12 Carrot Cake Recipes to Keep in Your Back Pocket This Spring

By Food & Wine and Megan Soll
Updated March 10, 2020
Antonis Achilleos
Nothing brings together savory and sweet elements like carrot cake. The fluffy cream cheese frosting with a moist and buttery cake is a treat we like just as much for dessert as for breakfast (because, why not?). The best carrot cake recipes span the gap between the traditional frosted layer cake and newer updates on the classic (including a gluten-free one). Carrot cake muffins, carrot cake cookies, even carrot cake waffles will take the springy dessert to a new level. If you’re looking to bake a classic carrot cake from scratch, or looking for a twist on the classic, these recipes will satisfy everyone.
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Classic Carrot Cake with Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting

Credit: Tina Rupp
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Carrot cake, that 1970s favorite, has a new audience at luxe restaurants like Manhattan's Le Bernardin. Pastry chef Jodi Elliot prepares the ultimate version: moist and not too sweet.

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Carrot Cupcakes with Caramel and Cream Cheese Frosting

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The cream cheese frosting on these moist carrot cupcakes is intentionally undersweetened to compensate for the sweet caramel topping.

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Take 5 Carrot Cupcakes

Credit: © QUENTIN BACON
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Chef Bryan Vietmeier makes these terrifically moist and carroty cupcakes. He suggests freezing the cupcakes before frosting to firm them up, preventing crumbs.

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Carrot Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Cocoa-Carrot Cake with Cocoa Crumble

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William Werner likes carrot cake but was curious to experiment with the classic. So he added cocoa to the batter, resulting in this moist loaf with a chocolaty crumb topping.

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Carrot and Orange Cake with Sour Cream Glaze

Credit: Antonis Achilleos
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This cake is a true beauty, worthy of the centerpiece at the Easter table and a taste your guests will be thinking about all year long. Adding in elements like dried apricots, candied orange peel and pistachios gives it a depth and flavor that you’ll want to make again and again.

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Carrot-Almond Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Credit: Antonis Achilleos
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What’s more approachable than a one-layer cake you can snack on at any time? This version from Ann Taylor Pittman uses honey to sweeten the deal, and tops it with the perfect cream cheese frosting.

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Coconut Flour Carrot Cake

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Calling all gluten-free bakers! Coconut flour makes this classic carrot layer cake both GF and pleasingly dense, a hard balance to strike.

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Almond and Carrot Cake

Credit: Maura McEvoy
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If you know someone who always complains desserts are “too sweet” then this is the cake to make. It’s a cross between a flourless cake and a carrot cake, and with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar it won’t get overrun with frosting. It’s also good to make a week ahead of time.

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Carrot Cake Waffles with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

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Can’t get enough of this classic flavor combination? Make a batter and do it for breakfast. They’re fluffy, chewy, and also gluten-free.

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Carrot, Coconut and Zucchini Bread

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Forgo frosting altogether and serve this with coffee or tea. The coconut topping provides sweetness without feeling overly decadent as a treat.

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Oatmeal-Carrot Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Credit: © Kristen Stevens
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Great for kids and adults, these cookies are great to have on hand in the kitchen. Keep them in an airtight container for up to a few days (if they last that long).

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By Food & Wine and Megan Soll