The Best Carrot Cake Bread

Carrot cake bread loaf with icing cut into slices

5 from 1 vote

This is the best recipe for making a quick bread Carrot Cake Loaf from scratch with simple ingredients you can easily find in your pantry. This moist and delicious loaf is great for dessert, a sweet treat or try it for breakfast!

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: carrot cake, carrot cake bread, quick bread

Servings:

Calories: 647kcal

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Bread

1 ⅓ C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 C sugar
1 C canola oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 C grated carrots
½ C dried cranberries
½ C chopped walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting

½ brick 4oz cream cheese softened
¼ C unsalted sweet cream butter
1 ¼ C confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)
1 tsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Carrot Cake Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x3 loaf pan with pam baking spray
Using a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt until combined.
1 ⅓ C all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp kosher salt
Using another large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until combined.
3 large eggs, 1 C sugar
Next, beat in the oil and vanilla until combined.
1 C canola oil, 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Gradually beat in the dry ingredients until fully combined and the mixture is smooth.
Then fold in the grated carrots, cranberries and walnuts.
1 C grated carrots, ½ C dried cranberries, ½ C chopped walnuts
Lastly, pour the batter into the greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Using a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until the mixture is smooth.
½ brick 4oz cream cheese, ¼ C unsalted sweet cream butter
Gradually add in the powedered sugar and beat until combined.
1 ¼ C confectioners' sugar
Next, beat in the heavy cream and vanilla until the mixture is smooth.
1 tsp heavy cream, 1 tsp vanilla
Once the loaf has fully cooled, evenly spread the frosting over the top of the loaf.
Slice to serve.

Notes

Use freshly grated carrots. Pre-packaged grated carrots tend to be dry so it’s best to freshly grate carrots for this recipe. To do this you can use a food processor to grate the carrots into tiny slivers, although you could also use a grater and just individually grate each carrot until you have the amount needed for the recipe. About 2-3 medium to large carrots will grate into a cup.
Add extra nuts or raisins. Some people like nuts in their carrot cake while others don’t. This recipe allows for you to add about ½ cup of walnuts, pecans, or other chopped nuts into the batter.
Monitor baking time. Ovens can vary so be sure to keep an eye on the loaf as it nears the end of the baking time. You want to remove it while it is golden on top or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
To use different types of sugar: substitute brown sugar with white granulated sugar or coconut sugar but this will make the loaf less tender and moist.
Substitute baking soda for baking powder by using ⅓ the amount needed, i.e. ⅓ tsp baking powder for this recipe.

Nutrition