Name: mini carrot cakes
Ingredients: 3 cups flour; 1 tbsp cinnamon; 2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt; 1 1/2 cups brown sugar; 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil; 3/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened); 3 eggs; 2 tsp vanilla; 3 cups shredded carrots; 1/2 cup butter (at room temp); 8 oz cream cheese (at room temp); 1 tsp vanilla; 4 cups powdered sugar

last updated on October 30, 2026

a roundup of all my favorite carrot cake recipes!

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

3 cups flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3/4 cup applesauce unsweetened
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups shredded carrots

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter at room temp
8 oz cream cheese at room temp
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350(F). Shred carrots and transfer them to a bowl lined with paper towels. Let them sit while you make the batter.
Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a bowl and mix to combine.
In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, vegetable oil, and applesauce. Whisk until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and mix again.
Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until almost combined. Squeeze any remaining juice from the shredded carrots and add them to the batter. Fold the batter until the carrots are just combined.
Grease a baking sheet (18"x13") and pour the batter in. Spread the batter out so it is equally distributed in the pan. Bake at 350 for 20-23 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.
While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. Add the butter and cream cheese to a bowl. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese for 2 minutes, until lighter and fluffy. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat an additional 3 minutes. The frosting should be well combined and smooth.
Using a lid or small bowl (something round), cut out small circles of cake. Place the lid on top of the cake, then cut around it with a sharp knife. Repeat with the entire cake. You should have about 24 small rounds of cake.
Pipe frosting onto one small cake. Top it with another small cake and pipe more frosting on the top. Continue with all the cakes. If desired, crumble extra cake on top of the prepared cakes and top with edible spring flowers! Enjoy!

Ingredients

carrot cake loaf

1/2 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups carrots finely shredded

brown butter cream cheese frosting

1/4 cup butter
4 oz cream cheese at room temp
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
splash of milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, add the olive oil, brown sugar, eggs, greek yogurt, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well combined.
Grate the carrots onto a paper towel and squeeze some of the juice out.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl. Gently stir the dry ingredients in until they are almost combined. Add the shredded carrots and gently fold in until no large streaks of dry ingredients remain and carrots are well distributed.
Grease an 8"x4" loaf pan (If you only have a larger loaf pan, this should work, just decrease the cook time a bit). Line the loaf pan with parchment paper (this step is optional, but makes it even easier to remove the loaf after cooking).
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Transfer to the oven and cook for a total of 45-50 minutes. Check the loaf around 35 minutes. If it is starting to brown really quickly on top, add a loose layer of tin foil over the loaf for the remaining cook time. Cook until a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack after 10 minutes.
While the loaf cools, make the frosting. Add the butter to a pan over medium heat. Stir while the butter starts to melt. The butter will start to bubble, then after a couple minutes it will start to foam up — keep stirring. After the foam subsides, you'll have brown, nutty smelling butter! Take the pan off the heat and pour the butter into a bowl or cup. Transfer the butter to the freezer for 10 minutes to set up.
Transfer the cooled butter to a bowl or stand mixer. Add cream cheese and mix for 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix another two minutes. Add a splash of milk and mix until smooth.
When loaf is completely cooled, spread the frosting on top. If you'd like, top with a few crushed pecans. Enjoy!
Keep any leftover loaf in a sealed container in the fridge. The loaf will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.

Ingredients

carrot cake bars

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup carrots shredded

cream cheese frosting

8 oz cream cheese softened
1/2 cup butter softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Add butter to a large pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat.
Let the butter cool for a couple minutes then add the brown sugar and stir. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring throughly and quickly between each. Add vanilla and stir again.
Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined. Add shredded carrots and stir again.
Pour batter into an 8×8 pan greased or lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.
While the bars are cooling, make the frosting. Add cream cheese and butter to a bowl. Whip with a stand mixer or hand mixer for 2-3 minutes. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, and mix another 2-3 minutes until smooth.
When bars have completely cooled (you can put them in the fridge to speed up cooling time!!), cut them into slices and top with a scoop of cream cheese frosting!
Then optionally top with a few crushed pecans and a shaving of carrot. Enjoy!

Ingredients

carrot cake protein waffles

3/4 cup almond milk or any milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
splash of vanilla
1/2 cup oat flour or any flour
1 scoop vanilla protein powder about 1/4 cup
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 cup shredded carrots

cream cheese frosting

4 tbsp plant based cream cheese normal cream cheese works too
1/2 cup powdered sugar
splash of almond milk or any milk

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the milk, apple cider vinegar, and a splash of vanilla. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
In a larger bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon, salt).
Add the coconut oil and maple syrup to the milk mixture and stir. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Add shredded carrots and stir again.
Grease a heated waffle iron and add the batter. If you want mini waffles, add about 1/4 cup of batter. For larger waffles, add closer to 2/3 cup.
Top with your fav toppings! If you are making the cream cheese icing, here is how we make that: Combine the cream cheese and sugar. Add splashes of milk until you get the consistency you want. Enjoy!

Ingredients

CREAM CHEESE FILLING**

4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

CARROT CAKE COOKIES

1 cup butter cold
1 3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3 1/4 cups flour 422 grams
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (unless you're using salted pecans, then add 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 cup pecans crushed

Instructions

For the cream cheese filling, add the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla to a medium bowl. With a hand beater (or stand mixer) beat until the mixture is smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix for about 2 minutes until there are no clumps.
Using a 1 tbsp sized cookie scoop, scoop the filling onto a piece of wax paper. Scoop out 9 dollops of the filling. There will probably be a little extra filling. Put the filling in the freezer while you make the dough.
Using a small grater, grate carrots and add to a bowl with a paper towel. Let the carrots sit for at least 10 minutes to let the extra water drain off.
In a stand mixer, combine cold butter and brown sugar. Mix until smooth and slightly fluffy (about 2 minutes).
Add the eggs and mix on low until the eggs are just mixed in.
Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix on low until there is only a little bit of flour not mixed in.
Add the carrots and pecans and mix on low until they are just combined in with the rest of the dough and there are no streaks of flour.
Put the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill.
When you take the dough out, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Grab a large handful of dough. Put one ball of frozen cream cheese filling in the middle of the dough and enclose the dough around it. Place the dough on a kitchen scale. Each dough ball should weigh 8 oz. Add or take away a little dough to get it close to 8 oz. If you want smaller cookies, that is fine, just make them a consistent weight! If you don't have a scale, eyeball it and make them as consistent as you can.
Bake the dough for 8-11 minutes, until the outside is slightly golden brown and barely set. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 30-60 minutes. This is important so the dough will set up properly.
If you are frosting your cookies rather than stuffing them, double the frosting recipe. Once you make the frosting, transfer it to a piping bag instead of the freezer. Then, once the cookies have completely cooled, pipe the frosting on top of each one!
Enjoy! Keep any extra cookies in the fridge.