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While carrot cakes are synonymous with Easter celebrations and springtime, why should we have to limit ourselves to enjoying this scrumptious cake only when the Easter Bunny is in town? Carrot cakes are made with ingredients you'd have on hand all year round, like carrots, spices, and of course cream cheese if you're making the iconic cream cheese frosting. So, we're giving you our 15 best carrot cake recipes of all time that prove carrot cake can hold its own during any season. Whether you're making a cake for a potluck, dinner party, birthday, or holiday get-together, these carrot cakes are sure to impress your guests with their delicious flavors ? and they'll impress you with just how easy they are to make. Scroll through to find your new favorite carrot cake.
Carrot Cake III
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Photo by sarah
Whether you choose to add the optional pecans in the cake and icing or not, reviewers rave about this cake that has more than 5 thousand 5-star reviews. "This is VERY good! My son had no idea it had carrots in it — he gobbled it up! It was not too sweet but still great! Will make this again," says home cook PioneerWomanWannabe.
Sam's Famous Carrot Cake
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Photo by Geoff
This carrot cake has everything: moistness from the buttermilk and pineapple juice; flavor from the carrots, coconut, pineapple, and raisins; and a little crunch from the walnuts. "Perfect carrot cake…so good and incredibly moist. The flavor is spot on. First time making carrot cake from scratch, had no troubles whatsoever. I highly recommend this recipe, you won't be disappointed," says reviewer Hayleyzcomet.
Awesome Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
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With just 30 minutes of prep, this carrot cake is easy to make in a 9×13-inch baking dish — or a round cake pan, if you prefer. The recipe calls for Neufcha?tel cheese for the frosting, but you can always substitute that for cream cheese if that's what you have on hand.
Carrot Cake Cookies with Pineapple
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Photo by footballgrl16
Turn your carrot cake into an easy-to-serve cookie with this recipe that resembles a whoopie pie. It's two cake-like carrot cake cookies sandwiched together with a delectable pineapple cream cheese frosting.
Moist Carrot Cake
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Photo by Stefan B
"This is the best carrot cake I've ever had. I've actually tried the recipe three ways now, and in my opinion, the original printed recipe is the best way to make it. My grandma said it's the best she's ever had," says reviewer Ashley Hutchings.
Isaac's Carrot Cake
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Instead of using pineapple, this carrot cake is has a can of mandarin oranges and grated orange zest in the mix for extra flavor. “This cake is phenomenal! My family loved it! It is not your typical heavy carrot cake and it has a fine and light crumb texture. My husband didn’t know there were mandarin oranges in the cake, but what a way to make a moist cake,” says Allrecipes Allstar Lela.
Nina's Brazilian Carrot Cake
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The key to Brazilian carrot cake is using chocolate frosting instead of cream cheese frosting. The cake base is similar, though it only has seven simple ingredients. Then the cake is topped with a homemade chocolate, honey, butter, and milk frosting.
Chef John's Carrot Cake
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Chef John uses coconut oil as his oil of choice in carrot cake. "I made this cake and icing exactly as the recipe instructed (omitting the optional nuts), and it was DELICIOUS!!! Moist, full of flavor, just the right consistency, a perfect cake! Wouldn't change a thing — a definite keeper," says home cook brydenint.
Lynn's Carrot Cake
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Photo by Molly
The secret to Lynn's Carrot Cake is ½ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder that turns this cake into a moist, chocolatey carrot cake. "Chocolate Carrot Cake — never heard of such a thing. I think we've been missing out on something pretty wonderful. I came across this recipe trying to use up a bunch of carrots. Was quite surprised to see it used unsweetened cocoa powder and crushed pineapple. This cake is very moist with a nice light chocolate flavor," says reviewer Molly.
Carrot Cake IV
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It doesn't get any easier than this recipe that starts with a box of carrot cake mix. But recipe creator cookie doesn't stop there because you'll add vegetable oil, eggs, walnuts, and pineapple juice so no one will ever know this tasty cake started in a box.
Carrot Cake Cheesecake
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Start with a layer of nut-filled carrot cake, then top it with a layer of cheesecake, and finish it off with an almond-flavored cream cheese frosting. Voil?! You have the perfect carrot cake and cheesecake blend.
Cranberry Carrot Cake
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Photo by Allrecipes Magazine
Switch up the flavors by using cranberries instead of raisins in your carrot cake. And even though it may sound funny, don't skip out on the mayo because it will keep your cake extra moist.
Zucchini Walnut Carrot Cake
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“It never ceases to amaze me what shredded zucchini brings to baked goods. Nobody, NOBODY ever knows there’s zucchini in there. Don’t tell the ‘zucchini haters’ because they’ll never know. I used all-purpose and white whole wheat flours, and this cake baked up beautifully moist and tender, perfect texture. This was very good, thoroughly enjoyed it,” says Allrecipes Allstar lutzflcat.
Carrot Cake with Bourbon Cheesecake Swirl
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Photo by Stasty Cook
The cream cheese frosting is on the inside of this cake, and with an added fun surprise: bourbon. The cake itself is a simple carrot cake with pumpkin spice, but the cheesecake swirl packs all the flavor with cream cheese, whiskey, and orange zest.
Carrot Cake with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting
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“Delicious! Made this in two 9-inch round pans (cooled completely before removing from pans). I also made extra frosting, so I could use it to pipe borders (I did omit the salt from the frosting). Everyone raved over dessert tonight…this cake is a definite keeper. YUM,” says Allrecipes Allstar Christina.
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