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Carrot Bread Recipe

This simple carrot bread recipe is similar to carrot cake but a little healthier with less sugar. But you’ll never miss the sugar in this moist and flavorful quick bread.

Don’t misunderstand me; I love dense, rich, and moist carrot bread with thick cream cheese frosting. In fact, this Carrot Cake recipe has long been a family favorite. If you want to spend a little time making a decadent carrot cake, look no further than this recipe.

But, if you’re looking for a simpler carrot bread recipe that will be ready for the oven in twenty minutes and is delicious as is, without any added frosting or glaze, then you’ll enjoy this carrot bread. While the lower sugar makes this a great breakfast treat, this bread also makes a nice after-dinner treat without all the extra guilt and calories.

Sliced Carrot Bread on a colling rack with fresh carrots in the background.

ingredients in this moist carrot bread

I’m one of those that like all the extras in my carrot bread. A little shredded coconut, a few raisins, and some chopped nuts make any carrot bread just that much better. That being said, feel free to leave them out! I may not understand, but I’ll accept your decision.

Ingredients for Carrot Bread

This is a fairly typical quick bread recipe, with baking powder and baking soda doing all the leavening work. If you haven’t baked in a while, it’s worth checking these two necessary baking ingredients to make they are still good. This post tells all about baking soda and baking powder and how to make sure these important leaveners are still fresh.

And it is always a good reminder that your dry leaveners (baking powder and baking soda) will immediately begin reacting when introduced to something wet. So you need to bake the bread as soon as you mix your dry and wet ingredients together.

Grated carrots, a grated apple, and oil provide moisture for this carrot bread. Use the shredder function on your food processor to grate both the apple and the carrot. I wouldn’t purchase store-bought carrot shreds for this recipe. You’ve probably noticed how dry the pre-shredded carrots are, and you want that moisture for this bread recipe.

Grated carrot and grated apple in the bowl of a food processor.

looking for more quick bread recipes?

This Apple Spice Bread is an easy-to-make quick bread that can be put together in less than half an hour! It’s a delightful cross between moist apple bread and decadent spice cake!

Whether you just need a quick loaf of bread for that pot of soup tonight or are looking to put together some food gifts, this Herb Quick Bread fills both of those needs. This Savory Quick bread is flavored with herbs and cheese.

This Cranberry Apple and Banana Bread (sometimes called Cranapana Bread) is a very easy-to-make quick bread that incorporates a few seasonal ingredients into a traditional banana bread.

to bake mini-loaves for easy giving or muffins for easy noshing

One of the great things about any quick bread, including this carrot quick bread, is that it is easily adaptable to being baked in mini-loaf pans. I use 2 1/2″ by 5 1/2″ mini loaf pans for easy gifts and reduce the baking time to 35-40 minutes.

For muffins, bake in tins for 18 -20 minutes.

Sliced Carrot Bread on a colling rack with fresh carrots in the background.

Carrot Bread

Yield: 1 loaf
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

This simple carrot bread recipe is similar to carrot cake but a little healthier with less sugar. But you'll never miss the sugar in this moist and flavorful quick bread.

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (see note 1)
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil, canola oil, avocado oil or olive oil
  • 1 medium or 2 small apples, cored and grated (see note 2)
  • 2 cups grated carrots (from 5-6 peeled carrots)
  • 3/4 cup of packed light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 - 3/4 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts
  • 1/2 cup of raisins (optional)
  • 1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan
  3. Whisk dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) in a medium-sized bowl.Whisking dry ingredients.
  4. In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients (eggs, oil, grated apple and carrot, brown sugar, vanilla extract, nuts, coconut flakes, and raisins).
  5. Gently fold the dry flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined. Don't overmix.
  6. Pour into prepared loaf pan and to with extra nuts, if desired.Bread batter in loaf pan, sprinkled with walnuts.
  7. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
  8. Let your carrot bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5-7 minutes, then gently remove it from the pan to cool for 2-3 hours before slicing.

Notes

Note 1 - Spoon and Level Your Flour

Incorrectly measuring your flour can result in a dense and dry baked treat. The correct way to measure your flour is to:

  1. Stir the flour in its container so that it is not packed
  2. Using a spoon, scoop out the flour and place it in a measuring cup of the designated volume. Continue to add until your flour mounds above the scoop.
  3. Scrape the flat edge of a butter knife along the edge of your measuring cup, pushing off the excess flour back into the flour container (not your mixing bowl).

Note 2 - Grate your carrots and apples.

Use the shredder blade on your food processor to grate your carrot and apple. Avoid store-purchased grated carrot, it is much drier than fresh, and you want the moisture from the fresh.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 348Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 249mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 3gSugar: 19gProtein: 4g

Did you make this recipe?

It would be great if you could take a minute and leave a comment below, as well as how many stars you think it deserves. Help other readers by asking any questions you have or sharing any modifications to the recipe. I'd love to hear how you served it! If you are on Instagram, then tag @nourishandnestle on Instagram and hashtag it #nourishandnestle! Many Thanks

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Cut loaf of carrot bread.

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8 Comments

  1. So I made the Carrot Bread last night and brought it to work and everybody loved it! It was amazing!!! So delicious and so moist! I will definitely be making this over and over. Thank you so much for sharing it. 🥕❤️

    1. Thanks so much for your comment, Carolyn. We love that carrot bread, too, but it is always nice to hear that others enjoy it as much as we do. Enjoy!

      Hugs, Lynn

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