The BEST Carrot Cake Recipe
This is my favorite homemade carrot cake recipe! This cake is so easy to make, perfectly moist, and topped with an easy homemade cream cheese frosting.
I feel like carrot cake is a dessert most people tend to only make around Easter. But honestly, carrot cake is such an incredible dessert and I think it should be enjoyed all year long. Especially when it comes to this recipe!
I know it can be a bold statement to call a recipe the best, but I truly mean it with this one. In fact, over the last 6 years this recipe has received nearly 600 5-star reviews – and counting!
Originally posted in 2017, I decided it was finally time to update this popular recipe with more step-by-step photos and tips to ensure that it turns out perfectly for you. I guarantee that once you learn how simple it is to make your own carrot cake from scratch, you’ll want to make it over and over again.
What You Will Need
While there are quite a few ingredients in this recipe, I promise it’s fairly simple. I won’t cover every single ingredient, but I wanted to touch on a few important ones:
- Spices: There’s a mix of ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. All three spices add such a wonderful flavor to this cake, but aren’t too overpowering. Feel free to add more spices, if you prefer though.
- Oil: Any kind of neutral-flavored oil is fine to use here, but I typically use vegetable or canola oil. You may also use melted coconut oil, just make sure all of your other ingredients are at room temperature so that it doesn’t solidify.
- Applesauce: This adds the perfect amount of moisture, so you end up with a moist cake that isn’t greasy. I always use unsweetened applesauce whenever I make this recipe. If you can only find sweetened applesauce, just reduce the granulated sugar by 2 to 3 tablespoons.
- Sugar: I use a bit more brown sugar than granulated sugar because it adds more moisture and flavor to this carrot cake.
- Carrots: I don’t like to skimp on the carrots when it comes to this recipe, so there’s 3 cups of grated carrots. Make sure to use freshly grated carrots here too. Avoid using a bag of pre-shredded carrots as they are often too dry and thick for carrot cake.
- Cream Cheese: Make sure to use a block of cream cheese. Avoid using cream cheese that’s either whipped or in a tub, it’s typically too thin and will result in a runny frosting.
How To Make A Carrot Cake
Make The Cake Layers
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 9-inch round cake pans well with nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottoms of each pan with a parchment paper circle. This will make it much easier to remove your cake layers from the pan!
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt to a large mixing bowl and give it a good whisk.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together your oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
- Add the grated carrots to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Adding them at this point will ensure that they are fully incorporated into your batter and prevent you from over mixing it later on.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Make sure not to over mix your batter! This can overdevelop the gluten and cause the cake to turn out dense/gummy. Trust me, no one wants that.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between both cake pans. Tip: If you want to get perfectly even cake layers, I recommend using a food scale to weigh your cake batter.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the tops of the cakes are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly in the pans, then remove the cake layers from the pans and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Mix Together The Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the butter and continue mixing until well combined.
- Lastly, mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. If needed, stop and scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl to ensure that all of the frosting ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.
Assemble & Frost The Cake
- Level the tops of each cake layer. You may use either a large knife or a cake leveler for this step, I personally love this cake leveler. It’s a great option for beginners too!
- Place one of the layers on a cake stand and scoop a little over 1/2 cup of the frosting on top, then smooth it out evenly.
- Place the other cake layer on top and use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. An angled spatula or even the back of a spoon works great for this step! If you want to add a little something extra, feel free to toast some chopped pecans or walnuts and sprinkle them around the top of the cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does carrot cake need to be refrigerated?
Yes, if you frost the cake with the cream cheese frosting it does need to be refrigerated. It will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Can you freeze carrot cake?
Of course! You can wrap individual slices with plastic wrap and freeze them in a large freezer bag.
The cake layers and frosting can also be frozen separately for up to 3 months. I do suggest wrapping the cake layers tightly with plastic wrap before freezing them.
How do you grate carrots for carrot cake?
The easiest method is to use a box grater and grate the carrots just like a block of cheese. If you have a food processor with a grater attachment, that works too.
I also recommend peeling your carrots and removing any brown spots or blemishes before grating them.
Can I add nuts or raisins?
Absolutely! Chopped walnuts or pecans would be fantastic in this recipe, I suggest using about 3/4 to 1 cup. If you love raisins, you may also add 1/2 cup.
Adjusting Your Pan Size
One of the most common questions is whether or not this recipe can be baked in another pan. The answer is YES!
Here are a few more commonly used baking pans that you can bake this cake in:
- 9×13: Pour the batter into a greased 9×13 pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes.
- 8-inch round pan: Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a parchment paper circle. Pour the batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
- Cupcakes: The full recipe will make 28 cupcakes. Only fill each liner about 2/3 of the way full so that they don’t overflow and bake for 16 to 20 minutes. I also recommend doubling the frosting to have enough to cover all of the cupcakes. If you prefer a smaller batch, try my carrot cake cupcakes instead.
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, don’t scoop it out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife. I have a whole post that explains the spoon & level method.
- Don’t have any applesauce? You may replace it with 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, or one 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple that’s been drained.
- I opted to stick with my favorite cream cheese frosting. It makes enough to frost the carrot cake like you see in the pictures. If you really love frosting, then I suggest increasing the recipe by half.
- Additional frosting options: If you want to try another frosting, my vanilla buttercream frosting, ermine frosting, or the whipped honey mascarpone frosting I used on my Pistachio Cake recipe would be delicious too.
Video Tutorial
The BEST Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
This is my favorite recipe for homemade carrot cake! This cake is so easy to make, perfectly moist, and topped with an easy homemade cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Servings: 10 slices
For the carrot cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (250 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup canola or vegetable oil (180ml)
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar (300 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce (125 grams)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups lightly packed grated carrots (300 grams)
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 1 (8-ounce) package brick style cream cheese (226 grams) softened
- ½ cup unsalted butter (115 grams) softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar (240 grams)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- To make the carrot cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 9-inch round cake pans well with non stick cooking spray and line the bottom of each pan with a parchment paper circle. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract until fully combined. Add the grated carrots to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a whisk or rubber spatula until just combined, making sure not to over mix the batter.
- Pour the cake batter evenly between both prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the tops of the cakes are set and a toothpick inserted into the center of each one comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack, and allow to cool in the pans for 20 to 25 minutes. Once the cakes have cooled, remove from the pans and return the cakes to the wire rack to finish cooling.
- To make the cream cheese frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and mix for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until well combined and smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue mixing until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- To assemble the cake: Level the tops of each cake with a knife or cake leveler. Place one of the cake layers on a cake stand, top with a little over 1/2 cup of the frosting, and smooth it out into one even layer. Place the other cake layer on top and use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. Top with pecans or other toppings of choice, if desired.
Notes
Storage Instructions: Cake may be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing Instructions: Cake and frosting will freeze well for up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before assembling the cake.
Applesauce: You may replace the applesauce with 1/2 cup (120 grams) of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
To make a 9×13 cake: Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick cooking spray and pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 35 to 45 minutes.
Did you make this recipe?Mention @livewellbakeoften on Instagram or tag #livewellbakeoften.
Adapted from Better Homes & Garden
More Carrot Cake Desserts To Try!
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Hi Danielle,
I would like to make this cake for Sunday. Normally I would bake the cake tomorrow and frost it Sunday morning. However, my birthday is tomorrow so I don’t think I will have time to bake. 🙂 Could I bake the cake tonight and frost it on Sunday? If yes, after baking the cake tonight and letting it come to room temperature, should I store it covered in the refrigerator until Sunday, or leave it at room temperature covered until tomorrow and then refrigerate tomorrow night until Sunday morning? Like I said, I will not be frosting the cake until Sunday morning. Please let me know as soon as possible.
Thanks!
I apologize for the delayed response on this question, Ali! Either way would be fine. I do prefer to wrap my cake layers tightly once they’ve cooled and refrigerate them until frosting the cake so they stay fresh longer.
This is the absolute best carrot cake. It’s better than buying one at a professional bakery. I made this for my husband’s birthday and everyone who tried it says it’s the best carrot cake they’ve ever had. It’s a labor of love to make, but worth the time!
I used a food processer with the carrots instead of grating them and I like that better then it grated. But overall this was an amazing Cake and I found it is good with or without ginger I just don’t love that taste. But it was super moist and everyone who ate it loved it!
Unfortunately for me and my husband, this cake was so bland AND way too sweet!! I ended up remaking it and just about quadrupling the spices and added more salt. The frosting needs salt to btw. I completely removed the granulated sugar and cut a cup of sugar out of the frosting. Also that is not enough frosting. I also doubled and had a little left over.
I want to make cupcakes but I’m worried there wont be enough frosting. How much frosting does that recipe make??
The frosting recipe makes about 2 cups of frosting, so I’d recommend doubling it for 2 dozen cupcakes.
I substituted crushed pineapple for the applesauce, added (drained) rum soaked raisins and chopped walnuts. First go at this recipe was a STUNNER. Perfect bake, moist crumb. Awesome recipe! Making these for a wedding engagement party! Thank you for sharing!
What if you don’t have baking soda can you substitute for extra baking power?
You can, but baking soda is 3-4x stronger than baking powder so you would have to use quite a bit more. I have a post here that explains the difference between the two and substituting one for other. However, for this recipe I do suggest using baking soda because it will make the cake lighter and fluffier.
5 stars! Out of this world. I added raisins to the batter and chopped pecans to the frosting. It was a big hit!
I made this earlier this week, and it was fantastic! Only a few substitutions, (I know, I hate when people review a recipe and then say I changed this, and this… ?), mostly based on your or reader’s suggestions. I did cut the oil back to 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup applesauce. And then subbed the applesauce with plain Greek Yogurt, since I had already used applesauce. I weigh my ingredients as well.
Only one problem, I had baked this in Pyrex ( glass ). 13 x 9 inch pan, and the ends got too done, almost burnt, when the middle was still jiggly. Covering the ends wouldn’t make a difference, since it went all the way down. Any suggestions? It was done around in 30 minutes.
Hi, Patti! You could try loosely covering the whole cake with foil and see if that helps. A light metal pan may help with that too.
Thank you! I know I’ll be making this again. Your banana bread recipe is on the schedule for tomorrow, since the bananas have ripened. This time I have four, so I should be good.
Thanks for all your great recipes and help.
I’ve made this cake before and it was amazing! Now I’m making it for a birthday and they want me to add walnuts and raisins to the cake. What would you recommend for amounts? Thanks!
You can add 3/4 to 1 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup of raisins.
Can you use Cake flour instead of all purpose?
You can use cake flour if you prefer, but you would need to substitute the 2 cups of all-purpose flour with 2 1/4 cups of cake flour.
Hi Danielle,
Is there anything I can use to substitute the applesauce for?
Yes, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. You can find this in the recipe notes.
I made this two nights ago and it was my first attempt at making a carrot cake. This turned out amazing! I was missing the ground ginger unfortunately but made my own allspice (ground allspice berries) and added a little more cinnamon. I also grated my own nutmeg, all which helped with flavour. I baked the cake for about 25 min in my oven and the cake was super moist! I also removed the butter from the cream cheese icing and added vanilla. Sounds liked a lot of changes but I had to work with what I had. This did not disappoint. Thank you so much !
I have never baked a cake from scratch before. I can’t believe it, this was the most delicious cake! Extremely moist. I made two batches of the cream cheese frosting 😉
Can i use gas stove in place of oven? If yes how how long will the baking last?
Yes, the baking time should be pretty similar.
Absolutely love this recipe. So easy to make too. I steam the carrots in the microwave for about 5-6 minutes before adding to the batter. Makes them perfectly tender. Best cream cheese frosting ever too. I did increase the frosting by 50% as I like a lot of frosting. Found this recipe first for my daughters birthday but use it now repeatedly. Great way to use up extra carrots.
Does this cake need to be refrigerated??
Yes, since there’s cream cheese in the frosting I recommend refrigerating it.
If I am making this using three 8in cake tins, what would the ingredient adjustment be if any?
I would recommend increasing the recipe by half (so multiply the recipe 1.5) and increase the baking time slightly too.
OMG!! Made this recipe for a family get together and everyone LOVED the cupcakes. I had to cook some apple slices down and add maybe 1/8th of a cup of yogurt in place of the applesauce but I’m thinking that might have been a good thing! I made 14 with finely crushed walnuts on top of the amazing cream cheese frosting and the other 10, no nuts just in case anyone had allergies or like my hubby…dislikes! Next time I will actually add walnuts into at least half of the batter in addition to adding on top after icing. At any rate they all raved! LOT’S of food served yet all of the cupcakes were gone! Thank You!!!
If you are making jumbo jumbo cupcakes in muffin tins what would the cooking time be?
I’m honestly not sure. For regular muffins/cupcakes the baking time is 20 to 25 minutes, so you will need to bake them longer than that.
25 minutes in the jumbo muffin tins was perfect in a gas stove. Thanks?
question: should the carrots be grated finely or with a larger opening ? they look quite fat in the photos. lengthwise or holding the fat end and grating down the carrot ? I haven’t done this yet 😉
I use the larger opening on my grater and grate from the larger end of the carrot.
Can you freeze this cake.?
Yes, it will freeze well for up to 3 months!
What if you wanted to bake it in a bundt pan? What baking time would you recommend?
I would guess 45 to 60 minutes.
I like to add pineapple to my carrot cake. However, we can’t get crushed pineapple here in Germany. I find even pulsing pineapple in a kitchen machine makes it too soupy. Can I cut the chunks with a knife and drain well? How much pineapple should I use and what adjustments to other liquids should I make. Thanks.
Yes, that would be fine! I would use about 1/2 cup of chopped pineapple that’s been drained. You shouldn’t need to make any other adjustments to the recipe.
This is, by far, the BEST carrot cake I have ever had! I made it the day before Easter for my fiancé’s family and it literally disappeared in minutes. My fiancé loved it so much that I made another one Easter morning! This recipe will be a staple in our household. Thank you!
What can I use instead of egg in this recipe as an egg replacement?
You may be able to use flax eggs, but I haven’t tested them in this recipe.
Hi Danielle,
Can the applesauce be omitted? (Need to cater for fructose intolerance).
Would the butter need to be increased?
Thanks!
Hi, Tarryn! You can omit the applesauce and increase the oil to 1 cup.
You made my day with this recipe. And inspired this woman with multiple sclerosis to get up and bake at 6.30am from now on, every time she feels beat down.
I compared several recipes before choosing this one. First attempt came out wonderfully! All of my Italian friends loved it! This is a favorite for me but cakes in Italy are less sweet (with little exceptions like Sicilian Cassata) so not everybody usually likes my American cakes and baked goods… this one saw no leftovers! I used peanut oil, my fav when it comes to baking and frying, and made extra frosting. Will definitely do this again!
I made this yesterday, on Easter, All six of us LOVED it. It may be nudging my husband’s chocolate torte recipe off the pedestal as family #1 favorite!
I made three small changes:
1 – I added 1+ cups of defrosted zucchini that I had frozen six months ago from our family garden, draining the liquid that had formed from the freezing/thawing process.
2 – Being a little shy on flour, I substituted about 1/3 c. of almond flour. This is a change that I think I’ll continue in other recipes. Due to the added zucchini, I also added about 2T extra flour.
3 – Because we like things spicier than many people prefer, I used 2 tsp. cinnamon and a full tsp, ginger,
It was fabulous and the baking time was spot on,