Carrot bread is a sweet and delicious quick bread filled with carrots, spice, and everything nice!
Use up all that fall bounty of garden carrots and bake them into this moist carrot bread. Quick breads are easy to make and freeze beautifully!
We love this recipe for carrot bread! Extra moist, a bit sweet and full of flavor. It’s a great twist on a banana bread recipe or carrot cake!
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS Typical of a basic quick bread, this uses all-purpose flour with baking soda to give it some rise. I add cinnamon and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use extra cinnamon or even apple pie spice.
CARROTS Carrots should be shredded using the coarse side of a cheese grater. They can be peeled or if you scrub them, you can skip peeling them.
VARIATIONS We like to add mix-ins like toasted walnuts. Toss in some coconut, raisins, or even diced apples if you’d like.
How to Make Carrot Bread (overview)
- Combine dry ingredients (per recipe below) and set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients with the shredded carrot.
- Fold dry ingredients to the wet, being careful not to overmix. Fold in any mix-ins and pour into prepared pan.
- Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
PRO TIP: For the walnuts, gently toast them in a sauté pan before using. Toasted nuts stay crunchier and have a more pronounced flavor!
Freezing and Storage
- Like most quick breads, carrot bread will last up to a week as long as it’s at room temperature in a zippered bag or container with a tight-fitting lid.
- Try keeping a slice of regular bread in the container with the carrot bread to absorb extra moisture.
- Freeze carrot bread by wrapping tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil with the date written on the outside. Frozen carrot bread will last about a month in the freezer.
Kitchen Tips
- Do not overmix the batter, stir just until combined.
- Use parchment paper to line the bottom of the loaf pan to make it easy to remove.
- Ovens can vary slightly, check the bread at least 10 minutes before you think it will be done.
- This bread is easier to slice when completely cooled.
More Quick Breads We Love
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread – moist & decadent
- Zucchini Bread – the perfect snack
- Homemade Cornbread Recipe
- Pumpkin Bread – easy to make
- Homemade Gingerbread – soft & moist
- Classic Banana Bread – 5 star recipe
Did your family love this Carrot Bread? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Homemade Carrot Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 2 ½ cups shredded carrot
- 3 eggs
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Mix carrots, eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Fold in walnuts and mix just until combined.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
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Just took this out of the oven, I did have to bake an additional 25 minutes as others have stated…I kept checking in 10 minute increments, looks fabulous and I’m sure it will be delicious!!!
Perfect, tall loaf, super pretty and delicious to boot! It’s going into my collection of make again recipes.
It turned out perfect!
thank you for the recipe
Absolutely sublime. I used 1/2 light brown sugar and 1/2 white. And avocado oil. The cooking time was slightly longer.
The result was the best damn carrot cake I’ve ever had.
Thank you!!
had so many carrots and needed to do something with them so this was perfect :) I made it gluten free with my gf ap flour blend and it turned out great
This is a quick and very easy recipe. The bread is so delicious. I added shredded coconut and used the carrot pulp from juiced carrots instead of shredded carrots. Also added a brown sugar drizzle glaze on top. It was oh so good
Oh! Did you add the shredded coconut to the batter along with the carrot?
I am not sure what Donnia did but I think that would work well to add them at that time.
Quick and easy to make. It froze beautifully and tastes delicious.
My husband loves this! I make a loaf every week for him. I just make three alterations. First, instead of one cup sugar, I use one-half cup of sugar and one-half cup of maple syrup. Second, I replace the pumpkin spice, which I do not keep around, with nutmeg. Third, I press a liberal amount of pumpkin seeds into the top of the loaf before baking. Thanks!
Delicious! Like carrot cake but in a loaf. I drizzled a couple spoonful of cream cheese icing on top. Yum!
these were heavenly! I made them into muffins instead of bread so I could put them in my daughters lunchbox for school. I substituted the oil for butter and it was terrific!
Could I get away with halving the amount of sugar, or would that wreck the cake? I like things less sweet than average.
Sugar sweetens the bread but it also affects with the structure of the crumb/texture. I can’t say for sure how it would work with less sugar but let us know how it goes if you try it!
I reduced the sugar by one-third, and it was still delicious. ^_^
Delicious ! Made this today for the first time. I’m in the UK and don’t usually work in cups,but the amounts translated to my measuring cups perfectly. I didn’t have pumpkin pie spice so added a bit of nutmeg. I also added a mashed banana. l’ll cut it in slices and freeze, otherwise we’ll eat it too quickly !
I tried this recipe last night it’s so amazing. I have used nutmeg as a pumpkin pie spice and add almonds its so so beautiful and moist. I double the recipe coz I have a big family but so looking forward to try your other recipes thank you so much