Eggless Carrot Cake

5 from 9 votes

This is the best eggless carrot cake ever! It is moist and rich, packed with flavor and topped with the best cream cheese frosting. Make it as a layer cake or a sheet cake.

Prep Time25

Cook Time35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 343kcal

Author: Alison

Ingredients

2 cups All Purpose Flour Measured Correctly*
1 and ½ cups Light Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
2 and ½ cups Grated Carrot
¼ cup Crushed Pineapple Canned, Drained
½ cup Canola Oil or Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup Walnuts Chopped, Optional

Frosting:

1 Recipe Cream Cheese Frosting
Walnuts Chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and spray a 9x9 square baking pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together.
Add grated carrots, crushed pineapple, oil, vanilla and vinegar and mix into a thick batter. If it seems like it doesn't want to form into a batter, leave the bowl for a couple of minutes and then come back to it. The carrots will release more moisture into the bowl and it will come together into a thick batter.
Add chopped walnuts and mix in.
Transfer the batter to the prepared 9x9 square baking dish and smooth down.
Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting and decorating with chopped walnuts.
Cut into slices and serve.

Notes

Measure the flour correctly. It's crucial that you don't use too much flour in this recipe, so measure it correctly either using the spoon and level method - spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife, don't scoop it and don't pack it into the cup - or weigh it on a food scale for total accuracy. Click 'metric' below the list of ingredients to get the correct weight in grams.
Freshly grated carrots - you must use freshly grated carrots for this recipe. If you buy pre-grated carrots then they will be too dry for this recipe. We need all the moisture from freshly grated carrots for this recipe.
Apple cider vinegar - reacts with the baking soda and causes this cake to rise. You can also use distilled white vinegar.
Walnuts - are entirely optional but delicious added to this cake. Pecans also work great.
The batter is very thick. In fact you will likely feel that we have forgotten an ingredient and be wondering how it will come together. Just have patience, step away from the mixing bowl for a couple of minutes and then come back to it. The grated carrots will release more moisture into the bowl and it will all come together in a thick batter.
Make it as a layer cake. This cake adapts beautifully to two 8-inch cake layers. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Make it as a 9x13 sheet cake. If you want to make it as a 9x13 sheet cake then you can. The cake will just be thinner but it still works great. Bake it for 25 minutes.
Cupcakes: This recipe will make around 18 cupcakes. Bake them for 20-25 minutes.
Storing and Freezing: Keep your cake stored in the fridge (covered) and enjoy within around 5 days. You can also freeze it either frosted or unfrosted for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight and bring to room temperature before serving.
Nutritional information is for the cake only and excludes frosting. Nutritional information for the cream cheese frosting can be found on that separate linked recipe.

Nutrition