Carrot Cake Loaf with Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot cake has always been one of my most favorite desserts. I usually order it at a cafe or after dinner, out at a restaurant. All that’s behind me now. This loaf is just like the cake but a bit lighter. Its ideal for breakfast or afternoon coffee time. Trust me, you need to make this loaf.
This carrot cake loaf is actually simple to make, the only prep necessary is to coarsely grate the carrots and chop up your walnuts (if you’re using walnuts). You can also make this in an 8 inch round cake pan. If you want a double layer cake, just double the loaf recipe.
For the frosting, make sure you let the loaf cool COMPLETELY. I was rushing the process, and as you can see, my frosting went on fluffy and then began to melt slightly. Please be patient. If you want your frosting thicker and fluffier, you can add more powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.
Thank you for swinging by Hungry Happens! If you make this recipe or any other one from our site, we would greatly appreciate you taking the time to comment and rate the dish! LOVE YOUR LIFE!
Carrot Cake Loaf with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Loaf:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (or olive oil)
- 2 large carrots, grated
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
Frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese, room temp
- 2 tbs butter, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
Loaf:
- Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line your 9×5" loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, mix the oil and brown sugar. Mix in the carrots. Next, beat in the eggs with the mixer. Fold in the nuts. And lastly mix in the flour mixture until combined. Transfer the batter to your prepped pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. DO NOT ICE THE LOAF UNTIL IT IS COOLED COMPLETELY OR THE FROSTING WILL MELT.
Frosting:
- In a medium bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until incorporated. Add in the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
Love carrot cake one of my favorites. Do you know what high altitude adjustments are needed?
Hi Brenda, unfortunately I don’t possess much experience in baking in high altitudes however, I did find this great article that will hopefully help you: https://iambaker.net/high-altitude-baking-tips/
Omg this is so good! I have to figure out a was to make it for my aunt who is diabetic. Is that possible?
You could use a sugar substitute or drop the sugar down to a 1/3 of a cup for the whole loaf and only smear a light spread of frosting on the cake.
Omg this is so good! I have to figure out how to make it for my aunt who is diabetic. Is that possible?
Hi Geri, I’m so happy you like the loaf! For your aunt, you can try picking up some sugar free sugar like lakofruit sugar or stevia. Whenever I use these sugars, I always use a little bit less than what the regular recipe calls for. they tend to be very sweet. Hope it works out for you.
Hi can I use this recipe with gluten free flour ? If so how much flour do I use ?
One to one for gluten free flour
Hi, I have a question here. In your banana bread recipe, you call for 1 3/4 cup flour but in this carrot loaf, you only call for 1 cup. Is there any reason for adding less flour here? Keen to learn from you. Thks.
Hi Gio, When a recipe has more liquids (or wet ingredients) in it, you need more flour to offset and get that batter consistency.
How small do you grate the carrots?
The large grate.
Just baked today and this was delicious! 😋Used several small carrots (instead of two large) as the bag of carrots we bought had smaller size carrots in it. Grated until I had about 1/2 cup grated carrots. 🥕
Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Hi Kathleen! That’s great, carrots are carrots! Glad you enjoyed! And thank you for the feedback!!
I was wondering about amount of carrots because I have a bunch of little ones. I would have thought more like a cup’s worth.. guess the recipe is forgiving!
Hi Deanna, it should come out to around 2 cups shredded!
Hi, can you use another oil besides avocado oil?
Hi Kat, absolutely! Any neutral oil works like canola oil, melted coconut oil, or butter.
Wow, what more can be said about this cake other than it is Simply Delicious…and I mean that literally. Easy to make, moist, and tasty! I made this loaf while working from home in between Teams meetings. I surprised my family wit it after your amazing Spinach Stuffed Salmon (an absolute must) and they were overly impressed😎
Once again…Loved. Our. Life!
Το φαγητό είναι πολύ καλό. Μπράβο!
Excelente receta la hice y quedó fenomenal. Gracias por compartirla👍👍👍
Gracias Miguel!
This was delicious! I used dried tart cherries instead of walnuts, and it was sweet enough to not need any frosting. I’ll definitely be making this one again. Thanks!
Hi Carl, I lOVE the substitutes, thanks for sharing!
Hi there! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes. I was just curious if you’ve tried making this one gluten free? If so which flour would you recommend? Maybe adding some zanthum gum as well for the elasticity? Thoughts?
Thank you in advance!
Lisa
Hi LIsa, i would do one to one gluten free flour. I haven’t tried this recipe but I have alot of experience with subbing in gluten free flour in the past and it typically always works without any issues.
Is there any alternative for cinnamon?
You can just leave it out or use a pinch of cardamon
This is a quick and very easy recipe, plus it’s delicious!! Carrot cake is my husband’s favorite but now that we are empty nesters it’s hard to make a carrot cake for just the two of us – this carrot cake loaf is the perfect answer! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Hi Toni! Glad you and the hubby enjoyed it and YES it is the perfect answer to carrot cake cravings!!! Thanks for the rating!!
Stella, I’m making this carrot cake loaf again tonight! It is so yummy I had to tell you again 😊.
I also wanted to say I live in Colorado (high altitude) and made no adjustments to the recipe.
This is a delicious cake and the perfect size. Carrot cake is not a favorite of my husband, he loves this recipe. I’ve made it serval times
Hi Nita, glad its a win with everyone and thanks for the comment!
Hi, I wanna try this great recipe! I don’t know what kind of cream cheese can I use. Is it a special one for deserts?… Or can I use, maybe, Greek yogurt? 🙂
Hi Laura, I used the regular block of Philadelphia cream cheese. (half a block of cream cheese to be exact). You can totally make a Greek yogurt frosting with some vanilla and maple syrup Too!
Tks a lot!!! Can’t wait to prepare this for my family! You’re the best! And I Loveee the end of every recipe:LOVE YOUR LIFE 🙏❤️
Thank you so much Laura! That means a lot to me for the LYL! Have a beautiful day!!
I can only say “OMG!!! this cake is sooo good! I prepared it yesterday and I was really surprised how delicious it is! My family also loved it, specially my son, it is his favorite cake and I’m so happy that thanks to you I found such a great recipe!
Thank you so very much!
Love my life! ☺️🙃
Hi whenever you print the recipe the nutritional info does nit print and I request for it to print?
Hi Julie, thanks for bringing this to my attention! I have notified my tech team to fix the issue. Thank you!
Hi! Do you have any other suggestions other than cream
Cheese frosting . Something less caloric? Would it taste good
With a drizzle instead ?
Hi Carroll, you can do a Greek yogurt and maple syrup drizzle.
So easy and way TOOOOO DELICIOUS ❤️ I have no experience in baking and the recipe is now my go to every time I’m invited out. Thank you we love ALL your recipes xx
Hi Karen, glad you liked the loaf! Thanks for taking the time to try it and rate it!
Unbelievable. I am a terrible cooker and baker even following the exact receipts I see on youtube and stuff but your website is something apart. I’ve done three receipts over the weekend and I am going to the fourth one. I can’t thank you enough. They are all delicious, OMG!!!
Hi Isadora, Yayyyyy you are a great cook! Keep cooking and baking and never stop!
Can I substitute a gluten free flour?
Hi Paula, yes absolutely !!