- March 26, 2026
- Breakfast
Carrot Cake Bread Recipe
This brown butter carrot cake bread recipe is soft, moist, and packed with warm spices, finely grated carrots, and a rich, nutty flavor. Finished with a creamy brown butter cream cheese frosting, this easy, quick bread delivers all the classic carrot cake vibes in a sliceable, bakery-style loaf.
If you love a classic carrot cake but want something easier to bake and slice, this carrot cake loaf recipe is about to become one of your favorite things. This version has all the cozy flavor of a traditional carrot cake, like warm spices, sweet carrots, and rich frosting, that’s baked in a simple loaf form for an easy, everyday dessert. It’s soft, flavorful, and topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting that takes it over the top.
Why This Recipe Works
- Moist, tender crumb: A mix of melted butter and vegetable oil (or canola oil) creates a moist carrot cake loaf that stays soft for days.
- Balanced flavor: Brown sugar, vanilla extract, and warm spices give you the best carrot cake flavor without being too sweet.
- Simple method: This is one of those quick bread recipes where you mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately—no complicated steps or electric mixer needed.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- Melted butter (browned or regular)
- Vegetable oil (or canola oil or olive oil)
- Large eggs (room temperature)
- Brown Sugar & White Sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Dried Spices- Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger (you can also use a pumpkin pie spice to make it easier)
Add-Ins
- Finely grated fresh carrots
- Chopped nuts (optional)
- Raisins (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream cheese (softened, room temperature)
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
How To Make Carrot Cake Bread (Step-by-Step)
- Brown the Butter: Melt butter in a light pan over medium heat until golden with brown specks and a nutty aroma. Remove and cool for 5–10 minutes.
- Prep the Oven and Pan: Preheat to 350°F. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment and lightly grease. Mix
- Wet Ingredients: Whisk browned butter, oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
- Combine: Fold dry ingredients into wet until just combined. Do not overmix. Add Carrots
Gently fold in finely grated carrots. - Fill the Pan: Pour batter into the pan and smooth the top.
- Bake: Bake 50–60 minutes. Tent with foil if browning too quickly. Use a toothpick to check for doneness; it should come out clean or with a few crumbs.
- Cool: Cool in the pan 10–15 minutes, then transfer to a rack. Finish by frosting or glazing once fully cooled, then slice and serve.
Tips for the Best Carrot Cake Bread
Whether this is your first time making carrot cake bread or you’ve baked it a dozen times, a few small things separate a good loaf from a great one.
Grate your carrots fresh. Pre-shredded carrots from the bag are too thick and too dry. Freshly grated carrots break down into the batter as it bakes, releasing moisture and natural sweetness that you just can’t get any other way. It’s one of those details that makes this carrot cake recipe taste homemade in the best sense. A standard box grater works great, or use the shredding attachment on your food processor if you’re prepping a big batch.
Mix by hand, not with a hand mixer. Carrot cake bread is a quick bread, which means it relies on a tender, open crumb; not the structure you’d build in a two-layer cake or sheet cake. Once your wet and dry ingredients come together in the large bowl, switch to a spatula and fold gently. Overmixing activates the gluten in your all-purpose flour and turns a soft, moist loaf dense and tight. Stop as soon as you don’t see dry streaks.
Let it cool completely before you frost it. This one is non-negotiable. Cream cheese frosting can easily slide right off a warm loaf and pool at the edges. Give it at least an hour on a wire rack, or pop it in the fridge for 20 minutes once it reaches room temperature. Cold loaf, thick frosting, clean slices. That’s the move.
How to Store Carrot Cake Bread
Because of the cream cheese frosting, this loaf needs to live in the refrigerator after it’s been frosted. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or store individual slices in an airtight container, and it’ll keep well for up to five days. If anything, the flavor gets better on day two — the warm spices settle in and the crumb firms up just enough to give you cleaner slices straight from the fridge.
Want to get ahead? Bake the loaf, let it cool completely, and wrap it in plastic wrap before freezing unfrosted for up to three months. When you’re ready to serve, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature, and frost it fresh.
Pan Size and Yield
This recipe is written for a standard 9×5 loaf pan, but it adapts easily. A 5-inch loaf pan works great if you want smaller loaves for gifting. Know you’ll likely get two, and you’ll want to start checking for doneness around the 35-minute mark. No matter what pan you use, the toothpick test is your most reliable guide: insert it into the center of the loaf and look for a clean pull or just a few moist crumbs. Wet batter means it needs more time. A dry, crackly toothpick means you’ve gone a minute too long.
Variations Worth Trying
This carrot cake bread is a great base recipe to riff on once you’ve made it once.
Add nuts or raisins. Fold in a half cup of chopped walnuts or pecans for crunch, or add raisins if you love them in a classic carrot cake recipe. Either way, add them at the very end when you fold in the carrots so they distribute evenly without overmixing the batter.
Make it a glaze instead of a frosting. If you want something lighter, thin the cream cheese frosting with a tablespoon or two of milk until it’s pourable. Drizzle it over the cooled loaf and let it set for a few minutes before slicing. It gives you that great flavor with a little less richness.
More Recipes
Carrot Cake Bread (with Cream Cheese Frosting)
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp Butter, divided (6 tbsp for the bread, 2 tbsp for the frosting)
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 2 Eggs room temperature
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar packed
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1.5 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1.5 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp Ginger
Add In's
- 1.5 cups Finely Grated Fresh Carrots
- 1/2 cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans optional
- 1/3 cup Raisins optional
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz Cream Cheese softened, room temperature
- 2 tbsp Browned Butter from above
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 pinch Salt
Instructions
Brown The Butter
- In a light-colored pan over medium heat, melt the butter and continue cooking until it foams and turns golden brown with a nutty aroma, then pour it into a small bowl and let it cool for 5–10 minutes. Make sure to keep 2 tbsp aside for the frosting.
Assembling the Carrot Cake Bread Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper, then lightly coat with cooking spray or nonstick baking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cooled browned butter, vegetable oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and well combined.
- Add the room temperature eggs and vanilla extract to the wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to evenly combine the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and gently fold together until just combined, being careful not to overmix so the loaf stays soft with a tender crumb.
- Fold in the finely grated fresh carrots along with any optional nuts or raisins until evenly distributed throughout the carrot cake batter.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top so it bakes evenly.
Baking and Cooling
- Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, tenting loosely with aluminum foil if the top browns too quickly.
- Let the carrot cake bread cool in the pan for 10–15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese, browned butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt until smooth and spreadable.
- Once the loaf is fully cooled, spread the tangy cream cheese frosting over the top, slice, and serve.