Carrot Bread

This easy carrot bread requires only a handful of simple ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your pantry and fridge.  Here’s how you make this most delicious fall treat.

• Dry Ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt.
• Wet Ingredients: Gather canola oil, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract and shredded carrots.

This moist carrot cake loaf bread is as easy to make as it is delicious. Here are my recommended substitutions if you need them.

• All purpose flour: To make this carrot loaf gluten free, use a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill. Measure the flour based on weight (210 g) instead of cup for cup. 
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder: Both are needed for this carrot cake bread to work as written. Make sure the baking powder and baking soda are in date.  
• Ground Spices: Feel free to use any combination of ground “warming spices” such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom or all spice. This recipe uses 3 - 4 teaspoons of ground spices. 
• Oil: Any neutral tasting oil will work well. You can also use ¾ cup melted and slightly cooled butter if you like. 
• Granulated Sugar and Brown Sugars: This recipe calls for both granulated and brown sugars. All light brown sugar or all granulated sugar can work in this recipe.  Maple sugar would also work well to make the carrot cake bread refined sugar free. 
• Eggs: This carrot bread recipe wasn’t tested to be vegan or made without eggs. 
• Sour Cream: This ingredient creates a lovely moist crumb. Use an equivalent amount of unsweetened or cinnamon applesauce, or greek yogurt as a substitute if needed.  
• Vanilla Extract: This gives a lovely background flavor to this carrot cake bread. 
• Grated Carrots: I highly recommend grating carrots instead of buying ones that are already grated. I like to use the smaller holes on a cheese grater to grate the carrots for this moist carrot bread recipe.

Variations

• Reduced Sugar Carrot Bread: The recipe for carrot bread uses 1 cup sugar total. This bread can be made with ⅔ cup of sugar total (⅓ cup sugar and ⅓ cup light brown sugar). 
• Optional Mix-ins: Add your favorite mix-ins such as chopped nuts, raisins, craisins or even pineapple. Make sure to chop any mix-ins into smaller pieces and keep add no more than 1 cup of any combination of mix-ins to the carrot bread. 
• Cream Cheese Frosting: Mix 4 oz. (113 g) room temperature cream cheese with 4 tablespoons (57 g) room temperature unsalted butter until smooth and well combined. Mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar and 1 - 3 teaspoons (5 - 15 ml) milk as needed until smooth and well combined. Top the cooled carrot loaf cake with the cream cheese glaze or frosting. 
• Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting: Cut my recipe for Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting in half. Top the carrot bread once cooled completely to room temperature. 
• Vanilla Glaze: Whisk 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (180 g) with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 - 2 tablespoons (15 - 30 ml) milk until well combined. Pour on top of the fully cooled carrot cake bread.

Learn how to make carrot bread in a few easy steps.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (170 C). Line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a bit of overhang on two sides. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground spices and salt together until well combined. 
2. In another large mixing bowl, add the oil, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract. Whisk the wet ingredients together until fully combine with no visible lumps. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Stir in the grated carrots and any other mix-ins until just combined.

3. Pour the carrot cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. If you would like, sprinkle the top with granulated sugar. Bake the carrot bread for 55 - 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the moist pumpkin bread comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool the carrot bread in the loaf pan for 15 minutes. Use the parchment sling to lift the bread out of the pan. Cool completely before topping with powdered sugar, cream cheese glaze, cream cheese frosting or before slicing the carrot bread.

M’s Expert Tips

• Grate the carrots yourself. Skip the pre-shredded bag carrots and shred whole carrots yourself. Use the smaller holes of a cheese grater or box grater for fine shreds of carrots. 
• Bring cold ingredients to room temperature: This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly which requires less mixing, resulting in moist and perfectly mixed carrot bread. 
• Use the blend of spices but not too much. As much as I love a great spice cake, the carrots are the star of any carrot bread recipe. With this in mind, think of the ground spices as supports to boost and enhance the flavor of the carrots. 
• Feel free to add your favorite mix-ins. For me, the best carrot bread is a plain one or one topped with cream cheese frosting. However, this is a great carrot bread recipe to add your favorite mix-ins such as chopped nuts, raisins, craisins or even pineapple. Make sure to chop any mix-ins into smaller pieces and keep them to no more than 1 cup of any combination of mix-ins. 
• Don’t overmix the carrot bread batter. Always use the lowest speed on your electric mixer or mix in the dry ingredients by hand. Make sure to mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. 
• Completely cool the carrot loaf bread before icing it. If the bread is even the tiniest bit warm, the frosting will melt into a runny glaze. The carrot loaf cake needs about 15 minutes to cool in the pan and another hour or so to cool at room temperature outside of the pan. 

Other Quick Bread Recipes to Try

• Pineapple Bread
• Apple Fritter Bread
• Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

If you try this Carrot Bread Recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! -M