Carrot Cake Recipe
Carrot cake, made easy — Carrot Cake Squares, Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Carrot Cake Cookies, and Carrot Cake Dip for potlucks and weeknight sweets.
★ dessert
dessertCarrot Cake Squares
Deliciously fresh carrot cake with a creamy cheesecake swirl.
Toasty MarshIngredients
- 1/2 cup Melted Butter
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (Packed)
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup A.P. Flour
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Shredded Carrots
- 4 oz Cream Cheese (Room Temp)
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Large Egg Yolk
- 3/4 tsp Vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1Preheat oven to 350°F.
- 2Spray an 8x8 baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.
- 3*Carrot Cake Steps* Melt butter in microwave.
- 4In a medium bowl, add the melted butter and brown sugar. Mix until well combined.
- 5Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
- 6Add in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Stir until completely combined.
- 7Fold in the shredded carrots. Set mixture aside.
- 8*Cheesecake Swirl* In a medium bowl, add in the cream cheese and sugar. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth.
- 9Add in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.
- 10Beat on medium/high until smooth and creamy.
- 11Add half of the carrot cake batter into the pan and spread out evenly.
- 12Add half of the cheesecake batter to the carrot cake batter. Do this by dropping dollops of batter all over the carrot cake batter. ***Don’t swirl yet.***
- 13Add the remaining carrot cake batter on top of and around the cheesecake batter.
- 14Add the remaining cheesecake batter by adding dollops on top of the carrot cake batter.
- 15Using a knife or skewer, swirl the batters together as much as you’d like.
- 16Bake for about 35-40 minutes until the edges are golden brown. There will be very little jiggle to the center.
- 17Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
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Open in Pepper →Carrot Cake Without The Fuss
Carrot cake is the one everybody asks for, and it doesn't have to mean a tall layer cake and a whole afternoon. Grated carrots keep it moist, cinnamon does the heavy lifting, and cream cheese frosting makes it feel like a special occasion.
Cooks on Pepper reach for these when there's a birthday, a church potluck, or a Sunday afternoon when the kitchen smells better than the TV sounds.
Every recipe here is a real carrot cake in some shape: Carrot Cake Squares, Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Swirl, Carrot Cake Cookies, a Gluten free Carrot Cake, a Vegan Carrot Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting, plus Carrot Cake Overnight Oats and Carrot Cake Dip.
Quick Tips
- 1
Grate the carrots fine
Use the small holes on a box grater so the shreds melt into the batter. About 3 medium carrots gives you 2 cups packed.
- 2
Don't overmix the batter
Stir just until the flour disappears, about 20 strokes. Overmixing makes the crumb tough instead of tender.
- 3
Cool before frosting
Let bars or cupcakes sit at least 1 hour until completely cool, or the cream cheese frosting slides right off.
- 4
Soften the cream cheese
Leave the block out 30 to 45 minutes before beating. Cold cream cheese leaves lumps you can't stir out.
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