🥕 This Carrot Cake Loaf with Cream Cheese Frosting is my favorite recipe for carrot cake! It’s ridiculously moist, soft, tender, and full of cinnamon-and-spice-and-everything-nice, including an abundance of carrots and sweet, juicy raisins!
The Easiest Carrot Cake Loaf (From Scratch!)
Layered carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is one of my favorite desserts when it’s done well. As a result, I have lots of carrot cake-inspired recipes like my carrot cake muffins, carrot cake cinnamon rolls, and carrot cake cupcakes. However, this carrot cake loaf is an easier take that I come back to again and again.
Many carrot cakes turn out dry or bland, but this version solves both problems. The loaf bakes up incredibly moist with a soft, tender crumb. It’s spring and dense but not heavy or greasy, and a generous blend of warm spices gives it plenty of flavor without overpowering the classic carrot cake taste.
Then, shredded carrots and raisins add texture, and a rich cream cheese frosting brings the perfect tangy sweetness. The recipe makes two loaves, which is helpful, because it tends to disappear quickly!
Ingredients You Need
To make a carrot cake bread loaf, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter and oil
- Eggs
- Buttermilk: This tenderizes the batter and helps an otherwise dense batter rise nicely while baking. If you don’t keep buttermilk on hand, you can make a substitute using regular milk and either lemon juice or vinegar, as I do with my angel biscuits recipe
- Brown & granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Spices (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg): If you don’t keep these on hand, I suggest using more cinnamon. For a twist, if you love pumpkin as I do, pumpkin pie spice would be lovely, too
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda & baking powder
- Mix-ins: Grated carrots and optional raisins and nuts. If you’re using both raisins and nuts, reduce each to about 3/4-cup rather than one full cup each, so you don’t overwhelm the batter with add-ins
- Cream cheese frosting: Cream cheese, unsalted butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make a Carrot Cake Loaf
This simple carrot loaf cake recipe has a quick, whisk-tougher batter. There is nothing fussy about it, and it goes from cupboard to oven in less than 5 minutes with very few dirty dishes!
Here’s an overview of how to make a spiced carrot loaf cake:
- Make the carrot cake loaf: Simply melt the butter in a medium bowl or large bowl, and whisk the melted butter with the wet ingredients and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients, stirring just until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the batter into a prepared pan, using a spatula to spread it out in an even layer. Make sure not to fill it more than halfway full because the batter rises considerably.
- Bake until the top is set in the middle. It will likely have domed up a little, too. You’ll know your loaf is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The exact baking time will vary based on your oven and pan size used.
- While the cake cools, beat the frosting ingredients with a hand mixer or stand mixer until soft and fluffy, and spread the frosting evenly over the top of the cake loaf.
A Note on Pan Sizes
This batter makes enough for two loaves. I used one 9-by-5-inch pan and one 8-by-4-inch pan. The photos are of the 9-by-5-inch.
Choose any combination of loaf pans, muffin pans, tube, or Bundt cake pans. The batter would make a great 10- to 12-cup Bundt, two mini Bundts, or about 4 mini loaves. Whatever odd assortment of pans you have, go with it, adjusting baking times accordingly
Carrot Cake Loaf with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 2 Loaf Pans
- 1 Large, Microwave-Safe Bowl
- 1 Wire Rack
- 1 Stand Mixer Fitted with a Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
For the Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch salt, optional (buttermilk is already a salted milk and I omitted adding salt)
- 2 ¼ cups coarsely grated carrots, packed loosely
- 1 cup raisins, optional but recommended
- 1 cup diced nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, optional
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used Trader Joe’s Whipped Light)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, half of one stick
- 1 ½ cups+ confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F; spray loaf pans with floured cooking spray; set aside. I used one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and one 8-by-4-inch loaf pan. Choose any combination of loaf pan sizes, tube or Bundt cake pans, or muffin pans.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Add the oil, eggs, buttermilk, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and whisk vigorously until combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, optional salt, and stir to incorporate; don’t overmix.
- Stir in the carrots.
- Stir in the raisins and optional nuts.
- Pour batter into prepared pans, making sure not to fill any pan more than halfway full because this batter rises considerably.
- Bake the two loaves (9×5 and 8×4) for 40 to 50 minutes, or until top is set in the center, golden, and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool in pans for about 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. While cakes cool, make the frosting.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the cream cheese, butter, and beat to soften and combine, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy. Add additional sugar as desired for thicker frosting.
- Spread frosting over the tops of the cooled loaves. Slice into 3/4-inch wide slices and serve. I yield 9 to 10 slices from a 9×5 loaf.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Carrot Cake Recipes:
ALL OF MY CARROT CAKE-INSPIRED RECIPES!
Layered Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — A tender and moist classic two-layer carrot cake with tangy-sweet cream cheese frosting!
Carrot Cake Bars — Dense, chewy, super moist bars that taste like carrot cake with a cream cheese topping that’s baked right in so you don’t need to worry about frosting them!
Salted Caramel Carrot Cake — Soft, tender, EASY carrot cake infused with salted caramel sauce and topped with tangy cream cheese frosting is the ULTIMATE in decadence!
Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting — These soft, moist, tender cupcakes are the BEST carrot cake cupcakes I’ve ever had! They’re fast and easy to make, and come together in minutes!
Soft and Chewy Spiced Carrot Cake Cookies — All the flavors of richly spiced carrot cake, but in cookie form! Soft, chewy, extremely moist, and not at all cakey!
Carrot Banana Bread — EASY, no-mixer, super soft banana carrot bread that reminds me of carrot cake but healthier! Great Easter brunch idea or spring baked good!
Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — A marriage of pumpkin cake and carrot cake into one soft, moist, tender, and amazing cake! The tangy cream cheese frosting is truly the icing on this easy cake!
Soft Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Glaze — Super soft carrot cake bars that taste like blondies packed with chewy carrots! So good and a must-make!
Thank you bunches for this recipe! I just made this cake last night, and it is absolutely fabulous! The best carrot cake I’ve made at home in ages! Saving this page so I can make it over and over again.
So glad that you loved the cake and that it’s the best you’ve made at home! Love hearing things like that and thanks for LMK!
I made the recipe into cupcakes for Easter! Delicious! Everyone LOVED them. Thank you so much!!!!! I have been searching for a great carrot cake recipe!
I am so happy to hear they worked out as cupcakes and were a big hit! Thanks for coming back to LMK!
I made this Saturday for Easter on Sunday. It was great! Very good flavor and so moist. I made it into a bundt cake and it cooked in 50 minutes. The frosting is divine. So light and airy. We added raw walnuts to the top of those that wanted nuts. I kept the frosting in the fridge and frosted individual pieces. And I left out the raisins b/c my mom doesn’t like them. ???? I know but she doesn’t.
My daughter asked to take some to school today in her lunch. That’s impressive.
Thanks for LMK that you made it and that it even passed the lunchbox test with your daughter :) Good to know you made it as a Budnt and it took 50 mins to bake for you. I love making it as a Bundt as well!
One of my good friends brought me an amazing curry for lunch the other day…Just because. To return the favor, I am baking these right now. Carrot cake is her absolute favorite. They are still in the oven, but I can’t stop dipping into the batter mix!! I am making a cinnamon maple cream cheese frosting. I cannot wait to dig in to the finished product!!
The carrot cake is my fave ever carrot cake! I bet with your cinn-maple-cream cheese icing it’s going to be to-die for crazy good! WOW! Please report back and LMK how things pan out (literally) & if your friend approves!
I forgot carrot cake isn’t the best “cupcake” type cake. They fell in the middle, but I just filled it with frosting and it was still so super delicious! She loved them!! Thanks, I’m excited to make this again, this time as a loaf.
Ok I forgot about that too – that it’s a dense batter and not a light and airy batter like cupcake batter, but good recovery on just filling them with frosting and nobody was probably any the wiser anyway!
I’m definitely a carrot cake lover, and I like it spicy too. This one’s for me! Your photographs are just beautiful. The warm, rich color of the table just makes that carrot cake pop!
I baked this for my dad’s birthday yesterday, it was delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for coming back to tell me you made it and glad it was a success! My daughter’s bday was yesterday too (she got a pink cake though)!! Happy Bday to your dad!
Thank you! Happy Birthday to your daughter too :)
A good carrot cake is hard to come by, they can often be bland or dry but this one looks perfect in every way!
This looks absolutely perfect Averie!
I agree, a carrot cake without the punch of spice is not a carrot cake. I really need a 9×5 loaf pan- for some reason all I have are two 8×4’s…I think the large one wandered off with the also-missing 8×2-inch cake pan. (I’d love to know what goes on in those cluttered farmer’s cabinets at night!)
I love the chunky texture of this cake, and that gorgeously thick cream cheese frosting! Is it wrong to “sometimes” fantasize about eating a bowl of cream cheese frosting with a bag of salty pretzels?
I love your fantasies. I don’t even need the pretzels. Just a spoon :)
And my pans are all such a varied hodgepodge. I recently just bought pans from…the grocery store of all places! That all match. 2 of each in 8×4 and 9×5. And each was like $5.99. So for under $25, I match now :)
Years ago I used to work in the grocery store bakery/deli and I would always sneak a cup of the cream cheese frosting that they had in a HUGE tub and go to the back where no one could see me and just eat it with a spoon like it was candy! Crazy I know! But it was so good every now and then! Lol….
I eat frosting with a spoon now! I fully admit it. It’s awesome :) Most of the time the cake is just…meh. But the frosting is where it’s at. However with this cake, it really can hold it’s own!
I love this! I didn’t really love carrot cake as a kid, now it’s one of my favorites. And I agree that it needs raisins, or dried cherries, some form of dried fruit!
I absolutely love carrot cake and I am so happy you like raisins in yours. I know some people hate them in baked goods, but I just love them too!!! And what a great idea to bake the cake in loaf pans!
Just behind “Strawberries with Whipped Cream and Meringues” in my personal response to the question “What would you eat in Heaven?”…CARROT CAKE with the, yes OBLIGATORY cream cheese frosting!..Yours is so exquisitely presented…photographed…researched and explained with deft…that I actually bookmarked this offering before getting to the end of your text…true story.
As for the choosing loaf pans over the layered or Bundt ones…I tend to use them not for aesthetics ( I love the grandiose quality of carrot cakes baked in those)..but because I have noticed, at least in my family, that they are MUCH more likely to “embrace the cake” as they see it as a “healthy” choice (think banana bread, zucchini bread, pumpkin bread) or as “potential breakfast fare” over the glamorous cake form.
Thanks for the detail…particularly about frosting individual slices last minute to avoid refrigerator frosting “dry-out”…