Best Carrot Cake Recipe

Active Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

2 hrs 20 mins

Servings:

10 to 12

Yield:

1 (9-inch) cake

Truly our best-ever carrot cake recipe, this classic favorite is fit for a crowd, and you might not have any leftovers to bring home. This is a cake you can bake for any occasion from Easter to Christmas, or just because you’re craving some carrot cake.

Learn how to make carrot cake step by step. Plus, learn everything you need to know about carrot cake, including how to store it, how to frost it, and how to make sure it stays moist.

Best Carrot Cake on a white plate with orange splatter — Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

Ingredients for Carrot Cake

Part of what makes this the best carrot cake are three important ingredients: canned crushed pineapple, flaked coconut, and chopped nuts. Without these key ingredients, we probably wouldn't call this recipe our "best."

Crushed pineapple: This is the secret to moist carrot cake. You won’t really taste the pineapple in the cake, but it will help keep it tender, thanks to its acid content and natural enzymes. The pineapple’s juice also adds moisture and a touch of extra sweetness.
Flaked coconut: Coconut in carrot cake is a distinctly Southern touch. It adds both texture to the cake and a touch of sweetness (plus, it beats raisins any day). You can skip it, but the coconut plays well off the tang of the buttermilk and warm notes of the cinnamon. Toasting the coconut before adding it into the batter will only help amp up its flavor.
Chopped nuts: You don’t have to add nuts to your carrot cake, but we think the best versions do. Pecans are the Southern choice, but walnuts are delicious, too. Whichever you use, make sure to toast the nuts before adding them into the batter to maximize their flavor.
Flour: All-purpose flour provides the right texture and density.
Baking soda: This leavener helps the cake layers to rise into a fluffy cake.

Ground cinnamon: This warming spice is the just-right choice for all the fruit, coconut, and nuts.
Vegetable oil: Instead of butter, oil makes for a more moist cake. You can split the amount with butter for texture, but the cake may be a bit drier.
Grated carrot: It's not carrot cake without fresh carrots. Use your box grater or the grating attachment on your food processor to break down the carrots. The pre-grated carrots in the produce section won't do.
Flaked coconut: Look for this ingredient in the baking aisle in a bag. You can also toast shredded coconut for a similar flavor and texture.
Pecans or walnuts: Pecans are more Southern, but walnuts are equally delicious.

ingredients for Best Carrot Cake — Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

How To Make Carrot Cake

Don’t be intimidated by this layer cake; it looks and tastes impressive, but is one of the easier layer cakes to make.

Step 1. Prepare the pans, and mix the dry ingredients: Line 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with parchment paper; lightly grease and flour parchment paper.
Step 2. Make the batter: In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Beat eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Fold in grated carrots, pineapple, coconut, and nuts. Divide batter evenly into prepared cake pans.
Step 3. Bake cake layers: Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 4. Glaze and frost: Drizzle the Buttermilk Glaze evenly over the layers; cool in pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Remove the layers from the pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.

The Secret to the Best Carrot Cake? Buttermilk Glaze

This cake wouldn’t be our best without the Buttermilk Glaze. This glaze, a combination of sugar, butter, buttermilk, baking soda, corn syrup, and vanilla, gets poured onto the warm layers and absorbed, keeping the crumb of the cake extra moist and supple. It adds additional sweetness and a little tang. Trust us, this cake isn’t the same without this glaze.

How To Store Carrot Cake

Carrot cake needs to be refrigerated because of the cream cheese frosting. Cover with a cake dome or plastic wrap. It'll stay good for up to five or six days.

Can you freeze carrot cake?

You can't freeze frosted carrot cake, but if you need to get ahead for a party or birthday, you can make the cake layers and freeze them. To do this, cook and cool the cake layers completely. Then wrap in plastic wrap before wrapping in aluminum foil.

Once you're ready to use the cake, just remove the layers from the freezer, and let them thaw overnight in the fridge. Then glaze and frost.

Our Tips for an Incredible Carrot Cake

As if this cake couldn't get any better, you can customize it to whatever pan you have or how much time and effort you want to put into assembling and decorating. If you don’t want to make this cake as a layer cake community member, ‘snapcook,’ says, “I make this every Easter, with 3 layers or in a 9x13 pan. It’s great either way! Rave reviews every time.”

For more flavor, try toasting the nuts and coconut before adding them to the batter.

It's important to cool the cakes completely before frosting; otherwise the frosting will just melt right off.

More Carrot Cake Favorites

Love the flavors of carrot cake but want something different? Try these favorites:

Editorial contributions by Alana Al-Hatlani.

Best Carrot Cake — Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. table salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 cups granualted sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrot
1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
3 1/2 oz. flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Buttermilk Glaze
Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions

Line pans:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with parchment paper; lightly grease and flour parchment paper. Set pans aside.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Combine dry ingredients:

Stir together first 4 ingredients—flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Make batter:

Beat eggs and next 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrot and next 3 ingredients.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Pour batter into prepared cake pans.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Bake, glaze, and frost:

Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Drizzle Buttermilk Glaze evenly over layers; cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I make my carrot cake soft and moist?

Aside from not overbaking the cake layers, using crushed pineapple in the batter can help keep the cake moist, and don’t skip the Buttermilk Glaze–without it, the cake inherently won’t be as moist.

Learn More: How To Bake A Moist Cake
Why is my carrot cake not fluffy?

Carrot cake will never be as light and fluffy as a sponge cake. That said, it can become overly dense.

This can happen for a few reasons, from not mixing the eggs enough to incorporate air to adding in too many mix-ins like nuts, coconut, or raisins that can weigh down the cake batter–don't be tempted to fold in extra mix-ins or even carrots, stick to the amounts in the ingredient list for the best results.
Why do you use oil instead of butter in carrot cake?

Oil helps keep carrot cake extra moist and also helps extend its shelf life. You can use melted butter or a combination of both oil and melted butter if you want that butter flavor, but using only oil will make for a more moist cake.
What is the best way to grate carrots for carrot cake?

Use the large holes of a box grater to grate your carrots. It’s not a fun task, but pre-shredded carrots are too stringy and thick, meaning they don’t yield the right texture. Plus, they aren’t as moist as fresh carrots, so you’ll get a drier cake if you use them.