Easy vegan carrot cake loaf that has the classic flavors of a layered carrot cake, but is easy to make as banana bread. This moist quick bread uses brown sugar, lots of warm spices and comes together in one bowl. It’s delicious by itself or topped with frosting!
Why you’ll love this recipe
TEXTURE: This vegan carrot loaf is denser than carrot cake (as this loaf uses less sugar) but fluffier than banana bread or pumpkin bread.
EASY TO MAKE: Perfect for when you’re craving the classic flavors of carrot cake, but without the hassle of decorating a cake!
Simple ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Shredded carrots add moisture and flavor. You can use a box grater or food processor to shred your carrots (I used a food processor).
Brown sugar for flavor and moisture. Granulated sugar makes the carrot cake a little lighter. For a denser carrot cake, you can use all brown sugar, or for a lighter carrot cake, you can use all granulated sugar.
Warm spices, including ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and ground ginger.
How to make this carrot cake loaf
This is a quick and easy loaf to make! In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. If you’d like to add any nuts, coconut or raisins, add them at the same time as the wet ingredients.
Initially, your cake batter will look quite thick. However, once you stir all the ingredients, the batter will loosen up. The sugar and carrots need a minute to liquify and soften!
Baking the loaf
This vegan carrot cake loaf is straightforward to bake. However, all ovens are different so here are my top tips:
- If your oven has a strong top heating element, your loaf may brown before the loaf is fully cooked. If it does, carefully tent your loaf pan with aluminum foil.
- Don’t underbake your carrot loaf. The loaf is ready when you can insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out with only a few moist crumbs (almost clean), and the middle feels firm to the touch. If your carrot loaf is underbaked, it will sink and be dense and gooey.
How to serve carrot cake loaf
For a quick vegan carrot bread, serve slices at room temperature or toasted with some non-dairy butter. I love serving it with a dollop of yogurt.
If you’d like a more indulgent dessert, you can top the cake with a combination of:
- Dairy-free cream cheese frosting
- Vanilla or lemon buttercream frosting (the lemon partially mimics the tanginess of cream cheese)
- Lemon glaze, from my lemon olive oil cake recipe.
- Chopped pecans or walnuts
- Mini buttercream carrots (as seen in my vegan carrot cake recipe)
- Caramelized apples (from my apple bread recipe).
Customizing this recipe
I have not tested it. However, my apple bread recipe is very similar to this one and it works well with a combination of almond flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour.
For a denser loaf that’s more like carrot cake bread, you can reduce the granulated sugar to ¼ cup (50g) but keep the amount of brown sugar. You can also use all coconut sugar or a granulated sugar replacer, for slightly different results.
Yes, however these flours are more absorbent than all-purpose flour so I recommend adding an extra dash of non-dairy milk to the batter.
Yes, you can bake the cake in a longer loaf tin (just check your loaf earlier than the 1 hour mark). It will also bake well in an 8-inch square pan or round pan, and you’ll need to bake it for around 1 hour.
Alternatively, check out my carrot cake muffins, layered carrot cake or carrot cake cupcakes.
More carrot and quick bread recipes
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Vegan Carrot Cake Loaf
Servings: 10 people
Ingredients
To decorate (see note 3 for frosting without cream cheese)
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Instructions
Make the vegan carrot cake loaf:
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Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk until there are no lumps. Add all the wet ingredients (including the carrots and optional nuts) and mix until just combined.
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Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan.
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Bake the cake for around 1 hour or until you can insert a toothpick in the center of the loaf and it comes out mostly clean. A few moist crumbs on your toothpick are fine but make sure there’s no wet batter on it.
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Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.
Make the cream cheese frosting:
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Add the vegan butter to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat until it’s light and fluffy. Add the vegan cream cheese and beat until there are no lumps.
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Add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat until just combined. If your frosting is too runny, add a little more powdered sugar or a few tablespoons of cornstarch. Chill the frosting until needed.
Serving the cake:
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When the loaf has completely cooled, spread the frosting on top. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts or pecans, or as desired.
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Slice and serve the loaf at room temperature.
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Store the unfrosted loaf in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If you topped your loaf with cream cheese frosting, you can store it at room temperature for 1-2 hours or in the fridge for around 2 days. Allow the cake to come to room temperature before serving. If you used regular buttercream, store the cake at room temperature for 1-2 days.
Notes
- For the best results, measure the flour accurately otherwise, your cake may be dry and dense. If using measuring cups, use the spoon and level method where you fluff up the flour in its bag, use a spoon to add flour to a measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. I don’t recommend using the measuring cup to scoop flour out of your container as it will collect too much flour which results in a dry cake. Alternatively, use the grams measurements.
- If you’d like to add raisins or coconut, I recommend reducing the nuts to ¼ cup (30g) and adding ½ cup (75g) raisins or ½ cup (45g) coconut.
- If you don’t have cream cheese, I recommend making a simple lemon buttercream. Whip â…“ cup (75g) vegan block butter until pale and creamy. Add 1 ½ cups (150g) powdered sugar and â…” teaspoons lemon juice and whip until it’s light and fluffy. For more alternatives, see the blog post.
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