Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Name: Carrot Bread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 1 cup granulated sugar; 3/4 cup vegetable oil; 2 large eggs; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp baking soda; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp ground ginger; 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg; 1/8 tsp ground cloves; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 cup all purpose flour; 1 1/2 cups shredded carrot; 3/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped; 3/4 cup shredded coconut; 4 ounces cream cheese; 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature; 1 pinch salt; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

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Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting is packed with the requisite shredded carrots, nuts, and coconut, but it’s that frosting that’ll get you every time. If you love carrot cake but rarely have the time or energy to pull it off, try this quick carrot bread!

Nothing beats a rich moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, unless of course it’s a rich moist carrot bread with cream cheese frosting ~ so much easier (all the benefits with half the work!) Plus permission to have carrot cake with your morning coffee. Win.

grab your ingredients

carrots ~ 2 or 3 to make 1 1/2 cups grated. Do not buy pre-grated carrots, grate them yourself.
walnuts ~ sub pecans if you prefer.
shredded coconut
flour ~ all purpose
sugar ~granulated
vegetable oil ~ your choice
eggs ~ large
cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves ~ this combination of spices gives the cake its nice rich color.
vanilla ~ don’t skip this, it brings all the flavors together.
baking soda ~ a little needed lift for a heavy batter.
cream cheese ~ brick style. With my revolutionary technique for making the frosting you won’t even need to bring the cheese to room temperature.
butter
powdered sugar ~ sifted!
salt

the (cream cheese) icing on the cake

It’s what pulls it all together and makes this bread, well, almost a cake! An irresistible cake if I do say so myself.

Shhhhh!

I don’t want everyone to know my secret to perfect cream cheese frosting so lean in…

Pile the cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt into your food processor and pulse/process until everything is combined.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then process briefly until smooth and silky.
With this method you can even start with cold ingredients! The food processor blasts any potential lumps even from fridge-cold cream cheese ~ score!
If you don’t have a food processor, check out these handy tips for bringing cold ingredients to room temperature in a jiffy.

Customize your carrot bread

Leave out the walnuts, or substitute pecans. If you have the time, roast them for 15 minutes in a 350F oven, the flavor is amazing.
Leave out the coconut, or sprinkle it on top of the frosting.
Add raisins, I love golden.
Simplify the spices and just use a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Storing and freezing carrot bread

Cream cheese frosting shouldn’t be left at room temperature for more than a few hours, so Store any leftovers in the fridge.
If you want to freeze this carrot bread, wrap the baked but unfrosted bread tightly and freeze it. Thaw and then frost when ready to serve.

Making carrot bread ahead of time

if you want to make this bread ahead of time, bake the bread, let it fully cool, then wrap in foil and refrigerate for up to a couple of days. Frost when ready to serve.

put these quick breads on your to do list

Save Recipe

5 from 11 votes

Carrot Bread

Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting is packed with shredded carrots, nuts, and coconut, then iced with a thick layer of everybody's favorite frosting!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Yield slices

Calories 505kcal

Author Sue Moran

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
3/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
3/4 cup shredded coconut

Cream cheese frosting

4 ounces cream cheese
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
Whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, spices, and salt.
Add the flour and mix to combine.
Fold in the carrots, walnuts, and coconut.
Mix until everything is evenly combined, but don't over mix.
Spread the batter into your prepared baking pan and even out the top.
Bake for about 60-70 minutes until risen and fully cooked.
Allow the cake to cool before frosting.
To make the cream cheese frosting, add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor.
Process briefly until smooth. Scrape down the sides if necessary to get all the dry sugar incorporated.
Frost the cooled loaf cake generously.

Nutrition

The nutritional information for recipes on this site is provided as a courtesy and although theviewfromgreatisland.com tries to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

Sue Moran

The kitchen is my happy place where I play with fabulous ingredients that nourish the body and soul. My mission? To get you fired up about good food and give you the tools to make it yourself. My recipes are never fussy and always exciting ~ there are 2,000 and counting on the blog!

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