The Best Carrot Cake

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Published: June 5, 2018Updated: June 10, 2021Author: Contributor
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Our family-favorite Carrot Cake doesn't get any more moist and delicious than this recipe! We've added in crushed pineapple and coconut to take this carrot cake over the top.
The Best Carrot Cake

We can’t resist a good carrot cake that is topped with delicious cream cheese frosting! This cake is so moist and flavorful – everyone will ask you for the recipe.

Ingredients in Our Carrot Cake

Obviously the carrots are the star of the show in this cake!

We kick this cake up a notch by loading it with crushed pineapple, shredded coconut, raisins, and walnuts.

Don’t let all of the ingredients scare you – they add so much flavor and make the cake so moist that you will never go back to your old carrot cake recipe again!

How to grate carrots

No one likes crunchy carrots in their carrot cake, so you want to make sure you grate your carrots very finely! Here’s how:

  • Scrub the outside of the carrots
  • Use a vegetable peeler to remove the outer layer of the carrot
  • Cut off the tops of the carrots
  • Using the finest holes on a cheese grater, carefully shred the carrots

For this recipe, you will need 2 cups of shredded (grated) carrots, which is about 2 large carrots.

Shortcuts for the cake

We found that the shredded carrots in the produce department at your grocery store work great in this carrot cake recipe.

How to Make The Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting

After tweaking this recipe many times, we think we have perfected our frosting! It’s smooth and creamy and pairs perfectly with this cake!

To make this frosting:

  1. Using an electric mixer, cream room temperature cream cheese and butter together.
  2. Add in vanilla extract and mix for a few seconds.
  3. Slowly add in powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time and mixing between each time you add more.

Other carrot cake recipes

If you love carrot cake, check out our Frosted Carrot Cake Cookies, Bite-Sized Carrot Cakes, Coconut Carrot Cake Cupcakes or our White Chocolate Carrot Cake Bars.

Can you make this cake into cupcakes?

Yes! You can really convert any cake into cupcakes.

When it comes to temperature, the larger the cake the lower the temperature. To make these into cupcakes, increase your temperature about 25 degrees higher than what the recipe says.

When baking these as cupcakes, bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. This will allow your cupcakes to get a nice crust on the top, and a moist center.

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Other delicious cake recipes:

Serves: 15

The Best Carrot Cake Recipe

Our family-favorite Carrot Cake doesn't get any more moist and delicious than this recipe! We've added in crushed pineapple and coconut to take this carrot cake over the top.
Prep Time 1 hr 15 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Total Time 2 hrs
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Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1¼ cup canola oil
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups grated carrots
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple drained
  • 2½ cups flour
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 cup raisins
  • ¾ cups chopped walnuts optional
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • ½ cup butter (softened to room temperature, do not melt)
  • 8 ounces cream cheese softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Cake:

  • In a large mixing bowl cream together oil, sugar, and eggs.
  • Then add remaining cake ingredients and mix until well blended.
  • Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. (I used a glass pan)
  • Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.
  • Cool completely before frosting the cake.

Frosting:

  • After the cake has cooled, mix the powdered sugar, butter, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Spread evenly over cake.

Nutrition

Calories: 689 kcal · Carbohydrates: 84 g · Protein: 7 g · Fat: 38 g · Saturated Fat: 10 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 57 mg · Sodium: 348 mg · Potassium: 303 mg · Fiber: 3 g · Sugar: 57 g · Vitamin A: 3182 IU · Vitamin C: 3 mg · Calcium: 74 mg · Iron: 2 mg

Recipe Details

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

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  1. Elizabeth Waterson says:
    March 20, 2013
    I absolutely love crushed pineapple in my carrot cake! It makes for such great flavor and texture! This cake looks super moist! A must for carrot cake!
    Reply
  2. Life Between Potato and Rice says:
    March 20, 2013
    Looks delicious, I would love to give this recipe a shot my husband love carrot cake ! thanks for sharing !
    Reply
  3. Sinea says:
    March 20, 2013
    Oh, I love carrot cake. So does my dear dad. I should make this for him. Thanks for the recipe.

    BTW...Stop by my blog hop? Hope to see you there!
    Many blessings,
    Sinea Ducks ?n a Row
    Reply
  4. Paige Flamm says:
    March 21, 2013
    YUM! My husband and I love carrot cake! I'm definitely going to be making this recipe!

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.blogspot.com
    Reply
  5. Donna says:
    March 21, 2013
    Am definitely going to try this one -- coconut? That's a new one. I suppose you could make cupcakes with this, couldn't you? I want to send some to my husband's office. Let me know about baking time for cupcakes if it's different - I'm such a goof!!!
    Reply
    • Six Sisters says:
      March 21, 2013
      Hi Donna, We're sure you could do cupcakes, but we have never tried it. So we can't give you definite cooking times. We would think around 20 to 25 minutes. Watch them closely. Be sure to let us know if you try it. Thanks so much for stopping by our blog and have a great week! -The Six Sisters
      Reply
      • Cheryl says:
        August 27, 2013
        I'm making it today for husbands birthday. Using 9" cake pans (2) baking time?
        Reply
  6. Rachel says:
    March 25, 2013
    Yum yum yum yum yum -)

    I think Moby Dick was a minnow the last time that I had carrot cake! I need to pull out Granny's recipe and make it! and then make y'all's, too! Because YUM

    <3
    Reply
  7. Julie says:
    March 25, 2013
    Hi Ladies!
    This looks FANTASTIC! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing it at Marvelous Mondays!
    Reply
  8. Laura Clark says:
    January 16, 2014
    I have this in the oven right now. Cant wait to taste it. Has anyone tried it in a bundt cake form or did the 2 layers turn out for you, Cheryl? I love the prettiness of a round cake in my glass dish. :)
    Reply
  9. rainbowjournal.com says:
    June 12, 2014
    Hello, Hello, I'm a noob baker from Manila. I've aready baked this carrot cake recipe as well as your One Bowl Chocolate cake. I made them for my mom and aun'ts birthday. They turned out amazing! I'll be blogging about them soon and will of course create a link to this site. I will also be trying the other recipes you have. Your blog is now one of my go-to sites for baking. :) I was just wondering if I can substitute butter or shortening instead of margarine for the cream cheese frosting? Appreciate your help!
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      June 12, 2014
      You can definitely substitute butter or shortening for the margarine in the cream cheese frosting.
      Reply
  10. Pattie says:
    May 25, 2015
    I made this for my mom on mothers day and this is absolutely the best carrot cake recipe I have tried. I was afraid the pineapple and coconut may be overpowering however it was very subtle and in fact no one even knew the coconut was in the cake. The frosting is amazing as well. This will be a staple in my collection - thanks for sharing!
    Reply
  11. kathy says:
    September 29, 2017
    Do you use cake flour or just plain flour
    Reply
    • Cyd says:
      October 4, 2017
      We used regular flour.
      Reply
  12. Sheryl says:
    October 21, 2021
    Has anyone tried making this into a 2 layer with 9" rounds? wondering what bake time or if I need to double the frosting recipe.
    Reply
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