Carrot Cake Loaf with Cream Cheese Icing

Today we’re making a carrot cake loaf! This recipe is moist and loaded with yummy add-ins that give it a perfect texture.

Of course, I’ve topped with the most decadent and fitting of icings, cream cheese.

It’s a fun twist on a classic carrot cake recipe that is sure to be a quick household favorite.

I have tried several carrot cake recipes that have failed miserably. This one, however, has made it all worth it.

I am all about making things easy, so I tend to bake a lot with a loaf pan.

There’s something about putting a cake mix into a loaf pan that makes it feel easier and gives you the excuse to eat it for breakfast.

I mean, this loaf is loaded with good for you ingredients like carrots, raisins and pecans.

That makes it breakfast worthy? Right?

I say yes!

🥕Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger (optional)
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 room temperature eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)
• 3 carrots already grated
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

💭Top Tips

For this recipe, the star of our show is the carrot of course!

You’ll want to make sure to peel your carrots and grate them before you start mixing your ingredients.

You can use a standard box grater, but my personal favorite method is to use the shred blade on my food processor.

(If you don’t own a food processor, you are missing out! I use mine nearly everyday to cut fruits and veggies. It saves an insane amount of time. I use and LOVE this one.)

We also used pecans, which are pair perfectly with carrot cake, but walnuts are a fantastic choice too.

You can leave the nuts raw, but toasting them first enhances the subtle nutty flavors and texture.

You can toast them yourself but spreading them on a sheet pan and popping them in the oven or toaster oven.

You could even use the broiler in a pinch, just don’t burn them!

This carrot cake loaf also calls for eggs and oil.

Let your eggs warm up to room temperature before mixing with your sugar to create a better texture for the base of your loaf.

When choosing an oil, choose a flavorless oil like vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid using butter.

Since this carrot cake recipe is using cream cheese icing, you’ll have to keep the loaf in the fridge.

For this reason, you’ll want to stick with oil for your fat and not the butter, as the butter can make your cake hard after cooling in the fridge.

Oil should help keep your cake loaf moist even when it’s cold.

For flour, we are using just plain old all-purpose flour.

⏲️ Baking time

When using a typical 5×9 bread loaf pan this recipe takes 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes to bake thoroughly. Check for doneness by testing with a toothpick.

If you want to turn your loaf into muffins, you could easily bake this exact recipe in a muffin tin, but increase the oven’s temperature to 350 degrees and only bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

🔪 Instructions

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

To make your carrot cake mixture, start by mixing all of your dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate mixing bowl combine your sugar and room temperature eggs.

Whisk the mixture until it’s thick and creamy

This is where an electric mixer or immersion blender with the whisk attachment comes in handy.

If you don’t have an electric mixer, hand beating it will work, it’ll just take more time and energy.

Now add in your oil and vanilla into the mixture and incorporate well.

Slowly add your dry ingredients into your egg mixture and mix well.

Now add in your carrots, chopped pecans, and raisins (if using) and fold into your mixture.

Finally, pour your batter into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 1 hour.

While your cake is baking you can make your cream cheese icing.

To make the cream cheese icing, simply mix all of the frosting ingredients together with an electric mixer.

Once your carrot cake is completely cool, you can ice your loaf with the freshly made frosting.

You can top off your loaf with a few pecans if you like.

🥜Substitutions

I already mentioned most of the substitutions above, but here’s a quick rundown in case you skipped ahead.

• Instead of pecans, you can use other nuts like walnuts or no nuts at all. Although they do add a great texture and flavor.
• Instead of vegetable oil, you can swap out canola oil, corn oil or even safflower oil. Just make sure it’s a flavorless oil and avoid butter.
• The spices add a lovely flavor but feel free to leave out what you don’t have or can’t use.
• Raisins add a good tangy and sweet flavor, but again, totally optional.

Yield: 8 Slices

Carrot Cake Loaf

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

This delicious carrot cake loaf is a fun twist on a traditional favorite. It's moist and sweet and makes a fantastic dessert. Of course, if it's in loaf form you can always call it breakfast food. Yum!

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Ingredients

for the Carrot Cake Bread

• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger (optional)
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 room temperature eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)
• 3 carrots already grated
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

For the Cream Cheese Icing

• 4 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (4 tbsp) softened
• 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp heavy cream or milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a bread loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt and mix.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes, until the mixture becomes creamy in texture.
5. Add in the oil and vanilla and mix well until fully combined.
6. Slowly stir in your dry ingredients mixture.
7. With a flat spatula, fold in the carrots, raisins, and pecans.
8. Pour the carrot cake batter into your pan and bake for 1 hour - 1 hour 15 minutes.
9. Remove from oven when loaf is baked through and a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool completely.
11. In a clean, dry mixing bowl prep your frosting by adding in all of the ingredients for your cream cheese icing.
12. Mix with an electric mixer and ice your cooled bread loaf and top with chopped pecans if desired.

Notes

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. Pecans and raisins are optional ingredients. Feel free to have fun and change it up to whatever your heart desires!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 616Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 27gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 306mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 2gSugar: 49gProtein: 7g

Nutrition information is an estimate based on ingredients and isn't always accurate.