Here is my favorite recipe for a Super Easy Carrot Cake made from scratch. This cake is so fragrant and delicious. It is a classic year-round menu item at any bakery or restaurant. Pair it with my cream cheese frosting and you’ve got a guaranteed winner.
I’d love it if you follow me on Pinterest. That’s where you can find all my best recipes when you need them.
To join my mailing list and get updates when I release new freebies, click here. I encourage my email community to ask me anything and I read and reply to every email I get. You may even get featured in my “Subscriber Spotlight” Click here to join my email community.
Now, let’s talk about how perfect this Super Easy Carrot Cake is…
Carrot Cake is one of those cake flavors that everyone seems to love. Back when I was in wedding business and doing cake tastings, the brides always requested carrot cake to be one of the flavors I prepared for them.
If you are looking for a crowd pleaser cake flavor, give this Super Easy Carrot Cake a try. I think you’ll get lots of compliments! ( and you don’t even need to mention how easy it was to prepare!)
Super Easy Carrot Cake: tastes great, mixes up quickly
One of the things I love about this recipe is that you can actually mix it without any equipment! It’s just a matter of combining the dry ingredients in one bowl and mixing the liquid ingredients in another bowl. Stir them up and pop them into cake pans. In no time you’ve got the most wonderful smells coming from your kitchen!
Here’s an ingredient rundown for this Super Easy Carrot Cake
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
- 2 cups grated carrots, grated (about 4 medium carrots)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (walnuts)
- 1/2 cup raisins
Here’s an ingredient rundown for the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- 1 stick butter softened
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
Mixing the Cake
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare your pans. This will make one 9 x 13 sheet cake, or two 8 inch layers for a round cake, or 24 cupcakes. Prepare your pans by greasing and flouring them. If you bake a lot of cakes you may want to mix up a batch of My Pan Lube which I’ll link here. ( I didn’t name it, I swear!) It’s really easy to just brush into the pan and get in all the corners and sides. If you’re making these as cupcakes, line 24 cupcake pans with paper liners.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.
In a medium bowl combine oil, eggs and vanilla. Add carrots, pineapple and any optional ingredients you are using.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir it all together. Try not to over mix the batter. Stir only until you can not see any more flour spots.
Its time to put the batter in your pan of choice. Evenly distribute the batter and smooth with a spatula. Place pans in preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Since all ovens bake differently you will need to set a timer for the earliest time and check every 5 minutes after. For the round cakes or a sheet cake, set your timer for 30 minutes and check every 5 minutes thereafter. Cupcakes will be done in around 20 minutes, so begin checking for doneness around 18 minutes.
Carrot Cake and cream cheese frosting: a match made in heaven
Cream cheese frosting and carrot cake are a natural combination. For most its a no brainer.
A word of caution about cream cheese frosting however. If you operate as a home based bakery you should check your ingredient regulations regarding soft cheeses like cream cheese.
If you’d like to learn more about operating a home-based bakery or any of the requirements (like the cream cheese issue), click here.
One other thing about cream cheese frosting is that isn’t a stiff frosting so its not a good choice for wedding cakes. I recommend a cheesecake flavored frosting like this one that I use for Red Velvet Cupcakes.
If none of those are issues for you, then go ahead and enjoy a heaping serving of cream cheese frosting on this cake. It’s a delicious combination.
Super Easy Carrot Cake
This Super Easy Carrot Cake is a classic dessert that everyone will love.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
- 2 cups grated carrots (about 4 medium carrots)
- 1/2 chopped toasted walnuts (optional)
- 1/2 raisins (optional)
Directions
- Step 1 In a large bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.
- Step 2 In a medium bowl combine oil, eggs and vanilla. Add carrots, pineapple and any optional ingredients you are using.
- Step 3 Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir it all together. Try not to over mix the batter. Stir only until you can not see any more flour spots
- Step 4 Evenly distribute the batter into your prepared pans and smooth with a spatula.
- Step 5 Place pans in preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Great addition to Carrot and Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
- 8 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- 1 stick butter softened
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
Directions
- Step 1 Using a paddle attachment in your stand mixer, soften the cream cheese by mixing on medium speed for about 5 minutes. Scrape sides frequently.
- Step 2 Add room temperature butter and continue to mix for 2-5 minutes until well incorporated and smooth.
- Step 3 Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk and cream until light and fluffy.
- Step 4 Adjust thickness with additional powdered sugar or cream if necessary
- Step 5 Refrigerate any leftovers and whip to soften when needed.
For more great cake recipes. check out my Red Velvet Cake or my Money Maker Chocolate Cake.
I have a quick question… your lemon loaf recipe calls for lemon juice from one lemon, since lemons vary in sizes is there a measurement amount I can use instead. I always seem to out too much juice or not enough. Please give me your advice on what to do in this matter.
Christy Crittenden
Winchester,KY