Vegan Carrot Cake (With Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting)

March 27, 2023

With a delicious, moist crumb and a creamy, velvety vegan cream cheese frosting, this is truly the best vegan carrot cake recipe you will make and eat. Walnuts add wonderful crunch in every bite.

Slice of vegan carrot cake on white plate with cake on cake stand in background.

Who doesn’t love carrot cake? Especially when it has a soft and silky crumb and melts in your mouth in a pool of cinnamon-scented sweetness? This vegan carrot cake is all that and so much more.

I’ve had this vegan carrot cake recipe on the blog for years now and it is the dessert I make most often for guests because everyone who eats it raves about it. Many have told me it’s the best carrot cake they’ve ever eaten.

There’s so much to love about this recipe, and I don’t just mean the deliciousness of it. As the baker you will love the ease of making it, and the fact that you likely already have most of these ingredients on hand.

Go on, try it this Easter or just for a cozy anytime treat because why not? Be sure to come back for seconds!

Table of Contents

Why you will love this recipe

Utterly delicious. If you remember grandma’s carrot cake with oodles of nostalgia, you will love this cake because it has that classic carrot cake flavor, only minus the dairy and eggs. The cake has a super-moist texture and is perfectly sweet with just the right amount of carrot flavor to make you go yum! The soft, creamy cream cheese frosting is beyond delicious.
Healthy-ish. This is a dessert so I am not going to make outrageous claims about how healthy it is, but there are carrots in this recipe and walnuts, both great-for-you ingredients, along with applesauce. If you want to you can make this recipe with whole wheat pastry flour. I often use it instead of all-purpose flour and it makes an equally magnificent cake.
Easy recipe. This two-layer carrot cake recipe is quite straightforward and simple and if you follow instructions and use the right ingredients you just cannot go wrong. I’ve made this cake dozens of times and it turns out perfect each time!
Dairy-free, soy-free and can be nut-free. The cake is friendly to most diets. If you are nut-free just skip the walnuts.

Slice of vegan carrot cake in white plate with whole cake in background.

Ingredients

Scroll down to recipe card for exact quantities of each ingredient.

Unbleached all-purpose flour. You can also use whole wheat pastry flour or substitute half the all-purpose flour with regular whole wheat flour.
Leavening agents: Baking soda + Baking powder
Ground cinnamon. Cinnamon alone adds incredible flavor but you can also add nutmeg and/or a dash of ginger for more yum.
Sugar. I used turbinado sugar but any granulated sugar is great here. You can also use brown sugar.
Coconut oil. Or any vegetable oil. If using coconut oil make sure it is melted and not solid before adding it to the batter. The coconutty flavor of virgin coconut oil is fabulous in this recipe and the oil also keeps the cake extremely moist.
Applesauce. Applesauce contributes to making the cake very tender and moist and helps bind the cake without any eggs or flax eggs (which, albeit healthy, add a flavor I don’t love in this cake). Applesauce will also provide the acidity needed to combine with the baking soda and make the cake airier, no need for apple cider vinegar! You can replace ½ a cup of the applesauce with vegan yogurt.
Carrots. These are the stars of the recipe.
Pure vanilla extract. Although not purely necessary, vanilla adds a nice depth to the sweetness of the cake. Skip if you’d rather.
Walnuts. Pecans are a fine substitute.
Vegan cream cheese. Use any brand of your choice. I used two 7.1 oz tubs of Violife. I’ve made this frosting with other brands like Tofutti in the past and they work equally well.
Vegan butter
Powdered sugar

How to make vegan carrot cake

Flour being sifted into bowl for vegan carrot cake.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Cinnamon added to flour and baking soda and baking powder in bowl with whisk.

Whisk in the salt and cinnamon and any other spices, if using.

Wet ingredients for vegan carrot cake in small glass bowl.

In a smaller bowl, place the wet ingredients: grated carrots, applesauce, sugar, pure vanilla extract and melted coconut oil.

Wet ingredients mixed in small bowl for vegan carrot cake.

Mix the wet ingredients.

Wet ingredients added to dry for vegan carrot cake.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Vegan carrot cake batter in bowl with spatula.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry with a spatula until the batter comes together and there is no dry flour in the bowl. Stir in toasted and chopped walnuts.

Divide the batter evenly between two greased and floured 9- or 8-inch cake pans. Preferably line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper for easy unmolding.

Bake the cakes in a preheated 350-degrees Fahrenheit/175 degrees Celsius oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the pans stand on a rack to cool for 15 minutes, then unmold and continue cooling on wire racks.

Ingredients for vegan cream cheese frosting in glass bowl.

To make the cream cheese frosting, place the vegan cream cheese and vegan butter in a bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until soft and fluffy, about a minute. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and vanilla and beat in.

Vegan cream cheese frosting in glass bowl.

Continue adding more sugar, ½ cup at a time, and beating, until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Refrigerate for ½ hour before frosting the cake.

Vegan carrot cake with cream cheese frosting on cake stand.

Frost the cake by placing one cake on a plate or cake stand. Spread half the frosting over the cake, then place the other cake on top and frost with the rest of the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle more toasted walnuts on top, if desired.

Helpful tips

You don’t have to sift the flour but I strongly recommend you do because it aerates the flour, producing softer, fluffier cakes. Sifting also helps the baking soda and baking flour mix evenly with the flour.
For an even richer cake, substitute ½ cup of the applesauce with vegan yogurt.
Toasting the walnuts or pecans lightly before adding them to the batter will deepen their nutty flavor, making them–and the cake–even more delicious.
Make sure the vegan cream cheese and vegan butter are both at room temperature before you begin making the frosting. Otherwise you will end up with a lumpy frosting. It won’t be beyond repair, but you will get better and quicker results when you begin with room-temperature ingredients.
If you don’t have time to make frosting, serve the cake as is. It is delicious on its own.

Storage instructions

Refrigerate: You can store the carrot cake, covered, at room temperature for up to three days. You can also refrigerate it, again covered, for up to a week.
Freeze: Freeze individual slices, double wrapped in freezer wrap, for up to four months.
Thaw the cake before serving.

Recipe FAQs

Can I make this vegan carrot cake gluten-free?

Yes, use an all-purpose gluten-free baking blend.

Is vegan carrot cake healthier?

No dessert with sugar and fat in it will be totally healthy, but this vegan carrot cake has no cholesterol, unlike regular carrot cake, because it is dairy-free. Using unrefined sugar and ingredients like applesauce, in addition to the carrots and nuts, keeps it healthier than many other desserts.

Can I bake this as a single-layer cake or as a bundt cake?

You absolutely can. You can use a 9 X 13 inch rectangle baking pan to make a single cake or a 10 to 12 cup bundt pan. Just be sure to grease and flour the pan thoroughly–grooves and all.

Can I make carrot cupcakes with this batter?

You certainly can. The batter will make 24 cupcakes, bake them for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Or just make these amazing vegan carrot cake cupcakes.

Can I add raisins to this vegan carrot cake recipe?

Raisins are amazing in this recipe. Add ½ to 1 cup of raisins to the batter along with or instead of the nuts.

Can I use non-dairy milk instead of applesauce?

You can, but the applesauce will result in an incredibly moist and flavorful cake and you would lose some of that by using milk alone. If you still want to use non-dairy milk, use oat milk or soy milk, preferably, or almond milk is fine too. Add two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to it.

More yummy vegan carrot recipes

If you love this vegan carrot cake, be sure to check out more vegan cake recipes on Holy Cow Vegan!