The Best Carrot Cake Recipe

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8-inch pans⁴ (see note for using different sized pans) by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing and flouring the sides.

2. 2

   In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3. 3

   Add your canola oil and melted butter and stir well (batter will be pretty stiff and thick at this point, I usually use an electric mixer or my stand mixer to combine everything nicely).

4. 4

   Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

5. 5

   Stir in vanilla extract.

6. 6

   Stir in carrots and nuts (if using) until ingredients are well-combined.

7. 7

   Evenly divide carrot cake batter into prepared baking pans and bake on 350F (175C) for 37-40 minutes (a toothpick inserted in center should come out mostly clean with only few moist crumbs).

   37 min
8. 8

   Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.

9. 9

   Allow cake to cool completely before covering with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. 10

   Combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy, well-combined, and lump-free.

2. 11

   Add vanilla extract and sprinkle salt into the bowl and stir well to combine.

3. 12

   With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until ingredients are completely combined (be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula).

4. 13

   Once your cake has cooled completely, cover with frosting.