1 Bowl Vegan Carrot Cake
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Vegan Carrot Cake, perfectly spiced and incredibly moist. Topped with creamy vegan cream cheese frosting, and simple to make in just 1 bowl!
Once you realize how easy this carrot cake is to make, you will find yourself making it over and over again! Not only is it made in 1 bowl with simple ingredients, it is the best tasting carrot cake, vegan or not. The cake layers are super moist, so flavorful and full of texture. It’s such an incredible dessert, for Easter or any day!
Helpful tools
- Grater (for the carrots)
- 2 8-inch cake pans
- Parchment paper
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How to make it
It’s easy! First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 8-inch cake pans with a little circle of parchment paper, and then spray the pans generously with oil. This will help your cakes come out of the pans with no problems!
Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk. Now, pour in the canola oil, applesauce, non-dairy milk, and vanilla. Mix to combine, then fold in the shredded carrots and walnuts.
Divide evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops of the cake are set.
You can also test with a knife to see if it comes out mostly clean in the middle. They will be golden brown on top when done. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 20 minutes before carefully removing them, then let them cool completely before frosting.
What kind of frosting should I use?
Traditionally, carrot cake uses cream cheese frosting, so I prefer Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting for this cake. Vanilla Frosting is also a great option.
The only thing with vegan cream cheese frosting is it can be a bit unstable if it gets warm, so make absolutely sure your cakes are cooled completely before frosting, and keep the frosted cake in the refrigerator, just to make sure the top layer of your cake doesn’t slip off!
Possible substitutions
- Sub whole wheat pastry flour, or even spelt flour for the white flour if desired.
- Sub coconut oil or melted vegan butter for the canola oil. You might be able to omit the oil and replace it with more applesauce, but I haven’t tried it.
- Sub pecans for the walnuts, or leave the nuts out entirely.
- Replace the applesauce for 1 cup of crushed pineapple for pineapple carrot cake!
Want more vegan cake recipes?
1 Bowl Vegan Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 cup applesauce
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups grated carrots (about 3 large carrots)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 Recipe Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare 2 round 8-inch cake pans by lining the bottom with parchment paper and spraying well with oil.
- In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients and whisk well.
- Pour in the canola oil, applesauce, almond milk and vanilla and mix until combined with a large spoon. Now fold in the grated carrots and walnuts.
- Pour the cake batter evenly between the prepared pans, then bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops of the cakes are set. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for about 20 minutes before carefully removing from the pans. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Once cooled completely, frost with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting, or Vegan Vanilla Frosting if preferred. Enjoy! Store leftover cake in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, covered.
Notes
- May substitute whole wheat pastry flour, or white whole wheat flour for a whole grain option. I haven't tested with gluten free flour.
- May substitute soy, coconut or any other non-dairy milk for almond milk.
- May use melted coconut oil or another oil in place of the canola.
- I prefer Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting for this carrot cake, but you could use my Vegan Vanilla Frosting instead.
- To make cupcakes instead, fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for 20-25 minutes until set on top. Pipe frosting on each cupcake.
- Calorie calculation does not include Frosting.
Nutrition
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123 Comments on “1 Bowl Vegan Carrot Cake”
Hi!
I have a question. Does the almond milk have to be unsweetened or sweetened?
It can be sweetened or unsweetened, though I usually use unsweetened so I don’t add more sweetness than desired to the cake.
I’ve made this cake in the past and my whole family absolutely LOVED it!!!
I do have a question though if you wouldn’t mind, I’m planning on making a cupcakes version of this cake for my sons birthday coming up but I have so much to do the day before and the day of- do you think these cupcakes will hold well in the fridge for two days? Should I maybe hold off on icing until the day of? Thank you so much!
Thank you! Yes, the cupcakes will be just fine in the fridge for a few days, if you need longer than that you could even freeze them beforehand. I would ice the day of or the day before for best results!
The best vegan carrot cake receipe!! When I first went vegan the thing my family and boyfriend was most concerned about was that there would be no more carrot cake….however they say this is better than a non-vegan receipe!! It is also super quick and easy to make!
Tried this recipe last night and it was awesome! I was being a bit lazy so I made a bundt cake and partnered it with basic (vegan) vanilla glaze. I baked mine for 60 mins at 350C. I used 1 cup of coconut sugar since I was generous with my icing. Delicious! I love your recipes Nora! Thanks for sharing 🙂
You’re so welcome!
Would it be ok to use store bought shredded carrot for this recipe or should I just stick to grating them?
I would grate your own, as store bought shredded carrots are quite dry and I’m not sure they will work as well.
Hi! I absolutely LOVE your chocolate cake recipe, and I am hoping to make this carrot cake for my boyfriend’s birthday. Should I adjust the recipe amount and/or bake time if I only have two 9-inch cake pans, rather than 8-inch as the recipe suggests? Thanks for putting out such awesome vegan dessert recipes 🙂
Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy the carrot cake as much as the chocolate cake! The bake time won’t be much different, maybe 5 minutes less if anything but it should be fine.
This is the third time making this!!! PURE LOVE. My variations for “making do with the stuff I’ve got”:
-instead of 1 cup white sugar & 1 cup brown sugar, I always use ONE CUP COCONUT SUGAR. Seriously, it’s sooo sweet already and this is the PERFECT amount of sweet for me and my friends/family.
-I didn’t have apple sauce these past two times, so I just used 1/2 cup ground flax seed and 1/2 cup cashew milk, and like 2 tablespoons mashed bananas.
-I used coconut oil instead of canola. Also used cashew milk instead of almond.
-I added fresh ground CARDAMOM, about 1 teaspoon. You guys, THIS ELEVATES THE WHOLE GAME. Trust me.
-Added 1/2 cup chopped dates 🙂
-Cream cheese frosting I sweetened with maple syrup: YUM. Perfect. Natural. Amazing.
Thank you so much, Nora! Keep making magic!
You’re welcome!
Hello,
I really want to attempt to make this cake, however, I only have a 9 x13 pan. Do you think this recipe would still work. Also, are there any modifications you would recommend? Thank you!
Sure, that should work fine! You will need to bake the cake a bit longer, perhaps for 40-50 minutes. Check with a toothpick to make sure it comes out mostly clean in the middle. Enjoy!
Hi,
I’m a fan of your recipes. I trust you especially when you put “best” in the title. It really is the best.
For this, when you said ground ginger, is it the ginger powder? Or freshly grated ginger?
Thanks ❤️
Aw thank you so much! I’m talking about ginger powder, not fresh grated ginger. Hope that helps and you enjoy the cake!
I found the ground ginger and tried reducing the nutmeg. but it still works! thank you.
PS.
The metric button doesn’t work. I’m not sure if it’s just me, or do you find the same error?
Great! Oh thank you for bringing that to my attention. I am working on getting the metric button fixed right now. It does work on a desktop computer, but it’s having an issue on mobile right now, sorry about that! Should be fixed soon. 🙂
Can I make this in a Bundt pan?
Yes, but it will need longer to bake, more like 50 minutes to an hour.
Hi Nora!
I’m looking forward to making this cake next weekend (your recipes are my favorite 🙂 ) and was wondering if I could bake in 2 deep 6-inch cake pans? Should I just adjust the baking time? Thanks!
You might be able to, but they possibly will come out dense and sinking in the middle, I’m not sure. The cakes will be very thick and deep, so they would likely need to bake for longer.
OMG. WOW. Speechless! This turned out so delicious. I am no baker, but Nora….your vegan recipes…have me baking like a pro. I am super excited to try more of your recipes.
That’s so great to hear! Thanks for the comment!
I cannot wait to try, but what is the egg substitute in this recipe?
And would this recipe work well if I doubled it so I can make 2 layered 10” cake?
Thank you!
Applesauce helps replace the eggs here. I’m a little confused, do you want to make two 10 inch layer cakes or just one 10 inch, 2 layers cake? I think if you double the recipe it would be too much batter for 2 layers, even at 10 inches.