything correctly, but STILL claim that your cakes “deflated”. I’m not buying it. I think you’re one of those lonely people that like to make problems out of nothing, Sam Merritt makes bomb a** stuff I follow all her recipes honestly and I’ve never had an issue and I’m not even a good baker at all and would not even call myself a good cook. sorry I sound hella extra responding to this but I just have to it was bugging me.
Do you have an oven thermometer? Maybe the oven isn’t hot enough
Hi Jennifer! We did just have our over tested and although the temperature fluctuates within the industry normal standards, it did sway from the ideal temp further than we would like. We are in the process of purchasing another oven. Thank you for your insight, as I hadn’t thought to check that until just 2 days ago.
Hi Jennifer! Thank you again for bringing this to my attention. Even though it showed accurate (within the standards), it wasn’t heating properly. I bought a new oven (stove) and this cake now comes out perfectly every time!! Thank you!
But where’s the video, clicked jump to video, no video?
Hi Victoria! It should be showing in the purple box. If you have a pop up blocker enabled it will also disable the video player. If that isn’t the case, you can always find all of my videos over on Youtube as well. 🙂
Made 2 of these this weekend for Mother’s Day and they were perfect.
I wanted to know if this could be made into a loaf? How would you recommend turning this into a loaf?
Thank you so much!
Hi Ishi! We haven’t tried it ourselves, but others have reported baking this recipe 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. Hope that helps 🙂