Finally! Meet my tested and perfected carrot cake recipe. I’ve been working on this carrot cake for a long time, and I’m so happy to report that I’ve finally nailed it.
I was hoping to publish the recipe in time for Valentine’s Day, then Mother’s Day. Here we are, just in time for Father’s Day and your summer birthdays! I hope you have a carrot cake lover in your life, because this cake will make him or her very happy.
This homemade carrot cake would be perfect for any celebratory occasion. It’s exactly what I want my carrot cake to be: delicious and moist, gently spiced with cinnamon and ginger, infused with flecks of fresh carrots, and covered in luscious cream cheese frosting. It’s the best.
This cake is also simple to make from scratch with wholesome ingredients. You can easily make it in an afternoon, with plenty of time to kill while the cake cools.
I’m often intimidated by layer cakes, so if I can make this cake, I know you can, too. Ready?!
Why You’ll Love This Carrot Cake
This carrot cake recipe is my favorite for several reasons:
1) This cake is incredibly delicious and moist.
The cake is nice and tender inside. The carrots are the star of the show, so you won’t find raisins, pineapple or applesauce here. Freshly toasted, chopped pecans are optional, but I love them. Sweet-and-tangy cream cheese frosting makes this cake utterly irresistible.
2) This cake is sweet, but not too sweet.
Some carrot cakes are overwhelmingly sweet with giant layers of frosting, and I can only stomach a bite or two. On the other hand, some “healthy” cakes are dry and disappointing, with a meager spread of frosting. This cake is just right—it’s sweet and tastes like a true treat.
3) This carrot cake is simple and easy to make.
No stand mixer required! You’ll just whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in another, and stir to combine. It doesn’t get easier than that.
4) This cake is made with wholesome ingredients, but no one will know it.
The recipe calls for whole wheat flour rather than all-purpose (although, you can use all-purpose if that’s what you have). Instead of refined vegetable oil, it calls for mild extra-virgin olive oil, which yields a wonderfully moist cake without any funny flavors. Lastly, it calls for maple syrup or honey instead of cups of granulated sugar.
5) This recipe is versatile.
You can leave out the nuts if you don’t like them. You can make this cake dairy free or gluten free. You can turn it into cupcakes. See the recipe notes for all the details!
Carrot Cake Tips
For the best carrot flavor, choose skinny to medium-sized carrots and peel them before grating. Large carrots don’t taste as nice, and sometimes the outer carrot skin can taste bitter.
The easiest way to grate your carrots is a the food processor. Use the grating attachment, and your carrots will be grated in no time! Otherwise, you can grate the carrots by hand. Don’t buy carrot matchsticks from the store; they’re too thick and will yield crunchy cake.
Don’t overmix. This cake is easy to make by stirring the ingredients together by hand. If you overmix the batter, you risk ending up with dense, tough cake. Make it as directed and you will be rewarded with gloriously tender cake!
Don’t forget to grease your pans. Otherwise, your cake might stick! For extra insurance, use my favorite round baking pans (affiliate link), which have a non-toxic, non-stick silicone lining.
Let the cake cool completely before frosting. I know, it’s tempting to frost this cake when it’s warm, but don’t do it. If you do, your cake won’t be structurally sound, and the frosting might melt off.
Looking for more naturally sweetened treats? Here are a few of my favorites:
- Healthy Carrot Muffins
- Gluten-Free Apple Crisp
- Naturally Sweetened Pecan Pie
- Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Favorite Banana Cake
Please let me know how your cake turns out in the comments! I hope it becomes your new favorite carrot cake.
Favorite Carrot Cake
- Author:
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 16 slices 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
This carrot cake recipe will become your new favorite! This moist and delicious carrot cake is easy to make with basic, wholesome ingredients. It’s the best! Recipe yields one double-layer 9″ cake.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ pounds peeled and grated carrots* (about 4 cups)
- 1 cup raw pecan or walnut halves
- ¾ cup mild extra-virgin olive oil** or melted coconut oil
- 1 ¼ cups maple syrup or honey
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 4 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Double batch classic cream cheese frosting or naturally sweetened cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease two 9″ round cake pans. If you’re making classic cream cheese frosting, don’t forget to pull the cream cheese and butter out of the fridge so they can warm to room temperature.
- Toast the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet in the preheated oven until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Once they’re cool enough to handle, transfer them to a cutting board and chop them into small pieces. Reserve a couple tablespoons chopped pecans for garnishing the cake, if desired. We’ll stir the rest into the dry mixture in the following step.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir until blended. Add the grated carrots and chopped pecans, and stir to combine.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil, maple syrup, milk, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk until fully blended.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and spread the batter in an even layer on top.
- Bake the cakes on the middle rack for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the center of the cakes is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the baked cakes on a cooling rack and let them cool completely before frosting.
- When you’re ready to assemble, prepare the frosting as directed. Carefully invert the cakes to release them from their pans. Frost the top of one cake with about one-third of the frosting. Place the second cake on top, and frost the top with another one-third of the frosting. Finish by frosting around the side of the cake with the remaining frosting. If desired, sprinkle the reserved chopped pecans on top.
- When you’re ready to serve, use a sharp chef’s knife to carefully cut the cake into slices. The cake will keep at room temperature for the rest of the day, and for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
Recipe adapted from the easy carrot cake in my cookbook, Love Real Food (page 208).
*Carrot tips: Skinny-to-medium carrots (not large) offer the best carrot flavor. The easiest way to grate your carrots is in a food processor with the grating attachment. You can also grate them by hand, on the medium holes of a box grater. Don’t use store-bought matchstick carrots; they’re way too thick and will make your cake crunchy.
**Olive oil note: I recommend California Olive Ranch Everyday for this recipe. It’s an affordable, high quality olive oil that you can find at most grocery stores, and the flavor is so mild that you will not detect it in the finished product.
Flour substitutions: If desired, you can make this cake with a total of 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Make it gluten free: Substitute your favorite all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
Make it nut free: Simply omit the pecans.
Make it dairy free: Use a non-dairy milk (I’ve confirmed that almond milk and oat milk work in this recipe). Use a dairy-free cream cheese frosting (I haven’t come up with one yet).
Make it naturally sweetened: The cake itself is naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey. Top the cake with my date-sweetened cream cheese frosting for a cake free of refined sugar.
Egg note: I’m sorry to report that this is not a candidate for egg-free baking. I’ve tried this recipe with flax eggs in place of the real eggs, and they did not provide enough lift to counteract the weight of the carrots.
Pan size notes: You could make these cakes in 9″ square baking pans, no adjustments needed. You can also cut the recipe in half to make one 9″ round or square cake. For other pan sizes, keep the baking temperature constant and bake until the center of the cake is springy to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean (timing will depend on the pans used).
Make cupcakes: Divide the batter between 2 dozen muffin cups and bake at 350 for 18 to 24 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
Recommended equipment: (Affiliate links) I love my 11-cup food processor and these round cake pans, which have a non-toxic silicone coating.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Lynette Fowlston
One of my favorite cakes, and will be trying this. Like the fact it has olive oil and no sugar. Going to rate it now even before I try making it,
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Lynette!
Behnaz
My cake looks fantastic but it tastes supper salty even though I added the exact amount of salt. Dont know what was wrong :(
Natalie
I love carrot cake! It’s definitely one of my top favorites. Looks so delicious and perfect for hosting.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Natalie for your review!
Eve
This is my man’s favorite cake so I was hoping you’d post this by Father’s Day! Thanks for delivering! I’m making a single layer version with the date frosting right now. How long do you recommend baking it if it’s just one pan? (I’m using your favorite square baker.) Thanks!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m so glad you love it, Eve! I really recommend this as two pans, but how did it turn out for you?
Barbara Biller
This is my husband’s favorite cake. I made it for Father’s Day. I am not a good baker and typically I do not like carrot cake.
Even though I accidentally left out the milk, the cake and icing turned out great!
I used coconut oil.
In addition to the dry ginger, I added a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger with the carrots.
I used maple syrup.
Also, usually don’t eat icing but your recipe turned out very light and fluffy (used Kerry Gold butter and 1 cup homemade powder sugar cause I ran out of boxed.) Decorated top with pecans.
Thank you-cake was a huge success!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy to hear it all ended up great, Barbara! Thanks for your review.
Sierra
Hi Kate! I made this Cake and it was a little bit dense, any suggestions for the future? I live in Denver, so not sure if altitude has a factor in this – I used all purpose and high altitude whole wheat flour. Flavor was delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
It could be your altitude. Here is a great resource that may help!
Jackie
Hello there, is this suitable for freezing please? Thank you.
I used spelt flour and raw honey. It was delicious :-)
Jackie
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Jackie! I haven’t tried freezing this, but it should work fine. Let me know how it goes for you!
Ann
This is a great recipe! Next time, I would double the cream cheese frosting! Ha! Also, mine turned out a little dense, any suggestions?
★★★★★
Kate
Cream cheese frosting is a must! I’m sorry it was a little too dense for you. What blends of flour did you use?
Ann
I used all all-purpose flour! I think that may have been my mistake. I also used coconut oil and when I mixed it with the other liquid ingredients, it seized up. Next time, I will make sure everything is room temp. Other than that, the cake was delicious and the flavors were great! Thank you for the recipe.
Vith
Hi Kate! Was just wondering if you had a good egg substitute in this recipe?
Thanks so much!
Hayley
I made the carrot cake in her cookbook using bob’s red mill egg replacer and it turned out well!
Vith
Thank you Hayley!
Kate
You’re welcome, Vith!
Emma
Do I have to change the recipe to use Gluten free flour?
Kate
Nope! I believe a reader used Bob’s Red Mill GF 1-1 flour and it worked really well.
Megan
It’s true! I made this recently for a gluten-free friend’s birthday, substituting all 3.5c flour with Bob’s Red Mill 1-1, and it was fantastic.
Hillary
This cake turned out super moist and so delicious without being overly sweet. The spices were just right. I used Bob’s 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour which made it turn out light and fluffy. Also the naturally sweetened cream cheese frosting is super tasty on it, but the cake itself can stand on its own without it. This is a keeper that we will be making for special occasions. Thanks for the fantastic recipes Kate! My family loves everything I make from you. :)
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy to hear you were able to make this work so well gluten free! Thanks for sharing, Hillary!
Wendy
How long do I cook it in a convection oven?
Gamila
I MADE IT!!!
I really really love how it turned out, the consistency is amazing, it tastes fantastic.I also followed your cream cheese frosting recipe. Only thing is that it’s a little bit too sweet for me but I think that’s fixable by less sugar in the frosting.
Thank you sooooo much for your amazing recipes.
Sending love all the way from Egypt.
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray, Gamila! Thank you for your review.
Amy
This turned out great. I was a little skeptical with the sweetener being only maple syrup or honey but it was plenty sweet.
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! I’m happy you loved it.
Flo
Hello! Could I substitute the flour with Buckwheat flour? Also, because I don’t have pastry flour, in the end I’ll need 3 1/2 cups of the flour I’ll use?
Sorry if it’s unclear… :)
Kate
Hi Flo, usually buckwheat doesn’t work the same. I haven’t tried it with this one so not sure if it would give you the result you want. I also find its flavor to be overpowering. A gluten free flour blend would work well here, if needing to be gluten free.
Jessie Wheeler
Have you tried this with an egg replacement such as Flax or Chia gel?
Kate
You could try a flax egg, but I didn’t try it for this one. Let me know how it works for you!
Ria Singhal
This carrot cake came out beautifully for my husband’s birthday dinner. I even used your cream cheese frosting recipe and everyone’s only feedback was to please layer more frosting into it! I only made half and had a single layer 9″ round cake but I did end up with a domed cake and slightly browner sides than middle. Do you have any tips on getting a flat cake?
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! Make sure you evenly spread the batter across the pan. I didn’t have any issues when I began to layer mine. You can always shave a little off the top if you are having difficulties when layering.
Winni
I love carrot cakes especially homemade. This recipe is simple and easy to make. Loved the pics.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Winni!
Sergio
Your cooking is great. This look delicious and easy to make. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Sergio!
Melody
The taste of the cake was great, but my cake turned out really dense. I’m not sure what I did wrong.
★★★
Kate
I’m sorry to hear that, Melody! How did you measure your flour? My assumption is you either packed your flour or over mixed the cake.
Melody
I used a dry ingredients measuring cup. I feel it may have been when I added my carrots to the dry ingredients. The carrots were very moist and it made my dry ingredients clumpy.
Kate
Hi Melody, sometimes if you just scoop the flour it packs it in and you get too much. Spoon in and then level it off next time. If that makes sense?
Heather Kay
I had the same issue. I always scoop my flour and then scrape it off but this cake turned out very dense! The flavour is excellent but The cake weighs a ton and wasn’t quite cooked in the middle as a result.
★★★
Lyndsey
I love carrot cake and your recipe looks delicious. I especially like the look of your frosting : )
Kate
Thank you! Let me know what you try, Lyndsey!
Maya
Halved the recipe and substituted brown sugar instead of honey to make it cheaper and it was delicious. Your classic cream cheese frosting was also amazing. Another great recipe, as usual, Thank you Kate!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Maya!
Mira
loved the recipe. can you please post few desert recipe made without eggs.
★★★
Kate
Hi Mira! I try to post a variety.
Sergio
Looks so delicious and perfect for parties!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your review, Sergio!
Kacee Jernigan
This is the best carrot cake I’ve ever tasted. Thank you for this amazing recipe better than any bakery. I love that the sweetness isn’t overpowering and is not from traditional sugar. Hands-down absolute heaven!
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Kacee! I appreciate your review.
Ritika
First of all, I would like to thank you for share this amazing recipe, I had tried this recipe and the results are really unbelievable for me because I had never made any cake before this, a great experience.
★★★★★
Sonal
I love your recipes Kate. Every one of them has been phenomenal. This one was an absolute keeper—with modifications (which is rare). My son has a nut allergy, so though he loves spicy cakes, he can’t really sample carrot cakes unless I make them, and I never have, because they can be complicated. The only thing I did not love about this recipe—and I thought it was completely out of character for you to call for 1.25 CUPS!!!—is the cream cheese frosting. I’ve discovered you barely need any sugar to make a good stiff one if you blend a block of cream cheese (straight out of the fridge) with a cup of cold heavy whipping cream and a splash of vanilla (using an immersion blender), until you get stiff peaks. I add three TBS of icing sugar for frosting cakes; sometimes, when eating it with your pancakes, I’ll do only a TBS of maple syrup.
★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Sonal! You can always adjust the amount of frosting, if you like :)
Ankit
Great Recipe and this is my Girlfriend favorite cake. Many times we order online now this time made by my girlfriend. Thanks for sharing this recipe and now this time we save the money.
Mihika Iyer
When do you combine wet and dry? Do you add the eggs to the wet first? Or carrots? Looks so good … I wanna get it right.
★★★★★
Kate
Hi! See steps 4 & 5. I hope this helps!
Sonia Goyal
Wow… The pictures are really mouth-watering. I never had this type of cake. Will definitely try this.
Thank you for sharing such thoughtful post.
★★★★
Sharing crunchy
Great recipe. I enjoyed reading tour recipe. Great job!
Marilee Herring
Would this recipe be alright if made the day before? We have a morning baby birthday party and I can’t imagine baking in the morning :)
★★★★★
Kate
Yes! It should still be find the next day. You could wait to frost it that morning so it looks fresher. The frosting may need to set at room temperature for a little to be easier to spread!
RICHARD MERRIN
Very disappointed – but it was all my fault! Forgot it was in oven and it got cooked for at least twice the recommended time. Edible, but very dry.
Will do it properly next time. Sorry Kate.
Enssieh Bagher BagherZadeh
I love your recipes and tried most of them. they are flawless and always end up looking so professional and awesome. thank you
★★★★★
Heidi
I made half the recipe and baked in a 6 inch pan, one layer after the other. Baking time for each was 30-35 min. While the carrot-to-flour ratio struck me as insane ;-), the cake turned out very well. Super moist and flavorful. I baked the layers the evening before, and assembled on the day of. I used the naturally sweetened frosting with it, and it was a very, very good carrot cake! Both adults and kids liked it. Thanks, Kate!
★★★★★
Kate
It know, it seems like a lot, but it’s worth it! Thanks for sharing, Heidi.
Ankit
Thank you so much for the best carrort cake recipe. My mother’s favorite carrort cake & I will make this one definitely on my mom’s birthday.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome and I hope she just loves it, Ankit!
Shari
I am looking forward to trying this recipe over the weekend substituting in spelt flour. Will let you guys know how it turns out!
★★★★★
Kate
Yes, please do!
Shari
I did make this recipe (halved) with spelt flour and it was delicious! Thanks again!
★★★★★
Hope Rainbow
This recipe is really only barely sweet (made with maple syrup) — a nice contrast for a sweet and tangy cream cheese icing. Like other commenters, I was stunned at the amount of carrots. It isn’t clear in the recipe if you want 1.5# of carrots before or after peeling and grating — perhaps you can add a note on that? I interpreted it as weight after grating. I made this recipe 1.5x and could not bring myself to add the entire 2.25# of grated carrots. I stopped at 6 cups, which was only 1.75#. I couldn’t fathom putting any more carrots in than that — 2.25# would have been about 8 cups of carrots and there wouldn’t have been any cake left! Other than that discrepancy, the cake looks, smells, and tastes great (I’ve only sampled the scraps so far). I’m letting it chill overnight with a crumb coat on it and finishing it tomorrow before taking it to my sister-in-law’s birthday this weekend!
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for your feedback, Hope! It’s prior to grating for the weight measured.
m
Hi Kate, could I use just all-purpose white flour? The whole gran sounds great, but the white is all I have right now. Just want to make sure the consistency will still be good. Thanks!
Kate
Hi M! I’m hesitant to say yes, without trying it. This one took a bit to get just right.
Jessica
I like the recipe but I think that the baking time of 45 minutes was too long. I did this in 2 layer cake pans and a bunt cake, and the bunt cake was done in 48 minutes so the layer cake pans at 45 minutes were a bit dry.
I also substituted fresh ginger for the powdered!
★★★★
Kate
Hi Jessica! Thank you for the feedback. That time was a sweet spot for me and I haven’t had any issues. However, I do know ovens can vary some so adjust as you need. I’m sorry you had a dry version! It might be since you split the batter in 2 layer cake pans, too. Did you double the recipe to do this per the notes?
Lubov
Your cake looks wonderful! Can you, please, write the approximate weight of it? At about 1.5 kilos?
Kate
Hi! Sorry, I don’t have the weight for you.
Jeanne
Can you please tell me what is all-purpose flour. Thank you inadvance.
Aish Manu
Beautiful cake, We love this carrot cake, looking colorful and healthy.
Michelle
I made this for my husband’s birthday. It’s his favorite. Unfortunately, while it had a good flavor, it was very dry. I will make it again but will add raisins and/or pineapple chunks. On the other hand, the cream cheese icing was to die for.
The cake was the first recipe I haven’t loved from your site but I think it’s an easy fix. :-)
★★
Kate
I’m sorry to hear that! How long did you bake it for?
Michelle
If I remember correctly (its been a month) I cooked it for the allotted time-50 min. But I do remember testing it and it wasn’t done even though it looked done so I cooked it about 5-8 minutes longer. That may be the problem. Also, it’s a new oven and may not be calibrated correctly, I don’t know, but that could also be the problem. My husband didn’t say but I asked him if it seemed dry and he said he didn’t want to say anything, but it did and that he missed the raisins, so for that reason I will add them next time and Ill let you know how it went. :-)
Mary Mundth
Hi Kate, I made the cake gluten free, used walnuts and added golden raisins. It was not sweet but after making the cream cheese frosting with dates and adding a bit of confectionery sugar to that recipe to make it sweeter the frosted cake was very good. I really like the no sugar recipe but it just wasn’t sweet on its own.
★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing! I’m happy to hear you made it work for your tastes.
Terri
I’ve just put mine in the oven: the batter looked very sloppy so I’m slightly worried. I halved the recipe and it was a real nightmare trying to anglicise the measurements. I threw in a couple oz of flour at the end to try and stiffen the mix up – we shall see! So I put in: 8 oz flour (mixed ww/white), 1tsp ginger, 2tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp bicarb soda, 12oz grated carrots, 180mil olive oil/coconut oil mixed, 148ml honey/datesyrup mix (as I didn’t have enough honey), 1/4pint milk and 2 eggs. Oh and 1 tsp vanilla. Then I threw in the extra flour as I said at the beginning. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Kate
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that, Terri. How did it end up turning out?
Terri
The comments look like they arrived in your inbox on different dates – even though they were posted the same evening – the follow up reply is beneath this one – the cake turned out wonderfully well, wlthough it was more bread puddingy than light cake – and got the seal of approval from my neighbour too. (Improved even more with the cream cheese topping).
★★★★
Terri
UPDATE: The cake was FINE! hubby and I have quality tested and it tastes a little like bread pudding but definitely sweet enough and a nice texture. I’ll put frosting on it tomorrow – so thanks and the cake recipe worked swell!
★★★★
Kate
Thanks for leaving a review!
Tracy
Hi Kate,
I haven’t tried the carrot cake yet, but I wanted to thank you for all your AMAZING and delicious recipes. I recently became flexitarian with my fiance and I feel confident eating vegetarian meals each week knowing that I have your website at hand.
Needless to say, I’m a bit of a food-snob and will only cook recipes that I know will turn out well…thankfully, that’s your website in its entirety.
Easily the best vegetarian website and I LOVE the search function. Makes it very easy to search for a recipe even when I’m at the store and have no plan. Hope to use your recipes more as I try to convert my partner to becoming vegetarian with me…
Tracy
Kate
You’re so sweet, I love it! Thank you for your feedback on my recipe quality and blog set-up, Tracy.
Pearl
I just tried this recipe and it’s absolutely delicious like all your recipes Kate!! Tjank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Pearl!
Carla
Soo good I can’t stop eating it! Great flavour but I must have done something wrong as it is too dense and the inside is like molten lava cake. It was cooking for 2 hours at the recommended setting. I ended up cutting up them up into bars and baking them again for another hour. So delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your comment and review, Carla! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Ellen
I don’t normally comment on recipes, but I made this today as cupcakes and they are delicious! I substituted most of the honey for rice malt syrup to make them almost sugar free. The texture is soft and fluffy yet moist.
We had a birthday party today and I took these so my toddler could join in the celebrations and have cake (he is dairy intolerant). He loved them and thought it was hilarious that I put carrots in a cake haha. Most kids barely ate a small piece of the regular birthday cake, but our kid ate 3 full muffins of this! At least it was pretty healthy. Thank you so much Kate for helping me keep my Toddler sugar free, healthy and still loving life/joining the party.
★★★★★
Chris the late night baker
Just wondering Kate what size eggs do you use? Looks like a yummy Cake.
Thanks for your beaut recipes Just finished baking your healthy banana bread.
I will also make your cauli soup later today. It does look lovely and I have a cauli in fridge luckily We will get some cooler weather this week as Melbourne sometimes has 4 seasons in a day. Soup comes in very handy as we all love it. Thanks.
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Chris! I always use large eggs. Hope that helps!
Armani
Hello Kate, I don’t have an oven, can I bake this carrot cake on the stove?
Kate
I’m so sorry, I’m afraid that the stovetop won’t provide the even heat needed to produce a proper cake.
Jen
Hi Kate,
Thanks for the recipe! I am hoping to make this as cupcakes for my daughter’s 1st Birthday party.I’m wondering if it can be baked in advance and frozen? It would save me some stress if I could bake the cakes in advance, freeze them then thaw and frost them the day before the party..
Kate
Hi Jen, I don’t know for sure, but you could see what others have tried. I believe my banana bread has, so I would assume this should too
Sonal
Love your recipes and actually have your book but the easy carrot cake recipe isn’t yet done in the oven even at 45 mins. Input it in a Bundt pan. Wish I had tried this recipe instead.
Pamela
Hi, I’m wondering if you could use self raising flour instead of all purpose flour?
Kate
Hi Pamela, I wish I had an answer for you! Unfortunately, I didn’t test it that way. Baking can be quite tricky and changing one thing can impact your results.
Fod
Whoa!! This cake was amazing and super easy to put together. I only had all purpose flour and oat milk which turned out to be perfectly fine! I also didn’t have pecans so I skipped that step. The cake was very fragrant and had the perfect amount of sweetness. Mine took about 52 minutes to be fully done. Super fluffy and delicious! Definitely a keeper! Thanks Kate!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Fod! I’m glad it worked with your substitutions.
taya
Hi Kate,
I am from australia and would love to try your carrot cake recipe but I don’t understand the difference between the two types of flour. Is the first flour with a raising agent included and the second one without a raising agent?
Thanks in advance.
Taya
Kate
Hi Taya! That’s a good question. None of the suggested flours contain a raising agent (do not use self-rising flour here). Whole wheat pastry flour is a type of finely milled, low-protein wheat flour. If you don’t have it, use all-purpose flour instead. The second option lists two varieties of whole wheat flour—one made with white wheat berries, the other with standard red wheat berries. Hope that helps. You could use all-purpose flour for that one, too, I think.
Hania
Hi! I tried your healthy banana bread recipe and became a fan! I’m now going to attempt to try this. I wanted to know could I just use whole wheat flour as my only flour of choice in this recipe? I don’t want to use all purpose flour of any kind! I hope you reply! Thanks!!
Kate
Hi Hania! You really need the pastry flour or the all purpose flour to get this to not be too dense. Sorry!
Hania Warsi
So I went ahead and tried this with just whole wheat flour and like you predicted, it was a bit too dense but I did not mind that too much. The taste was lovely and texture was soft. Next time though, I do plan on including the whole wheat pastry flour. I did not use any cream cheese frosting so I feel like the cake on it own could have used a bit more of a sweetener. Thanks for such an easy wonderful recipe :)
Kate
Thanks so much for reporting back, Hania! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Venessa
Hi! I have 2 questions before I make this:
1. Would I be able to substitute cake and pastry flour to make it fluffier?
2. Would I be able to substitute vegetable oil for the olive oil?
Thanks so much!
Kate
Hi Venessa! You can use vegetable oil, yes. The first ingredient suggests whole wheat pastry flour, so yes pastry flour will work (as long as it’s not self-rising). You’ll want to use some whole wheat or regular all-purpose flour (second ingredient), as I found that the cake didn’t have enough structure with all pastry flour.
Narissa
So this was my first time making carrot cake and this recipe was perfect and so easy! I love that there was no sugar or butter in the cake! I also whipped up a double batch of the cream cheese frosting and it was perfect!! Thanks for the great recipe and I’ll definitely be making this again!
★★★★★
Kate
Love to hear that, Narissa! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Josie
Have you ever made this cake gluten free? Has it turned out well? And if I do make it, would almond flour work?
Kate
Hi Josie! I’ve successfully made this cake gluten-free with Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free one-for-one blend. I haven’t tried almond flour—recipes typically need a significant amount of adjustments to work with almond flour.
Kimberlyn
Recipe looks awesome. I’m super excited to make this for my husband’s birthday this weekend. He’s going to grind some local heirloom White Sonora Wheat berries into flour (using our Blendtec blender) for me to use for the white whole wheat part of the flour, but wondering if I could substitute sprouted spelt flour for the all-purpose? I use it with great success in your banana bread recipe and love it, but definitely want the cake to be as close to perfect as possible, so please advise if it seems like a bad idea.
Thanks Kate!
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Kimberlyn! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! To be honest, I don’t have a lot of experience with spelt flour (glad it worked well in the banana bread!). It’s so rare that I would suggest all-purpose flour, but I found that this cake was a little dense (not celebratory-level fluffy and decadent) with all whole grain flour. You might be really happy with the spelt version, but all-purpose may be a safer bet.
Kimberlyn
Thanks Kate! I got the last package of AP flour (Jovial organic Einkorn) and used it per the recipe with the home-groud whole wheat. It turned out great. I also used Strauss organic European style butter in the frosting, which turned out really creamy. It’s all totally delicious. And as daughter pointed out, it was almost better the second day. Thanks for another great recipe! You’re my go-to for anything these days. Any prospects for a great cinnamon roll recipe, by chance? :-)
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks so much for getting back to me, Kimberlyn! I’m really happy to hear it. I love Strauss products, too. I have never tried making cinnamon rolls, but I’m getting more and more requests for them. Hoping to get to them before too long.
Floweraura
It looks so delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe, can’t wait for more to try it.
★★★★★
Luz
Love it
★★★★★
Kelly
Well, I accidentally posted this on the cream cheese recipe when it was intended for this one! So…here I go again.
—
I’ll admit that when you post a new recipe, I automatically check my copy of your “Love Real Food” book to see if it’s already in there. I haven’t checked this one against the one in the book to see if you’ve made any tweaks, but if it’s anything like that one…YUM!
Kelly
Hi Kate! I absolutely love all of your recipes so I’m excited to try this one! The store didn’t have any pastry flour or all purpose flour…I do have whole wheat and white whole wheat flour. Will these flour work in the recipe as a sub for the all purpose flour?
Kate
If desired, you can make this cake with a total of 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour.
S.w
So excited to make this! We love your recipes. I actually have most of the ingredients on hand. I’m out of whole wheat flour. Do you think I could sub ground up old fashioned oats (homemade oat flour) instead? Also,could you do zucchini in place of carrots if you dont have enough?
Thank you!!!! Again, love your stuff!!
Kate
Hi S.w. I’m not sure zucchini would work in place of carrots as the texture and moisture is different. I worked on this recipe for a long time and it took a lot to get everything just right. I haven’t tried oat flour in this recipe. It can be delicate to work with. I am testing it in some of my other baking recipes, however this one may not be suited for it with the heaviness of the carrots. If you try it, let me know!
Christina
This is one of the best carrot cake recipes I’ve made. Not overly sweet, a good amount of spice. My family loved it! Thank you for providing healthier alternatives to favorites.
★★★★★
Michelle
Hi Kate,
I am looking forward to making the cake this weekend. I was able to find the whole wheat pastry flour, but cant seem to get my hands on whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour. Do you have any recommendations for how I could substitute the 1 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour! Thanks!
Kate
Hi Michelle! I *think* you could safely use the whole wheat pastry flour in place of the other whole wheat flour. You cake will probably be extra fluffy (yay) but could be a little delicate. Be sure to let the cake cool completely before layering. Hope that works well for you—would love to hear how it turns out!
Amy
Hi Kate: Pastry/all-purpose flour is hard to come by these days with all that’s going on. I want to make this for my daughter’s birthday, and all we have on hand is regular whole wheat flour. Can I use a total of 3.5 cups of this flour, or will that mess up the consistency? Any other kind of flour that would be a good substitute for the first two? Thanks in advance for your input!
Kate
Hi Amy, I hear you on the flour front. I wish I could think of another flour that would be a perfect substitute. I know that when I tested the recipe with all whole wheat flour, it baked up well, but the texture was not as fluffy and decadent as I wanted it to be. You could try it, though! One tip—be sure to measure your flour correctly by first stirring the flour, then spooning it into a dry measuring cup and leveling off the top with a knife. That will help ensure that you don’t accidentally use too much flour, which would make the cake more dense than necessary. Hope this helps!
Maria
An incredible cake! I made this as you did with two 9×9 round layers.
Commenting to share that I had to use a mixture of both King Arthur all purpose flour and Bob’s red mill gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour because it’s all I had and it came out perfect.
I also added chopped dates and used walnuts and hazelnuts for the nuts.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing! I’m happy that combination worked well for you, Maria.
Geetha
Hi Kate!
So excited to be trying out this recipe tomorrow. I’m planning to make half the quantity and skip the frosting as well. Probably a stupid question, but do I just halve the measure of each and every ingredient to make half the quantity? And what about the cooking time in the oven?
Thanks,
Gee
Kate
Hey Gee! Not a stupid question. Yes, just cut all of the ingredients in half. Are you making a single layer cake or double? If you’re pouring all of the batter into a single 9″ round cake pan, the baking time will be the same. If you’re dividing it into two pans (which would yield a short layer cake in the end), those cakes will bake more quickly.
Archie
Hi, Thanks for the recipe. I weigh my ingredients in grams rather than by volume, as cup sizes vary from country to country. Would it be possible for you to put your ingredients in grams and ounces. I use 7” pans, should I vary the quantities of ingredients and time in the oven.
Erica Sinclair
Hello would it be possible to use both maple syrup and honey? I don’t have quite the right amount of either on it’s own, but together I have the 1 1/4 cup.
Thanks
★★★★★
Kate
Sure! They are interchangeable, so a combination should be fine.
Judy
Hi, I usually like about half the recommended sweetener (honey) in recipes, so should I add milk to bring the liquid amount up? Thanks Judy
Kate
Hi Judy, you could try it. This cake recipe was really a feat and variations change the outcome significantly, so I’m not sure how well that will work here.
Sara
I recently made this carrot cake (with walnuts and the C+K classic cream cheese frosting), and it was the best carrot cake I’ve ever had! I got the same feedback from everyone who tasted it. What a delight. I am a carrot cake fanatic and this definitely hit the spot! Can’t wait to make it again.
★★★★★
Stephanie Arons
My supplies are limited. I would like to make this for Mother’s Day.
Do you think it will turn out okay using all purpose flour and almond flour? I also have coconut flour.
Thank you!
Kate
Hi Stephanie! Do you have enough all purpose flour to make the cake? That would be your best bet. If not, you *might* be able to use up to 50 percent almond flour. I haven’t tried and this recipe is a bit finicky, so I’m hesitant to suggest it. Coconut flour will definitely not work—it soaks up moisture like crazy, so you will end up with a very dense, tough cake.
Stephanie
Thank you for such a quick response!!!! All purpose it is! I’ll let you know how it turns out
Michelle
Hi, can I use apples instead of carrots if I don’t have carrots on hand?
Kate
Hi Michelle! I like that idea, but I’m afraid it would be highly experimental. Apples tend to have more moisture than carrots. You might enjoy my apple muffins! In fact, those would be nice with cream cheese frosting.
Michelle
Hi Kate, I finally got some carrots and made this recipe today! The flavor was spot on, but it seems like it didn’t rise enough or wasn’t very fluffy and my batter seemed oily. Do you have any suggestions?
Kate
Hi Michelle! That seems interesting. Did you by chance over stir? Assuming you didn’t over add oil?
Pilar
Thanks for the recipe! Turned out great! Next time I will also add some raisins.
★★★★★
FarmCook
Making this tomorrow! How would it effect the recipe to add canned crushed pineapple?
Kate
Hi! I wouldn’t suggest it as this one was quite tricky. I think the pineapple would cause it to not rise as much. You would likely need to adjust the other ingredients to account for the liquid.
Priya
Kate,
Thanks for this tasty recipe. I tried yesterday and it came out fantastic. Only thing is I replaced all-purpose flour with oats (grounded at home) and added only 1 cup of maple syrup for less sweet.
★★★★★
Carolyn
Made this cake for the second time, and it’s amazing. Its the carrot cake recipe I was looking for :) Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Yana
This is just so great! I used a bit less honey that was in the recipe (since our consumption of honey is insane after I found all the things to bake here haha) and it turned out perfect. Love carrot cakes but never thought it’s that easy to make.
Thank you!
olivia rosenberg
Thank you so much for this recipe! I love all of your dessert recipes and this one is fantastic!
Do you think this cake recipe could be adapted to make a chocolate cake with maple syrup as the sweetener? I’m trying to find a way to make that for my birthday this year.
Stay safe!
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Olivia! So glad to hear it! This carrot cake was pretty tricky to develop. I’d start with my banana cake instead—you might be able to replace the banana with equal part Greek yogurt, then add cocoa powder. It might need more tweaking from there. Let me know if you figure it out, please!
Amanda Tan Jie Yu
I Want To Order Brown Carrot Cakes For My Father’s Day . Please Come On The Twenty One June 2020
★★★★★
Amanda Tan Jie Yu
I Want To Order This Brown Carrot Cakes For My Father’s Day! Please Come On The Twenty One June 2020. Please Come House At One ‘O Clock.
★
Carmen
Hi KATE!
I absolutely love this recipe. My husband asks me to bake it at least once a month, then hamsters it for a week :) also love the curries!
I wish all your recipes could be added on the app, was hoping I’d get the full scoop for the price :/
Thanks for your awesome recipes :) I’ll keep an eye for new stuff
Greetings from Munich,
Carmen
★★★★★
Elise
This recipe looks delicious, but I don’t have 9″ round cake pans. Can this be made as muffins?
Kate
Hi Elise! I would suggest my carrot muffins and then use the frosting!
Sofia
Hi, Kate! I noticed this recipe is an adaptation from the one on your book! I recently bought it (love it so far) and tried the Easy Carrot Cake recipe, but it turned out too moist on the inside while it burnt (a bit) on the outside. I wanted to ask you if I have to drain the carrots before mixing them with the rest of the ingredients. Also, I noticed the recipe on the book suggests a temperature of 425 F (instead of the 350 indicated in this one) and a shorter baking time (28 minutes instead of 50 minutes) so I was wondering if that could be a factor too. Or maybe the one in the book is ment to be moister than this one??? (I only have the picture of the book for reference)
Kate
Hi Sofia! You’re right! This layered cake turned out to be quite a departure from the book recipe. Turns out layered cakes are tricky. :) It’s possible that your carrots were just wetter than mine, though I tested the recipe many times before print. Were they noticeably wet? You might also check that your baking powder/soda have not expired. Hope that helps!
laida
tried this and we love it!
no cream cheese frosting and did not even layer it as i used a 12inch pan. its just perfect!
thanks for sharing
★★★★★
Claire Nicholson
Hiya,
Just cooking your recipe now, do you know how many calories it is per slice please?
Kate
Hi Claire! The nutritional information is below the recipe. I hope this helps!
Chelsea Rice
How is this even a publishable recipe? I’m sorry, but this is HORRIBLE. I bake consistently, frequently with natural sugars, and this is the worst cake recipe I’ve ever made. It was literally SOLID. I scooped the correct kind of flour into my cups and leveled off, used brand new baking soda and powder, had everything at room temperature, used medium/thin carrots, sifted all dry ingredients, and did not over mix. It looks like you just took another recipe, substituted wet sweeteners for dry ones, published some cutesy fake nonsense for this blog, and went with it. Blogs like this make actually finding good recipes so difficult! Horrible!
★
Kate
Hi Chelsea, I’m sorry you are disappointed and seem to be having a bad day. I work very hard on my recipes and do lots of testing prior to publishing. Sometimes, there are inconsistencies that I work to get to the bottom to. With your description, I’m not sure what went wrong. Only thing is maybe it was over stirred. I appreciate your feedback.
Adena
Hey Kate! My mom is allergic to both walnuts and pecans, but id love to add another type of nut if possible. Any suggestion for a nut that might work instead? Maybe pistachio or almond? Or do you think it’s best to go nut free.
Kate
Hi Adena! I’m sorry to hear about the allergy. That’s hard to navigate! I don’t think almonds would be the best as they can be kind of hard. I would just simply omit. Let me know what you think!
Debra
Love your recipes! Can I add crushed pineapple to this recipe? Should I change any other ingredients because of this addition?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Kate
Hi Debra! I’m not sure without trying it. This one took several tries to get just right. You would likely need adjustments.
Emily Ramraz
We made this for my husband’s birthday (carrot cake is his favorite) and it was great! We used coconut oil, and a blend of maple syrup and 2 types of honey (I just used up what I had in my pantry). I used mostly pecans, with some walnuts, and I think and extra 3/4 cup of carrots by mistake because I got distracted letting my 4 year old help me. The milk we used was a blend of coconut and hazelnut milk (also just using up what I had in my fridge). The cake was moist and fluffy, quite lovely! I will definitely use this recipe again in the future.
★★★★★
Emily Ramraz
This cake was fantastic! We made it for my husband’s birthday, as carrot cake is his favorite. We used coconut oil, a blend of maple syrup and honey, a blend of pecans and walnuts, a blend of drinking coconut milk and hazelnut milk (the bend if ingredients was because I was using up what I had open and available) and about 3/4 C more carrots (I got distracted by how helpful my 4 year old was being, haha). The result was perfect. I have saved the recipe and it has definitely become our “favorite carrot cake!” Thanks :)
★★★★★
Ava
Hi Kate, I was just wondering the different kinds of substitutes I could use instead of the pecans/walnuts thx!
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Ava! Pecans and walnuts are more traditional. If you need to omit, you can leave out!
Ajada
I was thinking about making this cake for my dogs birthday. I wanted something that the dogs and people could enjoy together. If I used the naturally sweetened frosting, do you think this would be a terrible idea? All the ingredients seem dog safe to me. And she would only get a small slice anyways.
Kate
Hi! Cookie gets so excited about raw carrots, that’s my vote :)
Helen Bucher
This looks amazing but I am in UK and need measurement in grams for cups please.
Many thanks
Helen
Tara Craig
Hello,
Looking forward to trying this recipe.
I am in the UK and I don’t have American cups for measuring. Do you know the grams amount for the flour etc? There are lots of conflicting measurement charts out there to try and convert.
Thanks
Kate
Hi Tara, This is a good conversion chart to use! I hope this helps
Cece
Hello Kate could you please help with a recipe conversion like how many grams does the grated carrot come to please?
And also how many grams are the all purpose flour and whole wheat flour respectively?
Kate
Hi Cece! I don’t provide metric conversions, sorry! This conversion chart may be helpful.
Willemien
I would live to bake this cake, but love some pineapple pieces added. What amount is recommended.
★★★★
Kate
Hi! I’m not sure about adding pineapple to this one without trying it, sorry. This was meant to be a traditional carrot cake and took several tries to get right. Adding something with significant moisture I would think change the outcome.
Anu
So… I made this cake!!!!! I have officially become one of those people that successfully completed the act of baking something from a recipe and then reporting on it in the comment section!!!! This is a milestone for me!!!
I subbed out half the flour for chickpea flour, and the other half with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free baking flour. I also subbed out the maple syrup/honey with applesauce so no processed sugar either. (And no nuts bc we got a nut allergy in the household)
I ALSO made a vegan cream cheese frosting from sunflower seeds (not cashews).
It turned out excellent! The only thing I would do different is allow the cake to fully cool at room temp before storing it. It became denser once I put it in the fridge.
Funny enough, after I baked, I did sprinkle walnuts on it for myself, and then actually ditched the frosting for straight up coconut cream from the can, strawberries, and some more applesauce, and it was way better than with the frosting! I had been doing a sugar fast, so the frosting actually gave me a headache! This cake was so satisfying and I was so so pleased with myself for figuring out a carrot cake recipe that meet all our household dietary restrictions! Thank you!!!!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing! I’m excited you loved it, Anu.
Mei
Hello – followed your recipe and had to cook for 1hr 30 minutes but the inside of the cake was still uncooked. It was runny.
Could there be too many carrots? After grating I used 4 cups of carrots, NOT packed down. Is that the correct amount of carrots to use?
Ive had to throw the entire cakes away.
★
Kate
Hi Mei! I’m sorry to hear that. I tested this cake several times to get it just right. A few questions, did your carrots seem really wet? How did you measure your flour?