Favorite Carrot Cake

This carrot cake recipe will become your new favorite! This moist and delicious carrot cake is so easy to make from scratch. It's the best!

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best carrot cake recipe

Finally! Meet my tested and perfected carrot cake recipe. I’ve been working on this carrot cake for a long time, and I’m so happy to report that I’ve finally nailed it.

I was hoping to publish the recipe in time for Valentine’s Day, then Mother’s Day. Here we are, just in time for Father’s Day and your summer birthdays! I hope you have a carrot cake lover in your life, because this cake will make him or her very happy.

carrot cake ingredients

This homemade carrot cake would be perfect for any celebratory occasion. It’s exactly what I want my carrot cake to be: delicious and moist, gently spiced with cinnamon and ginger, infused with flecks of fresh carrots, and covered in luscious cream cheese frosting. It’s the best.

This cake is also simple to make from scratch with wholesome ingredients. You can easily make it in an afternoon, with plenty of time to kill while the cake cools.

I’m often intimidated by layer cakes, so if I can make this cake, I know you can, too. Ready?!

grated carrots for carrot cake

Why You’ll Love This Carrot Cake

This carrot cake recipe is my favorite for several reasons:

1) This cake is incredibly delicious and moist.

The cake is nice and tender inside. The carrots are the star of the show, so you won’t find raisins, pineapple or applesauce here. Freshly toasted, chopped pecans are optional, but I love them. Sweet-and-tangy cream cheese frosting makes this cake utterly irresistible.

2) This cake is sweet, but not too sweet.

Some carrot cakes are overwhelmingly sweet with giant layers of frosting, and I can only stomach a bite or two. On the other hand, some “healthy” cakes are dry and disappointing, with a meager spread of frosting. This cake is just right—it’s sweet and tastes like a true treat.

3) This carrot cake is simple and easy to make.

No stand mixer required! You’ll just whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in another, and stir to combine. It doesn’t get easier than that.

4) This cake is made with wholesome ingredients, but no one will know it.

The recipe calls for whole wheat flour rather than all-purpose (although, you can use all-purpose if that’s what you have). Instead of refined vegetable oil, it calls for mild extra-virgin olive oil, which yields a wonderfully moist cake without any funny flavors. Lastly, it calls for maple syrup or honey instead of cups of granulated sugar.

5) This recipe is versatile.

You can leave out the nuts if you don’t like them. You can make this cake dairy free or gluten free. You can turn it into cupcakes. See the recipe notes for all the details!

Watch How to Make Carrot Cake

mixing wet and dry ingredients

carrot cake after baking

Carrot Cake Tips

For the best carrot flavor, choose skinny to medium-sized carrots and peel them before grating. Large carrots don’t taste as nice, and sometimes the outer carrot skin can taste bitter.

The easiest way to grate your carrots is a the food processor. Use the grating attachment, and your carrots will be grated in no time! Otherwise, you can grate the carrots by hand. Don’t buy carrot matchsticks from the store; they’re too thick and will yield crunchy cake.

Don’t overmix. This cake is easy to make by stirring the ingredients together by hand. If you overmix the batter, you risk ending up with dense, tough cake. Make it as directed and you will be rewarded with gloriously tender cake!

Don’t forget to grease your pans. Otherwise, your cake might stick! For extra insurance, use my favorite round baking pans (affiliate link), which have a non-toxic, non-stick silicone lining.

Let the cake cool completely before frosting. I know, it’s tempting to frost this cake when it’s warm, but don’t do it. If you do, your cake won’t be structurally sound, and the frosting might melt off.

slicing carrot cake (overhead view)

simple carrot cake recipe

Looking for more naturally sweetened treats? Here are a few of my favorites:

Please let me know how your cake turns out in the comments! I hope it becomes your new favorite carrot cake.

naturally sweetened carrot cake recipe

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Favorite Carrot Cake

  • Author: Cookie and Kate
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 16 slices

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.6 from 117 reviews

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This carrot cake recipe will become your new favorite! This moist and delicious carrot cake is easy to make with basic, wholesome ingredients. It’s the best! Recipe yields one double-layer 9″ cake.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ½ pounds peeled and grated carrots* (about 4 cups)
  • 1 cup raw pecan or walnut halves
  • ¾ cup mild extra-virgin olive oil** or melted coconut oil
  • 1 ¼ cups maple syrup or honey
  • 1 cup milk of choice
  • 4 eggs, preferably at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Double batch classic cream cheese frosting or naturally sweetened cream cheese frosting

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease two 9″ round cake pans. If you’re making classic cream cheese frosting, don’t forget to pull the cream cheese and butter out of the fridge so they can warm to room temperature.
  2. Toast the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet in the preheated oven until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Once they’re cool enough to handle, transfer them to a cutting board and chop them into small pieces. Reserve a couple tablespoons chopped pecans for garnishing the cake, if desired. We’ll stir the rest into the dry mixture in the following step.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir until blended. Add the grated carrots and chopped pecans, and stir to combine.
  4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil, maple syrup, milk, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk until fully blended.
  5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and spread the batter in an even layer on top.
  6. Bake the cakes on the middle rack for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the center of the cakes is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the baked cakes on a cooling rack and let them cool completely before frosting.
  7. When you’re ready to assemble, prepare the frosting as directed. Carefully invert the cakes to release them from their pans. Frost the top of one cake with about one-third of the frosting. Place the second cake on top, and frost the top with another one-third of the frosting. Finish by frosting around the side of the cake with the remaining frosting. If desired, sprinkle the reserved chopped pecans on top.
  8. When you’re ready to serve, use a sharp chef’s knife to carefully cut the cake into slices. The cake will keep at room temperature for the rest of the day, and for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

Notes

Recipe adapted from the easy carrot cake in my cookbook, Love Real Food (page 208).

*Carrot tips: Skinny-to-medium carrots (not large) offer the best carrot flavor. The easiest way to grate your carrots is in a food processor with the grating attachment. You can also grate them by hand, on the medium holes of a box grater. Don’t use store-bought matchstick carrots; they’re way too thick and will make your cake crunchy.

**Olive oil note: I recommend California Olive Ranch Everyday for this recipe. It’s an affordable, high quality olive oil that you can find at most grocery stores, and the flavor is so mild that you will not detect it in the finished product.

Flour substitutions: If desired, you can make this cake with a total of 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour.

Make it gluten free: Substitute your favorite all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.

Make it nut free: Simply omit the pecans.

Make it dairy free: Use a non-dairy milk (I’ve confirmed that almond milk and oat milk work in this recipe). Use a dairy-free cream cheese frosting (I haven’t come up with one yet).

Make it naturally sweetened: The cake itself is naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey. Top the cake with my date-sweetened cream cheese frosting for a cake free of refined sugar.

Egg note: I’m sorry to report that this is not a candidate for egg-free baking. I’ve tried this recipe with flax eggs in place of the real eggs, and they did not provide enough lift to counteract the weight of the carrots.

Pan size notes: You could make these cakes in 9″ square baking pans, no adjustments needed. You can also cut the recipe in half to make one 9″ round or square cake. For other pan sizes, keep the baking temperature constant and bake until the center of the cake is springy to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean (timing will depend on the pans used).

Make cupcakes: Divide the batter between 2 dozen muffin cups and bake at 350 for 18 to 24 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

Recommended equipment: (Affiliate links) I love my 11-cup food processor and these round cake pans, which have a non-toxic silicone coating.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

Kate and Cookie

HELLO, MY NAME IS

Kathryne Taylor

I'm a vegetable enthusiast, dog lover, mother and bestselling cookbook author. I've been sharing recipes here since 2010, and I'm always cooking something new in my Kansas City kitchen. Cook with me!

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Comments

  1. Pamela

    Hi, I’m wondering if you could use self raising flour instead of all purpose flour?

    1. Kate

      Hi Pamela, I wish I had an answer for you! Unfortunately, I didn’t test it that way. Baking can be quite tricky and changing one thing can impact your results.

  2. Fod

    Whoa!! This cake was amazing and super easy to put together. I only had all purpose flour and oat milk which turned out to be perfectly fine! I also didn’t have pecans so I skipped that step. The cake was very fragrant and had the perfect amount of sweetness. Mine took about 52 minutes to be fully done. Super fluffy and delicious! Definitely a keeper! Thanks Kate!

    1. Kate

      Thank you, Fod! I’m glad it worked with your substitutions.

  3. taya

    Hi Kate,

    I am from australia and would love to try your carrot cake recipe but I don’t understand the difference between the two types of flour. Is the first flour with a raising agent included and the second one without a raising agent?

    Thanks in advance.
    Taya

    1. Kate

      Hi Taya! That’s a good question. None of the suggested flours contain a raising agent (do not use self-rising flour here). Whole wheat pastry flour is a type of finely milled, low-protein wheat flour. If you don’t have it, use all-purpose flour instead. The second option lists two varieties of whole wheat flour—one made with white wheat berries, the other with standard red wheat berries. Hope that helps. You could use all-purpose flour for that one, too, I think.

  4. Hania

    Hi! I tried your healthy banana bread recipe and became a fan! I’m now going to attempt to try this. I wanted to know could I just use whole wheat flour as my only flour of choice in this recipe? I don’t want to use all purpose flour of any kind! I hope you reply! Thanks!!

    1. Kate

      Hi Hania! You really need the pastry flour or the all purpose flour to get this to not be too dense. Sorry!

      1. Hania Warsi

        So I went ahead and tried this with just whole wheat flour and like you predicted, it was a bit too dense but I did not mind that too much. The taste was lovely and texture was soft. Next time though, I do plan on including the whole wheat pastry flour. I did not use any cream cheese frosting so I feel like the cake on it own could have used a bit more of a sweetener. Thanks for such an easy wonderful recipe :)

        1. Kate

          Thanks so much for reporting back, Hania! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

  5. Venessa

    Hi! I have 2 questions before I make this:
    1. Would I be able to substitute cake and pastry flour to make it fluffier?
    2. Would I be able to substitute vegetable oil for the olive oil?
    Thanks so much!

    1. Kate

      Hi Venessa! You can use vegetable oil, yes. The first ingredient suggests whole wheat pastry flour, so yes pastry flour will work (as long as it’s not self-rising). You’ll want to use some whole wheat or regular all-purpose flour (second ingredient), as I found that the cake didn’t have enough structure with all pastry flour.

  6. Narissa

    So this was my first time making carrot cake and this recipe was perfect and so easy! I love that there was no sugar or butter in the cake! I also whipped up a double batch of the cream cheese frosting and it was perfect!! Thanks for the great recipe and I’ll definitely be making this again!

    1. Kate

      Love to hear that, Narissa! I appreciate you taking the time to review.

  7. Josie

    Have you ever made this cake gluten free? Has it turned out well? And if I do make it, would almond flour work?

    1. Kate

      Hi Josie! I’ve successfully made this cake gluten-free with Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free one-for-one blend. I haven’t tried almond flour—recipes typically need a significant amount of adjustments to work with almond flour.

  8. Kimberlyn

    Recipe looks awesome. I’m super excited to make this for my husband’s birthday this weekend. He’s going to grind some local heirloom White Sonora Wheat berries into flour (using our Blendtec blender) for me to use for the white whole wheat part of the flour, but wondering if I could substitute sprouted spelt flour for the all-purpose? I use it with great success in your banana bread recipe and love it, but definitely want the cake to be as close to perfect as possible, so please advise if it seems like a bad idea.
    Thanks Kate!

    1. Kate

      Hi Kimberlyn! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! To be honest, I don’t have a lot of experience with spelt flour (glad it worked well in the banana bread!). It’s so rare that I would suggest all-purpose flour, but I found that this cake was a little dense (not celebratory-level fluffy and decadent) with all whole grain flour. You might be really happy with the spelt version, but all-purpose may be a safer bet.

      1. Kimberlyn

        Thanks Kate! I got the last package of AP flour (Jovial organic Einkorn) and used it per the recipe with the home-groud whole wheat. It turned out great. I also used Strauss organic European style butter in the frosting, which turned out really creamy. It’s all totally delicious. And as daughter pointed out, it was almost better the second day. Thanks for another great recipe! You’re my go-to for anything these days. Any prospects for a great cinnamon roll recipe, by chance? :-)

        1. Kate

          Thanks so much for getting back to me, Kimberlyn! I’m really happy to hear it. I love Strauss products, too. I have never tried making cinnamon rolls, but I’m getting more and more requests for them. Hoping to get to them before too long.

  9. Floweraura

    It looks so delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe, can’t wait for more to try it.

  10. Luz

    Love it

  11. Kelly

    Well, I accidentally posted this on the cream cheese recipe when it was intended for this one! So…here I go again.

    I’ll admit that when you post a new recipe, I automatically check my copy of your “Love Real Food” book to see if it’s already in there. I haven’t checked this one against the one in the book to see if you’ve made any tweaks, but if it’s anything like that one…YUM!

  12. Kelly

    Hi Kate! I absolutely love all of your recipes so I’m excited to try this one! The store didn’t have any pastry flour or all purpose flour…I do have whole wheat and white whole wheat flour. Will these flour work in the recipe as a sub for the all purpose flour?

    1. Kate

      If desired, you can make this cake with a total of 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour.

  13. S.w

    So excited to make this! We love your recipes. I actually have most of the ingredients on hand. I’m out of whole wheat flour. Do you think I could sub ground up old fashioned oats (homemade oat flour) instead? Also,could you do zucchini in place of carrots if you dont have enough?
    Thank you!!!! Again, love your stuff!!

    1. Kate

      Hi S.w. I’m not sure zucchini would work in place of carrots as the texture and moisture is different. I worked on this recipe for a long time and it took a lot to get everything just right. I haven’t tried oat flour in this recipe. It can be delicate to work with. I am testing it in some of my other baking recipes, however this one may not be suited for it with the heaviness of the carrots. If you try it, let me know!

  14. Christina

    This is one of the best carrot cake recipes I’ve made. Not overly sweet, a good amount of spice. My family loved it! Thank you for providing healthier alternatives to favorites.

  15. Michelle

    Hi Kate,
    I am looking forward to making the cake this weekend. I was able to find the whole wheat pastry flour, but cant seem to get my hands on whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour. Do you have any recommendations for how I could substitute the 1 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour! Thanks!

    1. Kate

      Hi Michelle! I *think* you could safely use the whole wheat pastry flour in place of the other whole wheat flour. You cake will probably be extra fluffy (yay) but could be a little delicate. Be sure to let the cake cool completely before layering. Hope that works well for you—would love to hear how it turns out!

  16. Amy

    Hi Kate: Pastry/all-purpose flour is hard to come by these days with all that’s going on. I want to make this for my daughter’s birthday, and all we have on hand is regular whole wheat flour. Can I use a total of 3.5 cups of this flour, or will that mess up the consistency? Any other kind of flour that would be a good substitute for the first two? Thanks in advance for your input!

    1. Kate

      Hi Amy, I hear you on the flour front. I wish I could think of another flour that would be a perfect substitute. I know that when I tested the recipe with all whole wheat flour, it baked up well, but the texture was not as fluffy and decadent as I wanted it to be. You could try it, though! One tip—be sure to measure your flour correctly by first stirring the flour, then spooning it into a dry measuring cup and leveling off the top with a knife. That will help ensure that you don’t accidentally use too much flour, which would make the cake more dense than necessary. Hope this helps!

  17. Maria

    An incredible cake! I made this as you did with two 9×9 round layers.

    Commenting to share that I had to use a mixture of both King Arthur all purpose flour and Bob’s red mill gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour because it’s all I had and it came out perfect.

    I also added chopped dates and used walnuts and hazelnuts for the nuts.

    1. Kate

      Thanks for sharing! I’m happy that combination worked well for you, Maria.

  18. Geetha

    Hi Kate!

    So excited to be trying out this recipe tomorrow. I’m planning to make half the quantity and skip the frosting as well. Probably a stupid question, but do I just halve the measure of each and every ingredient to make half the quantity? And what about the cooking time in the oven?
    Thanks,
    Gee

    1. Kate

      Hey Gee! Not a stupid question. Yes, just cut all of the ingredients in half. Are you making a single layer cake or double? If you’re pouring all of the batter into a single 9″ round cake pan, the baking time will be the same. If you’re dividing it into two pans (which would yield a short layer cake in the end), those cakes will bake more quickly.

  19. Archie

    Hi, Thanks for the recipe. I weigh my ingredients in grams rather than by volume, as cup sizes vary from country to country. Would it be possible for you to put your ingredients in grams and ounces. I use 7” pans, should I vary the quantities of ingredients and time in the oven.

  20. Erica Sinclair

    Hello would it be possible to use both maple syrup and honey? I don’t have quite the right amount of either on it’s own, but together I have the 1 1/4 cup.
    Thanks

    1. Kate

      Sure! They are interchangeable, so a combination should be fine.

  21. Judy

    Hi, I usually like about half the recommended sweetener (honey) in recipes, so should I add milk to bring the liquid amount up? Thanks Judy

    1. Kate

      Hi Judy, you could try it. This cake recipe was really a feat and variations change the outcome significantly, so I’m not sure how well that will work here.

  22. Sara

    I recently made this carrot cake (with walnuts and the C+K classic cream cheese frosting), and it was the best carrot cake I’ve ever had! I got the same feedback from everyone who tasted it. What a delight. I am a carrot cake fanatic and this definitely hit the spot! Can’t wait to make it again.

  23. Stephanie Arons

    My supplies are limited. I would like to make this for Mother’s Day.
    Do you think it will turn out okay using all purpose flour and almond flour? I also have coconut flour.

    Thank you!

    1. Kate

      Hi Stephanie! Do you have enough all purpose flour to make the cake? That would be your best bet. If not, you *might* be able to use up to 50 percent almond flour. I haven’t tried and this recipe is a bit finicky, so I’m hesitant to suggest it. Coconut flour will definitely not work—it soaks up moisture like crazy, so you will end up with a very dense, tough cake.

      1. Stephanie

        Thank you for such a quick response!!!! All purpose it is! I’ll let you know how it turns out

  24. Michelle

    Hi, can I use apples instead of carrots if I don’t have carrots on hand?

    1. Kate

      Hi Michelle! I like that idea, but I’m afraid it would be highly experimental. Apples tend to have more moisture than carrots. You might enjoy my apple muffins! In fact, those would be nice with cream cheese frosting.

      1. Michelle

        Hi Kate, I finally got some carrots and made this recipe today! The flavor was spot on, but it seems like it didn’t rise enough or wasn’t very fluffy and my batter seemed oily. Do you have any suggestions?

        1. Kate

          Hi Michelle! That seems interesting. Did you by chance over stir? Assuming you didn’t over add oil?

  25. Pilar

    Thanks for the recipe! Turned out great! Next time I will also add some raisins.

  26. FarmCook

    Making this tomorrow! How would it effect the recipe to add canned crushed pineapple?

    1. Kate

      Hi! I wouldn’t suggest it as this one was quite tricky. I think the pineapple would cause it to not rise as much. You would likely need to adjust the other ingredients to account for the liquid.

  27. Priya

    Kate,

    Thanks for this tasty recipe. I tried yesterday and it came out fantastic. Only thing is I replaced all-purpose flour with oats (grounded at home) and added only 1 cup of maple syrup for less sweet.

  28. Carolyn

    Made this cake for the second time, and it’s amazing. Its the carrot cake recipe I was looking for :) Thanks so much!

  29. Yana

    This is just so great! I used a bit less honey that was in the recipe (since our consumption of honey is insane after I found all the things to bake here haha) and it turned out perfect. Love carrot cakes but never thought it’s that easy to make.
    Thank you!

  30. olivia rosenberg

    Thank you so much for this recipe! I love all of your dessert recipes and this one is fantastic!

    Do you think this cake recipe could be adapted to make a chocolate cake with maple syrup as the sweetener? I’m trying to find a way to make that for my birthday this year.

    Stay safe!

    1. Kate

      Hi Olivia! So glad to hear it! This carrot cake was pretty tricky to develop. I’d start with my banana cake instead—you might be able to replace the banana with equal part Greek yogurt, then add cocoa powder. It might need more tweaking from there. Let me know if you figure it out, please!

  31. Amanda Tan Jie Yu

    I Want To Order Brown Carrot Cakes For My Father’s Day . Please Come On The Twenty One June 2020

  32. Amanda Tan Jie Yu

    I Want To Order This Brown Carrot Cakes For My Father’s Day! Please Come On The Twenty One June 2020. Please Come House At One ‘O Clock.

  33. Carmen

    Hi KATE!

    I absolutely love this recipe. My husband asks me to bake it at least once a month, then hamsters it for a week :) also love the curries!

    I wish all your recipes could be added on the app, was hoping I’d get the full scoop for the price :/

    Thanks for your awesome recipes :) I’ll keep an eye for new stuff

    Greetings from Munich,
    Carmen

  34. Elise

    This recipe looks delicious, but I don’t have 9″ round cake pans. Can this be made as muffins?

    1. Kate

      Hi Elise! I would suggest my carrot muffins and then use the frosting!

  35. Sofia

    Hi, Kate! I noticed this recipe is an adaptation from the one on your book! I recently bought it (love it so far) and tried the Easy Carrot Cake recipe, but it turned out too moist on the inside while it burnt (a bit) on the outside. I wanted to ask you if I have to drain the carrots before mixing them with the rest of the ingredients. Also, I noticed the recipe on the book suggests a temperature of 425 F (instead of the 350 indicated in this one) and a shorter baking time (28 minutes instead of 50 minutes) so I was wondering if that could be a factor too. Or maybe the one in the book is ment to be moister than this one??? (I only have the picture of the book for reference)

    1. Kate

      Hi Sofia! You’re right! This layered cake turned out to be quite a departure from the book recipe. Turns out layered cakes are tricky. :) It’s possible that your carrots were just wetter than mine, though I tested the recipe many times before print. Were they noticeably wet? You might also check that your baking powder/soda have not expired. Hope that helps!

  36. laida

    tried this and we love it!
    no cream cheese frosting and did not even layer it as i used a 12inch pan. its just perfect!
    thanks for sharing

  37. Claire Nicholson

    Hiya,
    Just cooking your recipe now, do you know how many calories it is per slice please?

    1. Kate

      Hi Claire! The nutritional information is below the recipe. I hope this helps!

  38. Chelsea Rice

    How is this even a publishable recipe? I’m sorry, but this is HORRIBLE. I bake consistently, frequently with natural sugars, and this is the worst cake recipe I’ve ever made. It was literally SOLID. I scooped the correct kind of flour into my cups and leveled off, used brand new baking soda and powder, had everything at room temperature, used medium/thin carrots, sifted all dry ingredients, and did not over mix. It looks like you just took another recipe, substituted wet sweeteners for dry ones, published some cutesy fake nonsense for this blog, and went with it. Blogs like this make actually finding good recipes so difficult! Horrible!

    1. Kate

      Hi Chelsea, I’m sorry you are disappointed and seem to be having a bad day. I work very hard on my recipes and do lots of testing prior to publishing. Sometimes, there are inconsistencies that I work to get to the bottom to. With your description, I’m not sure what went wrong. Only thing is maybe it was over stirred. I appreciate your feedback.

  39. Adena

    Hey Kate! My mom is allergic to both walnuts and pecans, but id love to add another type of nut if possible. Any suggestion for a nut that might work instead? Maybe pistachio or almond? Or do you think it’s best to go nut free.

    1. Kate

      Hi Adena! I’m sorry to hear about the allergy. That’s hard to navigate! I don’t think almonds would be the best as they can be kind of hard. I would just simply omit. Let me know what you think!

  40. Debra

    Love your recipes! Can I add crushed pineapple to this recipe? Should I change any other ingredients because of this addition?
    Thanks for any suggestions!

    1. Kate

      Hi Debra! I’m not sure without trying it. This one took several tries to get just right. You would likely need adjustments.

  41. Emily Ramraz

    We made this for my husband’s birthday (carrot cake is his favorite) and it was great! We used coconut oil, and a blend of maple syrup and 2 types of honey (I just used up what I had in my pantry). I used mostly pecans, with some walnuts, and I think and extra 3/4 cup of carrots by mistake because I got distracted letting my 4 year old help me. The milk we used was a blend of coconut and hazelnut milk (also just using up what I had in my fridge). The cake was moist and fluffy, quite lovely! I will definitely use this recipe again in the future.

  42. Emily Ramraz

    This cake was fantastic! We made it for my husband’s birthday, as carrot cake is his favorite. We used coconut oil, a blend of maple syrup and honey, a blend of pecans and walnuts, a blend of drinking coconut milk and hazelnut milk (the bend if ingredients was because I was using up what I had open and available) and about 3/4 C more carrots (I got distracted by how helpful my 4 year old was being, haha). The result was perfect. I have saved the recipe and it has definitely become our “favorite carrot cake!” Thanks :)

  43. Ava

    Hi Kate, I was just wondering the different kinds of substitutes I could use instead of the pecans/walnuts thx!

    1. Kate

      Hi Ava! Pecans and walnuts are more traditional. If you need to omit, you can leave out!

  44. Ajada

    I was thinking about making this cake for my dogs birthday. I wanted something that the dogs and people could enjoy together. If I used the naturally sweetened frosting, do you think this would be a terrible idea? All the ingredients seem dog safe to me. And she would only get a small slice anyways.

    1. Kate

      Hi! Cookie gets so excited about raw carrots, that’s my vote :)

  45. Helen Bucher

    This looks amazing but I am in UK and need measurement in grams for cups please.
    Many thanks
    Helen

  46. Tara Craig

    Hello,
    Looking forward to trying this recipe.
    I am in the UK and I don’t have American cups for measuring. Do you know the grams amount for the flour etc? There are lots of conflicting measurement charts out there to try and convert.
    Thanks

  47. Cece

    Hello Kate could you please help with a recipe conversion like how many grams does the grated carrot come to please?

    And also how many grams are the all purpose flour and whole wheat flour respectively?

    1. Kate

      Hi Cece! I don’t provide metric conversions, sorry! This conversion chart may be helpful.

  48. Willemien

    I would live to bake this cake, but love some pineapple pieces added. What amount is recommended.

    1. Kate

      Hi! I’m not sure about adding pineapple to this one without trying it, sorry. This was meant to be a traditional carrot cake and took several tries to get right. Adding something with significant moisture I would think change the outcome.

  49. Anu

    So… I made this cake!!!!! I have officially become one of those people that successfully completed the act of baking something from a recipe and then reporting on it in the comment section!!!! This is a milestone for me!!!

    I subbed out half the flour for chickpea flour, and the other half with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free baking flour. I also subbed out the maple syrup/honey with applesauce so no processed sugar either. (And no nuts bc we got a nut allergy in the household)

    I ALSO made a vegan cream cheese frosting from sunflower seeds (not cashews).

    It turned out excellent! The only thing I would do different is allow the cake to fully cool at room temp before storing it. It became denser once I put it in the fridge.

    Funny enough, after I baked, I did sprinkle walnuts on it for myself, and then actually ditched the frosting for straight up coconut cream from the can, strawberries, and some more applesauce, and it was way better than with the frosting! I had been doing a sugar fast, so the frosting actually gave me a headache! This cake was so satisfying and I was so so pleased with myself for figuring out a carrot cake recipe that meet all our household dietary restrictions! Thank you!!!!

    1. Kate

      Thank you for sharing! I’m excited you loved it, Anu.

  50. Mei

    Hello – followed your recipe and had to cook for 1hr 30 minutes but the inside of the cake was still uncooked. It was runny.

    Could there be too many carrots? After grating I used 4 cups of carrots, NOT packed down. Is that the correct amount of carrots to use?

    Ive had to throw the entire cakes away.

    1. Kate

      Hi Mei! I’m sorry to hear that. I tested this cake several times to get it just right. A few questions, did your carrots seem really wet? How did you measure your flour?