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This easy carrot cake recipe will be a new family favorite. Perfect for those looking for a nut free carrot cake. Includes all the essential elements like cream cheese frosting but ditches the nuts, pineapple and coconut.
I love a good carrot cake, don't you? It seems so grown-up and elegant. An adult eating vegetables that are disguised as cake. I've used this recipe for our last 14 Easter Celebrations. It's always a hit. It is nut, pineapple and coconut free! It is incredibly moist and the Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting just melts on your tongue! I added candied carrots to mine for that sophisticated look, but honestly, this cake is just as worthy of your swoons when it is made as a simple sheet cake.
NUT FREE CARROT CAKE
Every time I bake this cake, I remember the first time I did. We were living in Manhattan, Kansas and I was a newlywed with a baby on the way.
I poured over recipe after recipe, searching in earnest for a nut free carrot cake
I couldn't find what I was looking for so I decided to mesh together my favorite spices and basic ingredients. It would be a risk, but eh, what's a bag of carrots and a few eggs?
I put the cake in the oven-and it raised. It made an appropriate cake shape. After a quick taste, I was relieved to find it was edible.
Not just edible---but incredible!
I was so excited to share it with my husband, who was the only person I spent that first married Easter with, as both our families were thousands of miles from where the Army had stationed us. He approved. He approved so much he ate almost half the cake.
Over the years, we were blessed to move to other areas of the country, where we were closer to family members. The cake earned my Mother In Laws Approval first.
And eventually, my own mother partook in the cake and deemed it very tasty. So much so that my husband caught her getting seconds!
Since then, we've added all 4 boys to the mix. And 3 out of 4 eat it and love it. One is still a hold out. He doesn't believe vegetables belong in cake. But we adults, we know better! I've included my recipe below, and I hope that your family enjoys it as much as ours has. Spring just wouldn't be the same without a slice of carrot cake!
📋Recipe
Best Ever Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the nut free carrot cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar loosely packed.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- dash ground cloves
- dash ground Ginger
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups finely shredded Carrots
- 4 Eggs
For the cinnamon brown sugar cream cheese icing:
- 8 ounces cream cheese 1 block
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
To bake the nut free carrot cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease and flour 2 (8 inch) cake pans.
- In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Using a whisk will help distribute the spices and eliminate the need of sifting the flour. If using a stand mixer, place directly in it's bowl. A handheld mixer is fine for the next step.
- Slowly add oil, carrots and eggs, beating until combined with a hand held mixer or a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Divide mixture among both pans and bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick in center of cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
- Remove cakes from pans and allow to finish cooling on the rack.
For the cinnamon brown sugar cream cheese frosting:
- Beat the cream cheese, butter, cinnamon and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and once mixed gradually add the powdered sugar.
- If the icing is too thick, thin by adding milk 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Frost the cake after both cakes are cool.
Nutrition
Miss Kitty says
Thanks Mrs. Hoff for sharing your family secret! I actually am off this weekend and might actually cook something too! This looks like a very good candidate since my motto is "Life Is Uncertain....Eat Dessert First". I'm pinning it too. Happy Easter!
MrsMajor Hoff says
Thanks so much Miss Kitty! I think Dessert should always be first! Have a wonderful holiday!
thistlewoodfarm says
Sara,
So awesome to meet you at SNAP! Love, love, love your photography! Thanks for all the inspiration!
Happy day friend,
karianne
MrsMajor Hoff says
It was great getting to sit and chat with you! Thanks for your kind words about my photography! Hope you enjoyed safe travels home!
-Sara
GI Joe says
This cake is awesome! And the candied carrots are not just a decoration, they taste great too!