With its outstanding spice flavor, super moist crumb, and velvety cream cheese frosting, this is truly the best carrot cake. Use brown sugar and toasted pecans for deeper flavor.
I don’t call it carrot cake. I call it “birthday cake.” It’s my one and only choice on my big day. I’ve adopted this tradition and make my own carrot birthday cake each year. And, of course, we never limit it to only once per year. This is always my top choice for Easter dessert recipes and I love making it for spring brunches, baby showers, and our community’s new bake sale.
In fact, this recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
And, finally, I firmly believe that the ONLY thing that competes with carrot cake is a batch of carrot cake cupcakes.
What Does This Carrot Cake Taste Like?
This carrot cake sets the standard for carrot cakes everywhere. It’s deeply moist and filled with toasted pecans (or walnuts, if you prefer). Most of its flavor comes from brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and carrots. Ginger adds the most delicious zing, but it isn’t overpowering at all. The cake is dense, but each forkful tastes super soft and extra lush. If made ahead, the flavor intensifies and the cream cheese frosting seeps into the layers, creating an even more tender bite.
So if you’re looking for a make-ahead cake whose taste and texture won’t be compromised, make this! It’s a total classic and 1 taste converts everyone, even those silly people who “don’t like carrot cake.” Who ARE you people?! 😉
Let’s Make It!
This carrot cake is pretty easy, but let’s walk through the process together. You can also use this detailed how to assemble and decorate a layer cake post and video as a guide.
Begin by toasting pecans in the oven. Spread them on a baking sheet and bake for about 6–8 minutes. Toasting the nuts is optional, but you won’t regret doing it. Toasting pecans creates an unparalleled deep nutty flavor—I love using them in my hummingbird Bundt cake and pecan pie cheesecake, too. Let the nuts cool down for a couple minutes, then start the carrot cake batter. Begin with 2 mixing bowls. Whisk the dry ingredients together in 1 bowl, then the wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine the two, along with shredded carrots and half of the toasted nuts. You don’t even need a mixer for the cake batter!
Instead of a layer cake, you can bake this recipe in a 9×13-inch pan. It’s also perfect as the bottom tier for a homemade wedding cake!
How to Make Carrot Cake Moist
If it isn’t stick-to-the-back-of-your-fork moist, it’s just not worth it. So I worked to create an EXTRA moist carrot cake. Don’t skip these ingredients:
- Brown Sugar: I’ve come across a lot of carrot cake recipes that are sweetened with mostly granulated sugar. That’s great, but granulated sugar doesn’t do much for the cake besides sweeten it. Brown sugar not only sweetens cake, it produces so much flavor and moisture. It’s just… the best!
- Oil: Cakes need fat to make them soft and tender. When preparing cakes without super strong flavors such as vanilla cake and white cake, I prefer to use butter as the fat. Butter also gives them flavor. But for cakes like chocolate cake and carrot cake that have flavor from other ingredients, I find flavorless oil is the best choice.
- Applesauce: To prevent the cake from tasting too moist (wet) and oily, I add some applesauce. You could even use crushed pineapple, too! These flavors pair beautifully with brown sugar and spices.
- Freshly Shredded Carrots: My #1 tip for carrot cakes is to shred whole carrots at home. Do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots because they are hard and dry. You need about 4 large carrots for this recipe. And when you grate them, you’ll notice how wet they are. That is PRIME moisture for your baked cake and you don’t want to skip it! Same principle applies when using zucchini in my zucchini cake, too.
Cream Cheese Frosting
The carrot cake frosting? Well, that’s easy too. It’s so smooth, tangy, and glides on the cake seamlessly. I call it spreadable cheesecake and it tastes unbelievable with this cake’s deep spice flavor.
Ingredients: You need brick-style cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. The salt helps offset the sweetness.
If you’re looking to pipe decoration with this cream cheese frosting, chill it in the refrigerator for about 1 hour first. This guarantees the creamy frosting will hold its shape.
And if you’re not a fan of cream cheese frosting, these vanilla frostings will work just as well: vanilla buttercream, Swiss meringue buttercream, and not-so-sweet whipped frosting.
There’s no emotion quite like the sadness you’ll experience when that last slice is gone!
Carrot Cake Success Tips
- Line your cake pans with parchment. Place your cake pans on a large sheet of parchment paper. Trace the bottom of the cake pan with a pencil, then cut the circles. Grease the pan and the parchment paper. Parchment paper rounds guarantee the cakes won’t stick!
- Make it ahead. One of the BEST parts about carrot cake is that it gets better with time, even after 1 full day. The flavors mingle, the moisture prevails, and the cream cheese frosting sets into the layers. It’s ridiculously good! You can make and frost the cake 1 day in advance. Keep it covered in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving.
- Use freshly grated carrots. Grate them yourself for the freshest, best result.
My Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
With its outstanding spice flavor, super moist crumb, and velvety cream cheese frosting, this is truly the best carrot cake. Use brown sugar and toasted pecans for deeper flavor. This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260g) chopped pecans or walnuts (1 cup for cake, 1 cup for garnish)*
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (226g/240ml) vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)*
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (180g) smooth unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 cups (260g) grated carrots (about 4 large)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 ounces (452g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt, to taste
Instructions
- Toast the nuts: Preheat the oven to 300°F (149°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Spread the chopped pecans (or walnuts) on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 6–8 minutes, or until fragrant. Give the pan a shake halfway through baking. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10–15 minutes.
- Increase the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Grease two or three 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk the brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla until combined and no brown sugar lumps remain.
- In another large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and, using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold the ingredients together until just combined. Fold in the carrots and 1 cup (about 120g) of the toasted nuts. (The rest of the nuts are for garnish.) Pour/spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If using three cake pans, this takes about 20–25 minutes. If using two cake pans, this takes about 30–35 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans set on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Run a knife around the edges to help loosen the sides, remove the cakes from the pans, peel off the parchment, and place on the rack to finish cooling. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes until completely combined and creamy. If the frosting seems a bit thin and runny, refrigerate it for 30 minutes before using.
- Assemble the cake: (For extra help with this step, see this video & post on how to assemble a layer cake.) First, using a large serrated knife or cake leveler, slice a thin layer off the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake layer on your cake turntable, cake stand, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with 3/4 to 1 cup (180–240g) of the frosting. Top with the second cake layer, upside down, and spread the same amount of frosting as on the first layer. Top with the third layer, right side up, and spread the top and sides with the remaining frosting. Garnish with the remaining toasted nuts. Refrigerate the cake for at least 20 minutes before slicing. This helps the cake hold its shape when cutting. If you refrigerated the cake for longer than 4 hours, take it out of the refrigerator 2 hours before serving so it can mostly come to room temperature.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I like to use a cake carrier for storing and transporting.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The cake layers can be baked, cooled, covered, and stored at room temperature overnight. Likewise, the frosting can be prepared, then covered and refrigerated overnight. When ready to decorate, let the frosting sit at room temperature to slightly soften for 15 minutes, then give it one more mix with the mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute before frosting cake. Frosted cake or unfrosted cake layers can be frozen up to 2–3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before decorating/serving. See this post on how to freeze cakes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Box Grater | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Wooden Spoon | Silicone Spatula | 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cake Turntable | Icing Spatula | Cake Carrier (for storage)
- Nuts: Feel free to omit the nuts for a nut-free carrot cake. No other changes to the recipe required.
- Applesauce: Instead of applesauce, you can use 3/4 cup crushed pineapple if desired. Slightly drain the canned crushed pineapple first. You want it the consistency of applesauce—not too watery. You could also use 3/4 cup mashed bananas, sour cream, plain yogurt, or canned pumpkin puree.
- Carrots: My #1 tip for carrot cakes is to grate whole carrots at home. Do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots because they are hard and dry.
- Oil: If using melted coconut oil, make sure all of the other cake batter ingredients (carrots included) are room temperature. Otherwise, the melted coconut oil will begin to solidify before the batter goes into the oven.
- Cream Cheese: Use bricks/blocks of real cream cheese, not cream cheese spread in a tub.
- 9×13-Inch Cake: Simply pour the batter into a greased and lightly floured 9×13-inch pan and bake for 40–45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Carrot Bundt Cake: Use a 10–12-cup generously greased Bundt pan. Bake for 55–75 minutes. All ovens and Bundt pans are different, so that’s why the bake time varies. Keep a close eye on it.
- Add-Ins: If you’d like to add raisins or coconut, reduce the pecans to 1/2 cup (or leave them out). Add 1 cup of raisins or shredded coconut. Stick to around 1–1.5 cups total add-ins. Or you can leave the cake plain without any add-ins.
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes: Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20–22 minutes. Yields about 24 cupcakes. Or try my carrot cake cupcakes recipe.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can I use GF flour in this recipe? 1 to 1 or another type?
Hi Victor, we haven’t tested a gluten-free version, but let us know if you do. Other bakers have reported success making this cake with 1:1 gluten-free flour substitutes.
Very nice recipe & a good balance of flavor. I like to cook and puree my carrots, I add in crushed pineapple & shredded coconut
Doug
Recipe was easy to follow and end result was yummy! Visitors also enjoyed their cake I chose coconut oil for recipe. Thank you for an easy but tasty recipe
Hi All – I am not sure how to search comments, so apologies if this is redundant. I want to make a bundt carrot cake. Are there any adjustments, additions, special anythings that I need to do/know
in order to do that? TIA sg
Hi Susan, you can make this recipe in a Bundt pan, see recipe Notes for baking directions. Enjoy!
Hello from Italy!
I’ve just made this recipe since my husband is a big fan of carrot cake and we loved it! I just switched the frosting with your brown butter one and they paired beautifully. Will be back for more recipes of yours 🙂
The cream cheese frosting recipe on this page calls for twice as much cream cheese as your standalone recipe. Was that on purpose? Do both work?
Hi Adrienne, this recipe will make more icing than the other.
What would I need to do to make this into a half sheet cake recipe?
Hi Colleen, this batter as written will fit nicely in a half sheet pan. The bake time will be shorter; same oven temp.
Made this for my birthday and it is amazing! I used half the sugar in the icing and it came out great (for those looking to cut back on the sweetness).
I made the my favorite carrot cake which I poured into cupcakes. The flavor was good and will make them again. Unfortunately, when I made the cream cheese frosting it was too loose. I added 3 cups of additional sifted powdered sugar and it still was loose. I would recommend cutting down on the cream cheese and some butter.
Hi Sandra, thank you for giving this recipe a try! Make sure you’re using full fat block style cream cheese. If you use the one sold in a tub or a low fat version it will be too runny.
As always, the recipe works beautifully even when made vegan. Used JustEgg, vegan sour cream, and plant butter; no nuts but a half cup of raisins/craisins/ sultanas. Delicious!
Followed directions exactly for the icing (by weight) and it was super runny. Even another nearly 1 c icing sugar didn’t thicken it. Next time would add the icing sugar a bit at a time until the right consistency.
Hi Robyn! Make sure you’re using full fat block style cream cheese. If you use the one sold in a tub or a low fat version it will be too runny.
Weird, I used vegan cream cheese and plant butter and had to add a bit of milk to make it thinner. It was very thick
I love Sally’s recipes and appreciate the work involved to achieve success.
My husband froze gallons of peeled and chopped carrots from our garden and I was looking for a way to use them in ways other than savory. I steamed and pureed them for this cake. We’re also on sugar-low-to-no eating so used half sugar substitute and half powdered pure maple sugar for sweeteners and olive oil instead of coconut oil (need that for my granola – another thanks to Sally!) Baked to 200 degree internal temp. Not Sally’s perfect cake but good for us. Thanks for the inspiration!
Do you have a recipe for a light and fluffy carrot cake?
Hi Kris, carrot cake is naturally on the denser side given the heavy, wet ingredients. Let us know if you give this one a try!
Hi I just posted. So can I use this frosting for your cinnamon rolls?
Hi Susan, sure! We also include a cream cheese icing recipe with our cinnamon rolls.
Thanks, Trina! The cream cheese one that comes with the cinnamon rolls is the one I always use and it’s really good, but this one has a slightly different recipe and taste and I love it. I’ll try it! Thank you and a great big thanks to Sally too
Very good cake. I think since i didnt layer half the amount of frosting was good. Not overly sweet
Hi Sally,
What side of the OXO box grater do you use in this recipe? The large holes or smaller holes?
Thank you
Hi Jena, we use the larger side of the box grater here!
Happy New Year!
Thank you for ur amazing recipes
Can I make this with just brown sugar? Would it taste the same?
Thank you
Hi T, that should be fine in a pinch. Hope you enjoy the cake!
The flavor of this cake is delicious! It is rich and flavorful. I added bit of orange zest. The cake, though was not as moist as I anticipated. Could it be because I used coconut oil instead of a different oil?
Hi Monique, melted coconut oil should be fine here, as long as the other ingredients are at room temperature. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure it isn’t over measured, which can dry it out.
Hi, can I make this in 6 inch cake pans? How will I need to adjust the recipe?
I’ve made this cake before and it was the yummiest carrot cake! So much flavour packed into every bite!!
Hi Char, we’d actually recommend using the batter from our carrot cake cupcakes instead – it makes the perfect amount for a three layer 6 inch cake!
I just did that yesterday! A half recipe made 2 six inch layers, they were a bit on the thick size but worked great. I am currently obsessed with making 6 inch layer cakes, I did it with her gingerbread cake for Christmas dessert.
Hi, I am wondering if you have ever tried using crushed pineapple in your carrot cake recipe instead of applesauce. We have been doing this for years and it is the best we have had anywhere.
Hi Tom, Absolutely! Instead of applesauce, you can use 3/4 cup crushed pineapple. Slightly drain the canned crushed pineapple first. You want it the consistency of applesauce—not too watery.
Excited to try this! Are the oven temperature settings to fan forced or conventional?
Hi Ange! We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
Hi Sally, just recently found your site and made the coconut cake with coconut frosting….absolutely delicious! I thought it would be overwhelming in coconut flavor but it wasn’t. My husband is asking for a carrot cake of which I saw your recipe. He does not like DENSE cakes, he likes light and fluffy. After reading your recipe it says “dense” but the pictures don’t look dense. Can you please clarify and if it is dense is there a way to make it light and fluffy like the coconut cake? So happy I found your site! 🙂
Hi Kris, so glad you loved the coconut cake! We think you’ll love this cake too, but this cake batter is naturally heavier due to all of the wet ingredients!
May I use virgin olive oil or avocado oil in place of vegetable oil?
Hi Jan, that will work!
This cake is superbly delicious!! I don’t usually use pecans in a carrot cake but I am glad I added them, they sure make the cake more delicious!! The frosting was excellent too!!
I saw 2 cups of carrots and also 3 cups? which is correct?
Hi J, this recipe calls for 2 cups (260g) grated carrots (about 4 large carrots).
everyone loved the taste. got confused on baking times-kept checking and made it 25min so it ended pretty moist but still very happy all in all. thanks s
e x
Hi is it possible to make this in a roll cake? like the pumpkin rolls
Hi Michael, we haven’t tested it so we can’t be sure. We’ve successfully used it for layer cakes, Bundt cakes, thicker sheet cakes, and cupcakes. Let us know if you give it a try!
Be sure to use parchment paper in the pans. I must have printed off the recipe a while ago, because it doesn’t mention parchment in the baking pans. The cakes really stuck to the pans. Icing hides all sins, so it still turned out just fine. Thanks for such a delicious recipe, Sally.
Hi Sallys! My brother requested carrot cake for his birthday and insists on caramel frosting- im trying both of these recipes today for the first time. I make your chocolate chip cookie recipe every friday for my co-workers. Do you have a book our yet?
Thank you!
Hi Katherine, thank you so much for making our recipes! Sally’s newest cookbook will be out September 2nd 🙂
Hey, I was just wondering if I wanted to make multiple layers using this recipe how many layers would you reckon I could get out of it? Also what temperature and time would I leave the cakes in for?
Hi,how can I make this recipe for a 6 inch cake ?
Hi Liza, we’d actually recommend using the batter from our carrot cake cupcakes instead – it makes the perfect amount for a three layer 6 inch cake!