Sheet Pan Carrot Cake

If you need a springtime dessert that feeds a crowd, make this Sheet Pan Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Depending on how you slice it, it can serve up to 35 people. It’s perfect for Easter, a spring brunch, or Mother’s Day. 

The best part about this time-saving recipe is our secret ingredient: using baby food! Before you say “no way!” – it’s the easiest way to get a moist, flavorful carrot cake without shredding carrots. Like using applesauce in baking, this keeps the cake from drying out while maximizing the carrot flavor! Plus, it saves you a lot of effort.

Why We Use Baby Food Carrots in This Carrot Cake

This is our shortcut to getting moist, tender carrot cake without grating carrots for 30 minutes. Baby food carrots are already pureed to a smooth consistency. They’re lightly seasoned (if at all) with very little additives because they’re meant for babies, so you don’t have to worry about added flavors or too much salt. 

Similar to how applesauce in baked goods can add sweetness and liquid to get a great texture, that’s what the baby food carrots do. Don’t be scared – we promise it works out great with a delicious carrot flavor!

Recipe Ingredient Notes

This cake is nut-free, raisin-free, and doesn’t use shredded carrots. It’s still a tender, moist crumb with a good helping of frosting on top (because of course we did not hold back on the frosting).

• Eggs: three eggs are needed for the moist, tender crumb on this carrot cake. 
• Dry ingredients: standard flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and a combination of baking powder and baking soda helps this rise just enough and keeps it nice and soft. Please note, if you’re using canned carrots instead of baby food (see note in FAQs), you will need to omit the salt.
• Vegetable oil: standard vegetable oil works great here, but you can sub canola oil or coconut oil if needed.
• Carrots: The best part about this recipe is not having to worry about the texture or size of your carrots. With a carrot puree (aka our baby food shortcut), it keeps the texture of the cake really moist. For picky eaters who like the flavor but hate the texture of grated carrots, this is the perfect solution.

Equipment Needed

For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:

• 2 Mixing Bowl (Large)
• Mixing Bowl
• Sheet Pan (Half Sheet)
• Cooling Rack
• Spatula

How to Make Our Sheet Pan Carrot Cake

1. Heat oven to 350℉.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs and oil for 2 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to egg mixture. Add in baby food; mix well.
4. Transfer to a greased 18×13” half baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
5. While the cake cools, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy (I love using an electric hand mixer, but you can also do it by hand).
6. Mix in milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until it reaches the desired consistency (I like to make mine light and fluffy so that it’s easier to spread).
7. Gently spread the frosting on the cake using a spatula.
8. Cut into squares and serve.

Recipe Notes

• Baby Food Substitution: If you don’t want to buy baby food, you can always make your own. This recipe from Joy Food Sunshine works great here. One of our readers, Holly, had success using two 14.5 oz cans of cooked carrots (drained) and omitting the salt from the recipe.
• Make As Cupcakes: Fill cupcake liners with the cake mixture about ⅔ of the way full. This recipe should yield about 24 cupcakes. Bake at 350℉ for about 15-18 minutes. That time frame may change depending on your altitude and oven. Make sure you watch them closely. They are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If you want more detailed instructions on turning cake into cupcakes, check out this post from King Arthur Baking.

Cream Cheese Frosting Tips

We’ve made a lot of frosting over the years and we have some non-negotiables when it comes to getting the creamiest frosting possible. 

First, make sure your cake is completely cooled before frosting. If you like a higher cake to frosting ratio, you’ll want to cut the frosting recipe in half. Second, for the best frosting possible, ingredients matter. Here’s our recommendations:

• Cream cheese: make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature. If it’s still cold or slightly cold, it can cause lumpy frosting. We also recommend using Philadelphia brand cream cheese. The others just don’t get as smooth (and we’ve tried them all!).
• Vanilla: we like to use a pure vanilla extract, preferably Mexican vanilla. It helps balance the flavor and sweetness. The flavor profile of pure extract gets rid of that “artificial” flavor that comes from using imitation.
• Powdered sugar: If you’re trying to avoid lumpy frosting, sift your powdered sugar. Even better, buy name-brand powdered sugar. We prefer the classic C&H and always have better results using this over generic brands. Very rarely do we opt for name brand over generic, but when it comes to frosting, we fully back you’ll get a better result.

Make Ahead Notes

Have a busy day planned? We would recommend cooking the cake the day before, then let it cool and cover it completely. Use a half sheet pan lid or cover tightly with aluminum foil. It can stay on your counter overnight. The next day, whip up your frosting and add it to the top before cutting and serving.

You can also freeze the bottom of the cake! Let it cool after baking, then wrap it tightly in cling wrap and a layer of aluminum foil and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the cake in the refrigerator overnight. When you’re ready to serve, whip up a batch of the cream cheese frosting and frost before serving.

Storage Tips

Cover the leftovers with plastic wrap, aluminum foil, or a half sheet pan lid and store the cake in the fridge for up to 5 days. This will keep the cake moist (and you won’t have to worry about that cream cheese frosting). Honestly, if it’s a hot spring where you are, we think a slice of chilled carrot cake tastes even better than room temperature!

Enjoy More Delicious Cake Recipes

Some days there’s nothing we want more than a slice of chocolate cake. Check out our comprehensive list of cake recipes here.

• Carrot Cake
• Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake
• Cinnamon Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Sheet Pan Zucchini Cake with Frosting