The Best Carrot Cake Recipe (with Video) (2024)

A wonderfully moist, perfectly spiced carrot cake recipe. This cake is surprisingly simple to make and includes a step-by-step video for no-fail results every time.

Be sure to check out the how-to video!

4.96 from 613 votes

Course: Cake

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Author: Sam Merritt

• ▢ 2 ½ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 cup (200 g) light or dark brown sugar¹ firmly packed
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ 1 cup (235 ml) cooking oil use canola, avocado, or vegetable oil
• ▢ ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
• ▢ 4 large eggs room temperature
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 3 cups (340 g) grated carrots² peel before grating
• ▢ 1 cup (125 g) chopped walnuts or pecans optional

Cream Cheese Frosting³

• ▢ ½ cup (1 stick) (113 g) unsalted butter softened
• ▢ 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese softened (brick-style, not spreadable)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 4 cups (500 g) powdered sugar

• Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8-inch pans⁴ (see note for using different sized pans) by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing and flouring the sides.

• In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

  2 ½ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 1 cup (200 g) light or dark brown sugar¹, 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• Add your canola oil and melted butter and stir well (batter will be pretty stiff and thick at this point, I usually use an electric mixer or my stand mixer to combine everything nicely).

  1 cup (235 ml) cooking oil, ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter

• Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

  4 large eggs

• Stir in vanilla extract.

  1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

• Stir in carrots and nuts (if using) until ingredients are well-combined.

  3 cups (340 g) grated carrots², 1 cup (125 g) chopped walnuts or pecans

• Evenly divide carrot cake batter into prepared baking pans and bake on 350F (175C) for 40 minutes (toothpick inserted in center should come out mostly clean with only few moist crumbs).

• Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.

• Allow cake to cool completely before covering with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy, well-combined, and lump-free.

  ½ cup (1 stick) (113 g) unsalted butter, 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese

• Add vanilla extract and sprinkle salt into the bowl and stir well to combine.

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt

• With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until ingredients are completely combined (be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula).

  4 cups (500 g) powdered sugar

• Once your cake has cooled completely, cover with frosting.

1Brown sugar

Either light or dark brown sugar will work fine, dark brown sugar will make your cake slightly more moist and rich, but light brown sugar works perfectly if you don’t have dark on hand.

²Carrots (& how to grate them)

For me, this usually requires about 4 large carrots. I always peel my carrots before grating. Make sure to use the small shred of your box grater. Another way I like to prepare my carrots is to use the “shred” setting on my food processor and then switch to the blade and briefly pulse the carrots so that you have fine pieces of carrot (don’t over-do it though, or you’ll have carrot juice!). Whatever you do, don’t use store-bought “matchstick” carrots, they’re not nearly thin enough!

³Frosting

A single batch of my cream cheese frosting recipe will cover this cake, but because I like a lot of frosting and will usually pipe decoration on the top of the cake, I sometimes increase the recipe by 50% or even double it.

⁴Cake pans, different sizes

The following bake times have been reported by readers who have tried making this cake in different sized pans. Keep in mind bake time will generally be longer when using a glass pan, and very dark pans may require less time. The best way to test that your cake is finished baking is to use the toothpick test: a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake should come out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter) or clean.

• Two 9″ pans: bake for approximately 30-33 minutes.
• 9×13″ pan: bake for approximately 45-50 minutes
• Bundt pan: bake for approximately 55 minutes.
• Four 6″ pans: bake for approximately 40 minutes
• Cupcakes: See my carrot cake cupcake recipe.

Storing

If you’re eating this cake the same day you make it or within 48 hours of making it, and you are able to store it somewhere cool and dry, you do not have to refrigerate it–though you do want to store it in an airtight container. Any longer than that I would recommend storing in an airtight container in the fridge where it will keep for about 5 days.