Nothing says Thanksgiving quite like a deliciously moist carrot cake, loaded down with the spices of the season, and topped with a generous portion of cream cheese icing. I love that it is a smaller size, less fuss to ice, and travels easier than a traditional three layer cake. This is a great to take as a hostess gift for the holidays or a special gift for friends, family, or coworkers. This recipe came from my friend, Amanda, who is a kitchen genius. Everything Amanda makes is good, so I know you’ll love this decadent carrot cake loaf as much as we do.
To make the Carrot Cake Loaf, you’ll need: All Purpose flour, sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, carrots (grated), raisins, chopped pecans, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
Since we’re making a cream cheese icing, you’ll also need cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream or milk, and a bit more vanilla. Do you have a favorite brand of vanilla? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below! I have this one I love that I can’t get locally anymore so I’m shopping for a new favorite!
In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt until combined.
In another large bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar until combined. Then, add in the oil and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients to wet and mix together until fully incorporated.
You can use an electric mixer or a spoon.
With a spatula, fold in the carrots, raisins and pecans.
Pour this into a greased 9×5 loaf pan and bake at 350 for about 1 hour and fifteen minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
Remove from oven when done and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely.
Now we need to make our Carrot Cake Loaf frosting!
Mix all of the frosting ingredients together, using additional milk if you’d like your icing a bit thinner.
Frost the cooled loaf and top with a few extra pecans if you like.
Enjoy this wonderful treat!
This bread also freezes well and extra pecans on top help keep the icing pretty once you wrap it to freeze.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 carrots, grated
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup butter, unsalted if you have it but salted is fine
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon heavy cream or milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
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In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt until combined.
-
In another large bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar until combined. Then, add in the oil and vanilla.
-
Add dry ingredients to wet and mix together until fully incorporated. With a spatula, fold in the carrots, raisins and pecans.
-
Pour this into a greased 9×5 loaf pan and bake at 350 for about 1 hour and fifteen minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven when done and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely.
Mix all of the frosting ingredients together, using additional milk if you’d like your icing a bit thinner.Frost the cooled loaf and top with a few extra pecans if you like. Enjoy!
Notes
This Carrot Cake loaf freezes well.
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