This classic carrot cake recipe is layered and iced with fluffy, nutty brown butter frosting. With choose your own adventure add-ins, it’s the only carrot cake recipe you will ever need. Looking for a carrot cake without cream cheese? This is it!
Jump to:
- Why Everyone Loves This Carrot Cake Recipe
- Ingredients For The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
- How to Make a Moist Carrot Cake
- Brown Butter Frosting without Cream Cheese
- But Wait...What is Brown Butter?
- Steps for Browning Butter
- Substitutions
- Variations
- Layer Cake 101
- Serving and Storage
- Carrot Cake FAQs
- Baker’s Notes for The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
- Join the Style Sweet Bake Club!
- More Cake Recipes to Bake
- Recipe
Why Everyone Loves This Carrot Cake Recipe
It’s hard to create a “best ever” recipe when people have so many personal opinions on what makes a cake great. Especially when it comes to raisins and cream cheese frosting, carrot cake can be downright polarizing.
What makes this the best carrot cake recipe is that it is infinitely adaptable, forgiving, and checks a lot of the boxes of a fantastic cake.
Love nuts? Go ahead and fold them into the batter (try toasting them first!). Hate raisins? Skip ‘em all together.
Forever moist, not too sweet, full of flavor - this is the type of cake you start planning to make again even before the last bites are gone. It’s the type of cake that you are willing to lose your dignity over fighting for the last heavenly slice.
Ingredients For The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Oil - My preferred fat and tenderizer (think moist!) in carrot cake is a neutral taking oil. I like grapeseed oil, but canola oil also works.
Crushed Pineapple - This might be controversial, but I love crushed pineapple in carrot cake. Similar to a Hummingbird Cake, pineapple adds tons of moisture. Not a pineapple fan? Substitute it for applesauce or plain yogurt.
Ground Walnuts or Almond Flour - While some prefer their carrot cakes with chopped nuts, I’ll take mine ground. Used like flour, ground walnuts in the batter adds a bit of texture and subtle nutty flavor. You may also use equal parts almond flour for a similar taste and texture.
Not into nuts? Replace the ground walnuts or almond flour with ⅓ cup all-purpose flour.
Raisins - I’m anti-raisin in most baked goods. But since this is your best carrot cake, feel free to fold them into the batter along with the carrots at the end of mixing.
Spice - My favorite spices to use in baking are cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. Feel free to create your own spice blend based on your pantry and palette.
Brown Sugar - Looking for extra flavor? Use brown sugar! White sugar alone will still taste great, but brown sugar brings depth and pairs perfectly with the brown butter frosting.
Carrots - Yes, carrot cakes need carrots. For a single cake, I shredded them by hand on a box grater. You could also use a food processor, but for this smaller amount, I don’t think it's worth the fuss of taking out and washing it.
Carrot cake should always be tender and moist - never dense and dry. It should also be easy to make. In this quick-mix recipe, we don’t need to cream softened butter and sugar together for extra lift.
How to Make a Moist Carrot Cake
Another reason that this is the best carrot cake recipe is that this stir-together, oil-based cake needs just two bowls to prepare the batter.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the brown sugar, white sugar, and eggs until combined. While stirring, pour in the oil and mix until combined. Next, add the crushed pineapple (or wet ingredient of choice from the recipe).
Whisk together the flour, spices, and leavening agents to make sure all of the ingredients are evenly distributed. Adding the mixture in two batches to the wet ingredients helps ensure that the batter is not over mixed.
Save your mix-ins for the end. If you decide to add nuts and/or raisins, fold them into the batter at the end with the shredded carrots.
Brown Butter Frosting without Cream Cheese
If you are looking for a carrot cake with cream cheese icing, then you must try this Brown Butter Frosting! It does not need to be refrigerated like cream cheese, s the cake layers remain soft and tender.
Browning the butter adds a slight nuttiness and a subtle butterscotch-like flavor. Use your good vanilla, and you’ll be licking the frosting from the spatula.
Don’t overload the beautiful flavors of brown butter with an excessive amount of confectioner’s sugar. The frosting should be soft and spreadable.
Since the cake is only two layers tall, I am not overly concerned with structure and am more comfortable with a softer frosting here than when stacking a cake sky high.
But Wait...What is Brown Butter?
This cake is covered in swoops and swirls of brown butter frosting that will make you forget all about cream cheese.
Brown butter, or beurre noisette (if you’re feeling fancy) has a rich, nutty taste that enhances the flavor of both sweet and savory recipes.
More than just melted butter, brown butter is the result of gently cooked butter and toasted milk solids. Whipped with confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, it brings bold, nutty, almost butterscotch flavors to the frosting.
Steps for Browning Butter
Start this recipe by browning unsalted butter. This extra step toasts the milk solids and adds extra flavor to the buttercream frosting. When done, the butter should be golden and smell nutty and fragrant.
Add diced butter to a saucepan and begin melting over medium-high heat.
Keep cooking the butter until it completely melts. Low the heat so that it does not too vigorously.
Swirl the pan around and stir occasionally to keep the milk solids from burning on the bottom.
When done, the butter will be golden and the milk solids toasty brown but not burnt.
Hints: The whole process takes 5 to 8 minutes. Do not boil too vigorously or too much of the water content will evaporate off.
Substitutions
Walnut flour - you may use equal parts almond flour. For a nut-free alternative, sub the walnut flour for ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
Pineapple - you may use 1 cup of mashed banana, 1 cup applesauce, or 1 cup of plain yogurt
Variations
Cream Cheese - if you are a carrot cake purist and cream cheese is a must, you can double this frosting recipe.
White Chocolate Carrot Cake - Another cream cheese frosting alternative is to use this ultra creamy white chocolate frosting.
Layer Cake 101
New to cake decorating? Start here:
How to Make Beautiful Layer Cakes
Buy my books! Layered and Icing on the Cake
Serving and Storage
Serve and store this carrot cake recipe at room temperature for up to two days, preferably in a cake box or wrapped loosely with plastic wrap
Keep any remaining leftovers after that point in the refrigerator for an additional day or two. Wrap loosely with plastic to keep the cake from drying out.
Carrot Cake FAQs
It's absolutely up to you! Skip the nut flour and substitute with ⅓ cup all-purpose flour.
Most people will go for cream cheese icing, but this cake has a heavenly brown butter frosting. Brown butter frosting is much more stable and does not need to be refrigerated.
You can bake this cake in two, 9-inch cake pans or make three thinner 8-inch cakes. You can also make it in a 9 x 13-inch quarter sheet pan. Adjust the bake times accordingly.
Baker’s Notes for The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
- When browning, do not boil the butter on high heat or too much water content from the butter will evaporate out
- Even though the ingredients will come together sooner than the indicated time, keep mixing the frosting to incorporate enough air to make the frosting light and fluffy instead of heavy and grainy.
- If you’d like the cake to be nut-free, substitute the walnut or almond flour with ⅓ cup all-purpose flour.
- To create your own walnut flour, toast ¾ cups walnut pieces then grind them in a food processor. Be sure to stop processing before it turns into nut butter.
- You may try substituting the pineapple with 1 cup of mashed banana or 1 cup of plain yogurt.
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More Cake Recipes to Bake
Recipe
Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cups walnut or almond flour
- 2 teas baking powder
- 1 teas baking soda
- 1 teas cinnamon
- ½ teas salt
- ¼ teas nutmeg
- ¼ teas all spice
- ¾ cup canola oil
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup crushed pineapple or applesauce
- 3 cups shredded carrots
Brown Butter Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons
- 2 to 3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 to 3 tablespoon milk
- 2 teas pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans and set aside.
- Whisk together the all-purpose flour, nut flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, stir together the oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add the eggs and whisk until fully combined and the batter begins to lighten in color.
- Working in two batches, stir in the dry ingredients until incorporated. It is okay if a few streaks of flour remain visible.
- Add the pineapple and shredded carrots. Fold until combined.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes before removing the cakes from their pans. Allow cakes to completely cool before filling and frosting.
Brown Butter Frosting
- Place ¾ cup (170 g) butter in a light-colored saucepan and melt over high heat. Once the butter begins to bubble, reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Stirring every so often to keep the milk solids from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan, continue to cook the butter until it turns an amber-colored brown and the milk solids have darkened. This will take 5 to 8 minutes. It is done when the brown butter smells nutty and toasty. Pour the brown butter into a heat-safe container.
- Allow the butter to re-solidify on the counter or chill in the refrigerator until it solidifies but remains soft, about 1 hour. It should be the consistency of softened butter when ready to turn into frosting. Meanwhile, remove the remaining butter from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
- When ready, add the brown butter and remaining butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer). Mix on low speed until the butter is creamy. Stop the mixer and add in the confectioners' sugar. Mix on low speed until incorporated.
- Add a tablespoon of milk and mix to combine. Bump up the mixer speed to medium-high speed and mix until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and more milk, a tablespoon at a time, and mix until smooth. When done, it should be smooth and spreadable.
To Assemble
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Pile on half of the buttercream and spread flat with an offset spatula. Place the second layer of cake on top. Ice the top of the cake with the remaining frosting. For a rustic finish, make swirls on top by drawing “C’s” and “S’s” with the tip of an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
Notes
- Serve and store at room temperature for up to two days. Keep any remaining leftovers after that point in the refrigerator for an additional day or two.
- If you’d like the cake to be nut-free, substitute the walnut or almond flour with ⅓ cup all-purpose flour.
- You may try substituting the pineapple with 1 cup of mashed banana or 1 cup of plain yogurt.
Yo Williams
Hi...amount of orange zest? Didn't see it in the list of ingredients...thanks.
Looking forward to making this loveliness.
Dizzee
I’ve Aden your browned butter cinnamon buttercream and it’s delicious.
Henry
Oh man this was so delicious! Best carrot cake recipe on the web!
Emma
So dang yummy!!!! Can’t wait to make it again!!!!!
Betsy
Oh this will be an Easter staple in my house for sure. Thank you for sharing!!!
Shondra P
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for! Thank you so much - it turned out GREAT
Michelle
I make this recipe for Easter every year. The family LOVES it! It's all about that brown butter frosting - you gotta try it.
Crystal
Our family favorite for Easter! Looking forward to making it again this year.
Tanya
Perfect carrot cake! Love the frosting too.
stylesweet
Hi! Thank you so much. I am so glad you liked it!
Amber
Do you have a cupcake variation by chance?
stylesweet
Hi! You know, I haven't tried this exact recipe as cupcakes yet, but they should work! Now I'm craving cupcakes...