Just like this award winning vegan carrot cake, this soft and incredibly moist carrot cake LOAF is perfectly spiced, not too sweet and rich with a silky dairy free cream cheese frosting. No eggs nor dairy required!

sliced vegan carrot cake loaf on parchment paper

The BEST carrot cake loaf- made vegan!

If making a layered carrot cake intimidates you, then please allow me to introduce you to the easiest carrot cake in existence. The vegan carrot cake loaf.

Like my unbelievably vegan carrot cake, this carrot cake loaf is tender and deliciously moist with a beautifully soft crumb. It’s wonderfully spiced with a decent balance of sweetness (not too sweet though!) thanks to using brown sugar.

And you don’t even need any eggs nor dairy, and it’s made in one bowl. This loaf cake is legitimately as easy as it is delicious.

We’re then topping our carrot cake loaf with a silky dairy free cream cheese frosting to make it irresistible. The tang perfectly compliments the spices and the sweetness, like in this carrot cake cheesecake, and it is a DREAMY combination.

Serve this for any spring get together, and your guests will sure to be impressed. Especially when you mention that it’s vegan!

carrot cake loaf sliced

What do we use in lieu of eggs and dairy?

If you’re new to vegan baking, then allow me to introduce you to my favorite ingredients to keep in your vegan baking arsenal.

Dairy free yogurt is used to swap out the eggs- the high fat in the yogurt will mimic the egg yolks, lending extra moisture to our carrot cake loaves. Combined with the brown sugar, your carrot cake loaf will be perfectly moist and tender. Yogurt is easily one of my favorite vegan egg substitutes.

Then we use a neutral oil, such as avocado oil, but you can also use olive oil. I personally like oil in quick bread recipes more so than vegan butter. But you can definitely swap in vegan butter to make your vegan carrot cake loaf extra rich.

Finally, any dairy free milk, such as oat milk or soy milk, work great in place of milk or whole milk.

Should I use shredded or grated carrots?

Personally, I like my carrot cake loaf to use finely shredded carrots that I use a fine grater with over chunkier grated carrots. As long as you’re measuring the carrots accurately, it won’t matter how you use shred them.

You can use long thin shredded carrots, but I find the texture is better with finely shredded.

sliced carrot loaf

Overview: step by step how to make vegan carrot cake loaf:

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

How to pipe carrots on top:

My favorite part of any baking is decorating the finished product, and this carrot cake was so fun.

I wanted to go off of the carrots on my vegan layer carrot cake, so I piped orange and green frosting in the shape of carrots, and sprinkled crushed walnuts on top. You can also use pecans or even keep it nut free!

To do this, I simply snipped a tiny hole at the end of two piping bags. Then I filled each with about 3 tbsp each of cream cheese icing that had been colored orange and green respectively.

Then I piped the carrot portion in just a long squiggle line, easing off pressure right at the end. And piped short little leaves at the top of each carrot with the green frosting.

No piping tip required here!

sliced vegan carrot cake loaf

Can I make this as a sheet cake?

Absolutely! I recommend baking this cake as a 9×9 square cake. Then slice into 16 slices. You’ll need about 30-35 minutes in the oven, but check with a toothpick to ensure the cake is done.

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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sliced carrot cake loaf

One Bowl MOIST Vegan Carrot Cake Loaf Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 6 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Cook Time: 75
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 16 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

Just like this award winning vegan carrot cake, this soft and incredibly moist carrot cake LOAF is perfectly spiced, not too sweet and rich with a silky dairy free cream cheese frosting. No eggs nor dairy required!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups (135 g) grated carrots, about 6-8 medium carrots
  • 1/2 cup (120 mL) dairy free milk, room temperature
  • 2 2/3 (330 g) cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup (150 g) neutral oil or vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (110 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 batch vegan cream cheese frosting

Instructions

  1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a pound loaf pan (about 8″) with parchment paper. Measure out all ingredients. Make sure the carrots are shredded.
  2. Make the batter: Add in the oil, sugar, dairy free yogurt, vanilla extract, and whisk just until mixed. Then add in the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, sea salt, baking powder and baking soda, and whisk again. Add in the carrots, and whisk to evenly distribute.
  3. Finish the batter: Add in the flour and dairy free milk, and whisk JUST until the flour is combined.
  4. Bake: Pour the carrot cake loaf batter into the prepared pan, and place onto a baking sheet just incase of any extra spillage. Bake for 65-75 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. If you notice that your loaf is browning too much towards the end you can cover it with parchment paper.
  5. Cool: Once out of the oven, let cool completely before you frost or ice.
  6. Make the frosting: Prepare the frosting according to instructions and ice the carrot cake loaf. Slice and enjoy!

Notes

Gluten free: I recommend King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour. It’s the blend I use to test my recipes gluten free, and it’s amazing!