Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting is packed with the requisite shredded carrots, nuts, and coconut, but it’s that frosting that’ll get you every time. If you love carrot cake but rarely have the time or energy to pull it off, try this quick carrot bread!

carrot cake bread topped with cream cheese frosting, sliced

Nothing beats a rich moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, unless of course it’s a rich moist carrot bread with cream cheese frosting ~ so much easier (all the benefits with half the work!) Plus permission to have carrot cake with your morning coffee. Win.

grab your ingredients

  • carrots ~ 2 or 3 to make 1 1/2 cups grated. Do not buy pre-grated carrots, grate them yourself.
  • walnuts ~ sub pecans if you prefer.
  • shredded coconut
  • flour ~ all purpose
  • sugar ~granulated
  • vegetable oil ~ your choice
  • eggs ~ large
  • cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves ~ this combination of spices gives the cake its nice rich color.
  • vanilla ~ don’t skip this, it brings all the flavors together.
  • baking soda ~ a little needed lift for a heavy batter.
  • cream cheese ~ brick style. With my revolutionary technique for making the frosting you won’t even need to bring the cheese to room temperature.
  • butter
  • powdered sugar ~ sifted!
  • salt

A slice of carrot cake bread on parchment paper with a fork

the (cream cheese) icing on the cake

It’s what pulls it all together and makes this bread, well, almost a cake! An irresistible cake if I do say so myself.

Shhhhh!

I don’t want everyone to know my secret to perfect cream cheese frosting so lean in…

  • Pile the cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt into your food processor and pulse/process until everything is combined.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then process briefly until smooth and silky.
  • With this method you can even start with cold ingredients! The food processor blasts any potential lumps even from fridge-cold cream cheese ~ score!
  • If you don’t have a food processor,check out these handy tips for bringing cold ingredients to room temperature in a jiffy.

Customize your carrot bread

  • Leave out the walnuts, or substitute pecans. If you have the time, roast them for 15 minutes in a 350F oven, the flavor is amazing.
  • Leave out the coconut, or sprinkle it on top of the frosting.
  • Add raisins, I love golden.
  • Simplify the spices and just use a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Storing and freezing carrot bread

  • Cream cheese frosting shouldn’t be left at room temperature for more than a few hours, so  Store any leftovers in the fridge.
  • If you want to freeze this carrot bread, wrap the baked but unfrosted bread tightly and freeze it.  Thaw and then frost when ready to serve.

Making carrot bread ahead of time

  • if you want to make this bread ahead of time, bake the bread, let it fully cool, then wrap in foil and refrigerate for up to a couple of days. Frost when ready to serve.

Carrot bread with cream cheese frosting

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