When you are bored with banana bread but still love making quick breads, which are basically the easiest of all the breads, it’s a great time to turn to carrot bread! It’s super moist, lightly sweet, and loaded with vegetables, so we can consider it healthy, right? If you enjoy zucchini bread, then I can pretty much guarantee that you are going to love this carrot cake bread. When you grate carrots or zucchini and add it to a simple, spiced quick bread batter, it results in a wonderfully moist, delicious loaf that is just as good for breakfast as it is for an afternoon or late-night snack. Or slather a quick cream cheese frosting on top and call it dessert without the fuss of making a cake! Whenever I have carrots to use up, like when I buy an 8-pound bag of them from Costco or we get a bumper crop of them from our garden, I find myself turning to a handful of tried and tested baking recipes over and over again. Along with this carrot bread, some of our favorites are my favorite Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Morning Glory Muffins!
Carrot Bread Ingredients
Carrots: Depending on the size of your carrots, you will probably need 4-5 of them. You can peel them (or not if they are washed well), then grate them on the small holes of a box grater. The coarser holes will work, but I think the texture of the bread is better using the small holes. Flour: All-purpose flour works great to build up the structure and bulk of this quick bread recipe. Eggs: These act as a binding agent as well as adding richness in the form of fat from the egg yolks. Milk: A little milk acts as our liquid here adding enough moisture to make a nice batter. I opted for regular milk, but you could use buttermilk for extra richness and tang. It doesn’t take a lot of liquid because the grated carrots will release liquid of their own while the bread bakes in the oven. Oil: Although you could substitute melted butter, oil does a better job of keeping this carrot bread nice and moist. Sugar: Although this isn’t carrot cake, it’s still a sweet enough bread to pass for a treat. Baking powder and baking soda: This is what is known as a quick bread which means baking powder and/or baking soda are used as leavening agents rather than yeast to help the bread rise. Salt: Adding salt is important so your bread doesn’t turn out bland. It brings out all of the other flavors. Vanilla: I love using my homemade vanilla extract in my baked goods. Spices: A combination of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger give a classic warmth to this carrot bread. Walnuts: I love the slightly bitter flavor and crunch of walnuts in carrot bread!
How to Make Carrot Bread
Tips & Tricks
Pan Size Matters: This recipe makes a lot of batter and pretty much fills up a 9×5-inch pan. If you don’t have a 9×5-inch pan, you could divide between two 8×4-inch pans (the loaves won’t be quite as tall), or fill up one 8×4-inch pan ¾ of the way and make carrot muffins with the rest of the batter. Mix-ins: I kept things simple by just using walnuts in my carrot bread since they are my favorite. But you could add chocolate chips to this bread instead of walnuts like we often do with banana bread or pumpkin bread. Or mix in ¾ cup of coconut for extra chewiness! Or even raisins, if that’s your jam. Cover the top with foil: If the top of your loaf is getting more browned than you like, tent a piece of foil over the top during the last 20-30 minutes of baking.
Storage and Freezing
One of the great things about carrot bread is that it stays fresh for at least a few days on the counter thanks to the carrots in it. Just be sure to store your carrot bread in an airtight container on the counter. To freeze an entire loaf, let it cool entirely, then wrap it in plastic wrap first and again in aluminum foil. It should stay fresh in the freezer for 2-3 months. Just let it thaw on the counter before slicing and enjoying. You can also freeze individual slices. Either arrange them on a baking sheet and freeze for 2-3 hours before transferring to a ziploc bag, or stack them with a square of parchment paper between them before freezing so you can thaw only as many portions as you would like.
More Quick Bread Recipes
The BEST Cranberry Orange Bread Coconut Lime Glazed Banana Bread Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread Best Easy Banana Bread Recipe (with Video!) Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread Zucchini Bread with Walnuts
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