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Easy Carrot Coffee Cake

Easy Carrot Coffee Cake is an easy Homemade cake recipe that is so delicious it doesn’t even need a frosting. The perfect Breakfast, Snack or Dessert Cake.

Nothing better than a slice of a delicious Coffee Cake to go with a steaming hot cup of coffee or tea and another good Cake is this Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake or this delicious Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake.

Carrot cake on a cake stand with a slice on a white plate.


 

I love Coffee Cakes and since living in Italy I have discovered that I much more enjoy a Cake that is lightly flavoured and simple. I have stepped away from the overly sweet and overly frosted cakes to a more simple cake that goes great with a cup of tea or coffee!

What Are Coffee Cakes?

Coffee Cakes are meant to be served with coffee and are usually flavored with fruit, cinnamon or nuts. And quite often they have a crumb topping. They can be baked in a round, square or even in a bundt pan.

As I have mentioned before my husband likes his breakfast dunk. So anything edible on the kitchen table in the morning gets dunked. And naturally a big slice of Coffee Cake is his favourite. Especially since I added some chopped nuts to a delicious streusel topping.

Carrot cake on a white plate.

Recipe Ingredients

  • Flour – cake flour or all purpose flour
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Cinnamon
  • Salt
  • Carrots grated (approximately 1½ cups grated)
  • Sugar
  • Brown sugar (lightly packed)
  • Eggs
  • Greek yogurt (or plain regular yogurt)
  • Milk – Whole or 2% milk
  • Oil – light olive oil or melted butter
  • Brown sugar
  • Butter – softened butter
  • Nuts – chopped nuts such as walnuts, hazelnuts or pecans
Ingredients for the recipe.

How To Make Cake Flour

For every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free. Cake flour in cakes will give you a very tender texture and fine crumb, it will also help the cake to rise.

How To Make A Carrot Cake Coffee Cake

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and shredded carrots.

Combining the dry ingredients in a glass bowl.

In a medium bowl beat on medium speed the sugars, eggs, yogurt and milk until combined then add the oil and beat until smooth.

Mixing together the wet ingredients.

Pour the creamed mixture into the dry mixture and stir just combine, to not beat.

Combining the dry with the wet in a glass bowl.

To make the streusel topping, in a medium bowl combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon cut in butter until crumbly then stir in the chopped nuts.

The streusel topping in a white bowl.

Spoon some batter into the prepared pan, top with a little streusel then add the remaining batter and streusel.

The cake in the bundt pan before baked.

Bake until a tooth pick comes out clean. Let cool completely before serving. 

The baked cake in the pan.

Is it necessary to peel the carrots for the cake?

Peeling carrots is recommended to ensure a smooth texture in the cake, and then finely grate the carrots so they are in small pieces throughout the cake.

Carrot cake on a white plate.

How To Store the carrot coffee cake

As long as the cake is unfrosted it should be kept at room temperature. Keep it in a cake container or well wrapped. It will keep for up to 3-4 days. If you wish to freeze the cake, be sure to cool the cake completely then wrap it tightly in either plastic wrap or foil, place it in a freeze safe bag. The cake will keep for  up to 2 months. When ready to thaw place the wrapped cake in the refrigerator to thaw before serving.

More Delicious Coffee Cake Recipes to try

A slice of cake on a white plate.

So how ever you serve this Easy Carrot Cake for Breakfast, Snack or Dessert with a cup of coffee or tea I hope you enjoy it!

Carrot cake on a white plate.

Easy Carrot Coffee Cake

Rosemary Molloy
Easy Carrot Coffee Cake is an easy Homemade cake recipe that is so delicious it doesn’t even need a frosting. The perfect Breakfast, Snack or Dessert Cake.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings
Calories 435 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

CARROT COFFEE CAKE

  • cups cake flour
  • teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 3 medium carrots grated (approximately 1½ cups grated)
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½ cup greek yogurt (or plain regular yogurt)
  • ¼ cup milk (whole or 2%)
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil or light olive oil or melted butter (I use corn oil)

STREUSEL TOPPING

  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons butter (softened)
  • ¾ cup chopped nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts or pecans)

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat oven to 350 F (180 C), grease and flour a 10 inch bundt (tube pan) or a 9 inch round cake pan.

CARROT COFFEE CAKE

  • In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and shredded carrots.
  • In a medium bowl beat on medium speed the sugars, eggs, yogurt and milk until combined (1-2 minutes) then add the oil and beat until smooth (approximately one minute).
  • Then pour the creamed mixture into the dry mixture and stir (do not beat) to combine (stir 18 times, do not over stir).
  • Spoon ⅓ of the batter into the prepared pan and top with ⅓ the streusel topping then add the remaining batter and streusel. Bake for 45 minutes then reduce heat to 325 F (165 C), continue to bake for approximately 15 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.  Let cool completely before serving.  Enjoy!

STREUSEL TOPPING

  • In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon cut in butter until crumbly then stir in the chopped nuts.

Notes

To make homemade cake flour – for every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free. Cake flour in cakes will give you a very tender texture and fine crumb, it will also help the cake to rise.
As long as the cake is unfrosted it should be kept at room temperature. Keep it in a cake container or well wrapped. It will keep for up to 3-4 days. If you wish to freeze the cake, be sure to cool the cake completely then wrap it tightly in either plastic wrap or foil, place it in a freeze safe bag. The cake will keep for  up to 2 months. When ready to thaw place the wrapped cake in the refrigerator to thaw before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 435kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 149mg | Potassium: 223mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 2685IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 1mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Please leave a comment below or pin it to your Pinterest account!

Updated from April 7, 2018.

27 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Hi Rosemary,
    Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe. This was sooooooo good. I added more cinnamon, but overall delicious.

  2. 4 stars
    This is a very good carrot cake, and a nice change from a more traditional layered carrot cake. It’s moist but not oily, light and tender. The streusel topping is delicious. I added a bit of finely chopped candied ginger with the nuts. The batter is quick and easy to make by hand. I tweaked the spices but made no other changes to the recipe. I used a traditional fluted bundt pan and therefore had to sprinkle the streusel on the bottom of the pan so that it would be on the top when the cake was turned out. The texture and flavour of the cake were better the next day.

    1. Hi Sadie, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the cake and thank you for letting me know the tweaks you made. Take care and have a great week!

  3. Are the metric measures given in the recipe from an online conversion source, or are they the measures you used when making the cake?

    1. Hi Lo, yes you can use all purpose flour or you can make your own cake flour. For every cup of all purpose remove 2 tablespoons and replace with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, be sure to sift together to remove any lumps. Hope that helps. Take care!

  4. Every recipe Iโ€™ve made of yours has been spot on in regards to balance of wet and dry ingredients. And tastes wonderful. In your opinion, how much, in grams or cup size, would you suggest three medium carrots work out for you? Iโ€™m just flat awful at guessing size of carrots! Nor to mention I love them and am tempted to be heavy handed with items I love in a recipe. Thanks for these wonderful recipes. You are my go to when I want to try something new!

    1. Hi Suzanne, thanks so much, so glad you like the recipes. I would say 3 medium carrots is about 1 1/2 cups shredded. Let me know how it goes. ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. 5 stars
    My first time baking a carrot cake and let me tell you it was beyond a hit. I have prayed for your well being so many times now lol ๐Ÿ˜ƒ. Thank you for sharing such a delicious no frills attached recipe. 10/10 for your wonderful share.

      1. 5 stars
        Recipe looks fantastic, can’t wait to try it. One question. I don’t have Greek yogurt, can I use sour cream instead? Thanks.

  6. Dear Rosemary,
    In love with your blog and recopies.. you page just seems to be filled with love and takes me to my childhood to the smell of freshly baked cakes … yumm.
    Most of your recipies are of serving 10/12/15. Could you also share some for smaller servings, maybe 6-8 or how much to reduce the quantity. Iโ€™m a beginner so would like to try smaller sizes to begin with.
    Thank you and stay happy!

  7. Hi ! May I ask if I can sub buttermilk for yogurt in this recipe? Yogurt is not easily available where I live. Thank you.

  8. 5 stars
    A great cake recipe for sure! As you have added carrot to it. I canโ€™t believe I have never thought to try carrot coffee cake. It sounds amazing As well as healthy too… As Carrot is good for health so with no fear I can make a healthy and tasty cake for my children Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe with us.

  9. 5 stars
    I love carrot cake, so I can’t believe I’ve never thought to try carrot coffee cake. It sounds amazing!!

      1. 5 stars
        I love adding wholesome ingredients like carrots to my recipes. This carrot coffee cake looks so delicious and just lightly sweet…perfect for morning tea

4.78 from 18 votes (9 ratings without comment)

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