Best Carrot Cake Loaf

Best carrot cake loaf. With smooth cream cheese icing and a moist texture this delicious and easy to make recipe is just perfect to share!

Easy loaf cake bakes like this best carrot cake loaf recipe are my favourite to create and share!

For this recipe I used my gluten free carrot and sultana cake recipe and my healthy carrot cake traybake as the base.

As usual I've tweaked the ingredients to make this a slightly healthier carrot loaf cake recipe with less sugar and no butter compared to other recipes.

It also has a slightly healthier cream cheese topping.

But even though it has been made with healthier ingredients in mind, as usual I can absolutely assure you that there is no reduction in it's deliciousness!

This still has all the flavours you would expect from a classic traditional carrot cake. It's just an easy carrot loaf cake recipe made in a tin!

A slice of this carrot cake is just 155 calories.

I like to keep baking simple and washing up to a minimum so as usual I am using my tried and tested method.

This carrot loaf cake is just a large bowl of wet and dry simple ingredients mixed together.

A loaf tin for baking and a bowl of icing sugar mixed with cream cheese.

There's no need for a stand mixer or hand mixer, just also basic equipment which I've listed below too.

You'll definitely want to add this delicious loaf cake to your list of favourite bakes.

And if you enjoyed this then why not check out my other popular loaf cake recipes for you to try in the list below?

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Step By Step Instructions
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• FAQ's
• More Loaf Cake Recipes For You To Try
• 📋 Best Carrot Cake Loaf Recipe
• Nutrition Label
• Rate The Recipe

Ingredients

• Carrots
• Sunflower Oil
• Eggs
• Light Soft Brown Sugar
• Plain Flour
• Salt
• Ground Cinnamon
• Baking Powder
• Bicarbonate Of Soda
• Milk
• Low Fat Cream Cheese
• Icing Sugar
• Mixed Chopped Nuts (optional decoration)

See recipe card for quantities.

Step By Step Instructions

Detailed instructions are in the recipe card below. But here is a quick step by step guide of how to make this carrot loaf cake recipe:

To Make The Cake

Step 1 & 2

• Pre-heat oven to 180C FAN.
• Grease and line loaf tin with greaseproof paper / parchment paper.

Step 3

• In a large mixing bowl, place the grated / shredded carrots, sunflower oil, eggs and sugar.

Step 3 cont.

• Beat all wet ingredients together.

Step 4

• Into the large mixing bowl add the other ingredients. The flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and milk.

Step 4 cont.

• Stir together the flour mixture to create the cake batter.

Step 5

• Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Step 5 cont.

• Bake in the centre of oven for about 40 minutes. (Oven temperatures vary so bake time might depend on your oven I can only give a guidance).

Step 6.

• Remove loaf cake from tin and allow to cool on a wire baking rack.

To Make The Cream Cheese Topping

Step 1

• Make the cream cheese topping. Sift icing sugar and cream cheese into a medium bowl.

Step 1 cont.

• Beat icing sugar and cream cheese together.

Step 2

• Spread the icing over the cake and decorate with the chopped mixed nuts.

Step 3

• Keep the finished cake in an airtight container in the fridge. Slice as required.

Substitutions

• Carrots - fresh carrots are best as their natural sweetness adds to the recipe.
• Sunflower Oil - needed to make a moist carrot cake loaf. Vegetable oil will also work but don't use olive oil as it may taint the flavour of the cake.
• Eggs - I use 2 medium sized free range eggs.
• Light Soft Brown Sugar - you need light brown sugar here. Don't use white sugar.
• Plain Flour - use only plain/all purpose flour (U.S) here.
• Salt - ordinary cooking salt is fine.
• Ground Cinnamon - essential spice for a good carrot cake. Do not omit!
• Baking Powder - do not omit or substitute with anything else or your cake will not rise.
• Bicarbonate Of Soda - do not omit or substitute with anything else or your cake will not rise.
• Milk - I use semi skimmed. As only a small amout is used it doesn't make much difference if you use full fat milk instead.
• Low Fat Cream Cheese - I use low fat for the icing. You could use full fat but that will alter the nutritional label.
• Icing Sugar - only use icing sugar / powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar (U.S) here. 
• Mixed Chopped Nuts (optional decoration)

Equipment

For This Carrot Cake Loaf Recipe You May Need….

The following links and any links in the recipe card below are affiliate links.

This means that if you click on it and then buy that product, I’ll get a small commission (at no extra cost to you of course).

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This is the basic loaf tin I use. 

As you can see it's relatively inexpensive and its perfect for loaf cake recipes.

Plus it's teflon coated and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

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FAQ's

Where Is Carrot Cake From?

Carrot cake is said to have been developed in Britain during World War 2 where sugar was scarce. Carrots being naturally sweet were used to sweeten baking instead.

How Do You Store A Loaf Of Carrot Cake?

It is best stored in an air tight container in the fridge for a maximum of 3-4 days to keep it as fresh as possible.

Can You Freeze Carrot Cake?

Yes. It is possible to freeze the actual carrot cake bread loaf part itself without the cream cheese icing on.

More Loaf Cake Recipes For You To Try

Nutrition Label

Nutritional information provided below is calculated using paid for online tools and the exact ingredients and quantities used above.

Rate The Recipe

If you’ve made this best carrot cake loaf recipe, or any other recipes on Neil's Healthy Meals, then please let me know.

I’d love to hear what you think of my recipe in the comments below and please do rate my recipe 5* if you like it! 🙂