Carrot Cake Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Loaf of carrot cake bread topped with cream cheese frosting.

Carrot Cake Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Everything we love about carrot cake baked in a loaf pan! We intentionally kept this a bit less sweet than an actual cake, making it perfect for that morning cup of coffee. The cream cheese frosting adds the perfect touch of extra sweetness!

Course Bread, Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1 10

Cooling Time 1

Total Time 1 30

Servings slices

Calories 447kcal

Author Karly Campbell

Ingredients

For the bread:

1 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated carrots see notes
½ cup chopped pecans

For the frosting:

3 ounces cream cheese room temperature
2 tablespoons butter room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt

Instructions

To make the bread:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with non-stick spray.
Add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg salt, and baking soda to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Add the oil and eggs to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just until the flour has disappeared. Do not over mix.
Add the carrots and pecans to the bowl and stir to combine. The batter will be thick.
Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool for 15 minutes before removing from the loaf pan and cooling completely on a wire rack.

To make the frosting:

Add the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
With the mixer on low, beat in the powdered sugar and salt until the mixture is well combined.
Spread over the cooled bread before slicing and serving.

Notes

This bread is soft and moist - not too sweet aside from the frosting, which makes it perfect for a snack with your morning coffee.

The frosting can be thinned out with a bit of milk if you’d like more of a glaze. Cut the frosting recipe in half if you’re making a glaze or you’ll end up with quite a bit extra.

I much prefer shredding carrots myself for recipes like this. The bag of shredded carrots at the store are dry and tend to be more crunchy after baking. Shredding your own will let them melt into the batter better and add the right amount of moisture to the bread.

Nutrition