The Best Carrot Cake Recipe

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Published: April 1, 2022Author: Contributor
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If our best carrot cake recipe isn’t the best Easter recipe I don’t know what is! It is an extremely moist cake, filled with amazing flavor, and dangerously delicious.
The Best Carrot Cake Recipe

Anytime Easter gets closer I start thinking and thinking about the best carrot cake recipe! It is just so good I start dreaming about it. Haha. 

Slice of Best Carrot Cake on a plate with a fork

You can make the best carrot cake with pineapple, isn’t that kind of surprising?! The flavors of the carrot cake mix perfectly with pineapple and it actually enhances the flavor. 

Another thing I love about this recipe is that it is a homemade carrot cake in a 9×13 inch pan! No need to have fancy frosting skills, just keep it in the dish and frost it, and enjoy it!

Easter is never short of fun and tasty recipes. A few of my favorites to make are our homemade Reese’s eggs, no-bake chocolate bird egg nest cookies, and Easter egg basket cupcakes.   

You can also plan the perfect Easter dinner with our collection of 20 fantastic Easter dinner recipes. Take a look and pick your favorites!   

Carrot cake on a cooling rack with half of it frosted

Ingredients You’ll Need For The Best Carrot Cake Recipe:

Cake

  • Canola oil
  • Sugar
  • Eggs
  • Grated carrots
  • Crushed pineapple
  • Flour
  • Shredded coconut
  • Raisins
  • Chopped walnuts 
  • Baking soda
  • Baking powder
  • Salt
  • Cinnamon
  • Vanilla

Frosting

  • Powdered sugar
  • Butter
  • Cream cheese
  • Vanilla
Best Carrot Cake frosted on a cooling rack

How To Make The Best Carrot Cake Recipe:

To make the cake part for this carrot cake begin by preheating the oven to 325 degrees and creaming together the oil, sugar, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. 

Then add in the grated carrots, drained crushed pineapple, flour, shredded coconut, raisins, chopped walnuts, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla and mix it all together until it is well combined. 

Once its blended together, pour it into a greased 9×13 inch baking dish and place it in the oven and let it bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

While the cake cools down, mix together the powdered sugar, softened butter, softened cream cheese, and vanilla extract until it is nice and creamy. 

After the cake is completely cooled down, spread the frosting evenly over top of the cake.   

Best Carrot Cake frosted and sliced into squares on a cooling rack

To Make The Best Carrot Cake Recipe You Will Need:

  1. 9×13 inch pan (just like THIS one!)
  2. Mixing bowls (2)
  3. Hand mixer
  4. Spatula
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Can You Make Your Own Crushed Pineapple?

Out of the list of ingredients for this carrot cake, crushed pineapple might be one of the things you might not have or could have a little hard time finding. But don’t fret you can indeed make your own crushed pineapple. 

With the Foodie Affair’s blog about how to make your own crushed pineapple from fresh pineapple, you will be able to make this recipe no matter what! I promise you don’t want to skip the pineapple because it adds so much flavor. 

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Make These Extra Fun Desserts For Easter!

  1. Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Easter Eggs Recipe
  2. Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
  3. Snicker’s Bar Easter Train
  4. Bite Size Carrot Cakes Recipe
  5. Butterscotch Bird Nest Treats Recipe (with Chow Mein Noodles)
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
Print Pin

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.

Notes

  • You can substitute butter or shortening for the margarine in the cream cheese frosting.

Nutrition

Calories: 485 kcal · Carbohydrates: 83 g · Protein: 6 g · Fat: 16 g · Saturated Fat: 8 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 3 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 57 mg · Sodium: 326 mg · Potassium: 276 mg · Fiber: 3 g · Sugar: 57 g · Vitamin A: 3181 IU · Vitamin C: 3 mg · Calcium: 68 mg · Iron: 2 mg

Equipment

  • 9×13-inch Baking Pan
  • 2 Mixing bowls
  • Hand mixer
  • spatula

Recipe Details

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
A slice of the Best Carrot Cake on a plate, frosted

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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!
  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 !
  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
  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
  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!!!
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. Julie says:
    March 25, 2013
    Hi Ladies!
    This looks FANTASTIC! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing it at Marvelous Mondays!
  9. Cheryl says:
    August 27, 2013
    I'm making it today for husbands birthday. Using 9" cake pans (2) baking time?
  10. 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. :)
  11. 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!
  12. Cyd says:
    June 12, 2014
    You can definitely substitute butter or shortening for the margarine in the cream cheese frosting.
  13. 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!
  14. kathy says:
    September 29, 2017
    Do you use cake flour or just plain flour
  15. Cyd says:
    October 4, 2017
    We used regular flour.
  16. 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.
  17. Bonnie says:
    April 22, 2022
    Will gluten free flour work for this
  18. Momma Cyd says:
    April 23, 2022
    You can substitute GF flour for regular flour when baking, but not all blends are equal. If you are new to gluten free, pick a blend like Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free blend.
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