Vegan Carrot Cake Loaf
Easy vegan carrot cake loaf is ultra moist and tender, perfectly spiced, and topped with optional vegan cream cheese frosting – perfect for spring and year-round!
Servings: 4 to 6
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup grated carrots
- ½ cup walnuts chopped
- vegan cream cheese frosting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175°C) and lightly grease or line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- To the same bowl, mix in the applesauce, brown sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and grated carrots until well combined.
- Fold in the chopped walnuts, stirring gently to distribute evenly.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is golden. Be careful not to overbake, as this can dry out the loaf.
- Let the loaf cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
- Once cooled, lift it out using the parchment paper. If desired, spread vegan cream cheese frosting on top before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Don’t add too much flour: When measuring flour, avoid scooping the cup directly in the flour bag. Instead, fluff it with a fork, spoon it into the cup, and level it with the back of a knife. This way, you’ll avoid overly dense, dry bakes.
- Adjust carrot texture: Medium shreds provide more texture and noticeable pieces. Finely shred carrots ‘melt into’ the batter more. Or even use a combination of both.
- Don’t overwork the batter: To avoid a dense, gummy vegan carrot loaf, mix until only just combined – a few tiny lumps are fine.
- Monitor the bake: It will be too soft and gummy if underbaked and becomes dry when overbaked. As ovens vary, I recommend first testing at 37 minutes.