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Moist, tender, and warmly spiced, this easy carrot bread comes together in just minutes! Loaded with pineapple, raisins, and nuts, the carrot cake loaf is a delicious breakfast, snack, or dessert. Perfect alongside a hot cup of coffee or tea!
Table of Contents
If you’re looking for even more recipes with carrots, be sure to try this one-bowl easy carrot cake recipe, these carrot oatmeal bars with cream cheese glaze, an old-fashioned carrot and raisin salad, and these brown sugar roasted carrots, too!
Why You’ll Love this Carrot Cake Bread
- Easy. Quick breads are so convenient, because you don’t need to wait for yeast to rise. With about 15 minutes of prep time, you’ll have a homemade treat ready for the oven — and it will make your house smell cozy and wonderful!
- Two Loaves. The recipe yields two loaves of carrot bread with a single effort. That means one for you to enjoy now, and one to freeze for later (or to share with a friend).
- Moist and Flavorful. The shredded carrots and pineapple, along with the oil, keep these loaves of carrot bread incredibly moist. Add plenty of warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice, and you’ve got plenty of delicious flavor in every bite.
- Versatile. Offer this carrot cake loaf for an easy make-ahead breakfast on busy weekday mornings, or add it to a spring holiday table (like Easter brunch). For an even more decadent option, spread the loaf with cream cheese frosting or a simple vanilla glaze, pair each slice with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and serve it for dessert.
What Does Carrot Bread Taste Like?
If the sound of carrot bread makes you think of a salad, then think again! You cannot actually taste the carrots in this recipe. Instead, carrot bread tastes like carrot cake — a type of spice cake prominently flavored with warm notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and vanilla. It’s also very similar to zucchini bread.
The carrots and pineapple add a touch of sweetness and help to keep the carrot cake loaf moist, while the nuts and raisins contribute even more flavor and texture.
The Best Loaf Pans to Use for Carrot Cake Loaf
You’ll need two 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pans for this recipe. If you’re in the market for new loaf pans, be sure to check out our roundup of the best loaf pans on the market — including my personal favorites that you see here — the OXO Good Grips Nonstick Loaf Pan, available on Amazon for $20.99.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for two smaller loaves of carrot cake bread. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- All-purpose flour: the base of the batter.
- Baking soda and baking powder: leavening agents that help the bread rise.
- Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice: warm spices that give the carrot bread its classic flavor.
- Kosher salt: to balance the sweetness and enhance the other flavors in the bread.
- Sugar: to sweeten the bread. You can decrease the total amount of sugar to 1 cup if you prefer a less-sweet bread.
- Eggs: give the bread structure.
- Oil: keeps the loaf extra moist! I use vegetable oil, but a similar neutral oil such as canola oil or avocado oil will work fine. Even coconut oil would be an interesting twist.
- Vanilla extract: for warm flavor. We love our homemade two-ingredient bourbon vanilla extract here!
- Grated carrots: the bread’s namesake! You can’t actually taste the carrots in the bread; however, they add a touch of sweetness and keep the loaf very moist. Use carrots that you grate by hand — not a bag of pre-grated matchstick carrots.
- Crushed pineapple: drain the can and stir it right into the batter for even more moisture and sweet flavor.
- Raisins and walnuts: mix-ins that add flavor and texture to the loaf. You can also add shredded coconut, or try golden raisins, chopped dates, or dried cranberries instead of regular raisins.
How to Make Carrot Bread
Is it cake, or is it bread? Breakfast or dessert? You decide! You’ll find detailed directions for this easy carrot cake bread in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick version:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Beat together the wet ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; mix.
- Stir in the carrots, pineapple, raisins, and nuts.
- Pour into two loaf pans.
- Bake for about 50 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the moist carrot bread warm, at room temperature, or even straight from the refrigerator! It’s a great option for breakfast or snack when paired with a mug of hot coffee or tea.
The bread is delicious on its own, but you might also enjoy it with butter, cream cheese, almond butter, or peanut butter. Add some yogurt or eggs and fresh fruit on the side for a perfect morning feast, or offer it in the bread basket at dinner alongside savory options like ribs, pulled pork, steak, or chicken.
If you’d like to serve the carrot cake loaf for dessert, make it even sweeter with a drizzle of vanilla glaze, a dusting of powdered sugar, or a slather of cream cheese frosting on top. Pair each slice with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Make-Ahead: This bread just gets better as it sits. The flavors come together and the carrots and pineapple help to keep the bread nice and moist.
- How to Store: Always wrap your loaf in plastic wrap, foil, or an airtight container to prevent it from drying out. It does not need to be refrigerated. Leftovers will stay fresh at room temperature on the counter for 2-3 days, and it will last in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- To Freeze: For longer storage, cool the loaf completely, wrap tightly, and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Recipe Variations
- For a less-sweet loaf of bread, reduce the granulated sugar to 1 cup.
- If you like more mix-ins in every slice, increase the nuts and raisins to 1 cup each. You can also stir in shredded coconut.
- Swap out half of the shredded carrots and replace them with 1 cup of grated zucchini for loaves of zucchini carrot bread, or with 1 cup of grated apples for apple carrot bread.
- Sprinkle coarse sugar over the top of the bread before baking. This will give it a lovely “crust” on top.
- If you’d like to serve the carrot cake loaf for dessert, make it even sweeter with a drizzle of vanilla glaze, a dusting of powdered sugar, or a slather of cream cheese frosting on top. Pair each slice with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!
- Add whole grains to the loaves by replacing half of the all-purpose flour with 1 ½ cups of whole wheat flour.
- If you love the stronger flavor of toasted nuts, you can toast the pecans or walnuts in a dry skillet on the stovetop just until fragrant. Let them cool completely, and then use in the recipe as instructed.
Tips for the Best Carrot Bread Recipe
- Grease or spray the pans really well with non-stick spray so that the bread doesn’t stick. I like to use a baking spray with flour in it. You can also grease the pans and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang so that you can easily lift the bread out of the pans.
- Always use freshly grated carrots that you grate yourself at home with a box grater. These will be very wet, which is a great way to keep your carrot cake bread moist. Do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store.
- To check if the loaf is done, insert a toothpick deep into the center of the bread and make sure that it comes out clean. Don’t cook the loaves for too long, or they may dry out.
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Carrot Bread
Equipment
- 2 loaf pans
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups peeled and grated carrots
- 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8 ½-by-4 ½-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, kosher salt, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add the flour mixture; mix just until combined. Add the carrots and pineapple; mix well. Fold in the raisins and nuts.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans.
- Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let the bread cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then carefully turn out the loaves to finish cooling on a wire rack.
Notes
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- Grease or spray the pans really well with non-stick spray so that the bread doesn’t stick. I like to use a baking spray with flour in it. You can also grease the pans and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang so that you can easily lift the bread out of the pans.
-
- Always use freshly grated carrots that you grate yourself at home with a box grater. These will be very wet, which is a great way to keep your carrot cake bread moist. Do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store.
-
- To check if the loaf is done, insert a toothpick deep into the center of the bread and make sure that it comes out clean. Don’t cook the loaves for too long, or they may dry out.
- For a less-sweet loaf of bread, reduce the granulated sugar to 1 cup.
- If you like more mix-ins in every slice, increase the nuts and raisins to 1 cup each. You can also stir in shredded coconut.
- This recipe is adapted from The Kitchen on Food Network.
