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Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe

This Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with a Cream Cheese Frosting is tender, sweet and so delicious! This recipe is made with less oil than many other carrot cake recipes.

Carrot cake is one of my most favourite types of cakes. What’s not to love about a moist spice cake packed with nutritious shredded carrots, and smothered in creamy cream cheese frosting?! But one thing I don’t love about some carrot cake recipes, is how full of oil they are…I can taste it, and just don’t like the flavour. But not this recipe! In fact, there is barely any oil in it at all, only 1/4 cup and the rest is applesauce.

Recipe Snapshot

CAKE TYPE: This makes a 9 x 13 sheet cake.
EASE: So simple to make!
PROS: Recipe uses a small amount of oil.
DELICIOUS: SO moist and flavourful!

Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

Use Applesauce!

This particular cake recipe replaces most of the oil with applesauce. There are two big reasons I love this so much…one, I don’t taste the oil, and two, this cake is more nutritious with less oil, and with the addition of unsweetened applesauce. Win, win. Oh, and the applesauce definitely makes this cake so so moist.

Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

Sheet Cakes are the easiest cakes to make!

I also love that this carrot cake is baked as a sheet cake. Sheet cakes are one of my most favourite ways to bake cakes because they’re easy to ice, they’re great for birthday parties and they are easy to transport to pot luck dinners. I have few favourite sheet cake recipes here on my site that you might like as well: Chocolate, Banana, Raisin Oatmeal, and Hummingbird Sheet Cake (the banana one is to-die for).

Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

Top it with Cream Cheese Frosting!

To top this carrot sheet cake, I made a cream cheese frosting, because all carrot cakes need cream cheese frosting don’t they? Yes. Yes they do.

Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

Creamy, sweet, smooth cream cheese frosting.

Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

Top it off with coconut!

After the cake has baked and cooled, you can either serve the cake as is with the cream cheese frosting…or you can add some sweetened shredded coconut to top it off. It looks pretty, but it also add a nice little coconut flavour.

Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

Love raisins or nuts?

Delicious and so pretty! My family loves the addition of the coconut. Speaking of additions, if you like raisins or chopped pecans, feel free to add them to this cake recipe (see recipe notes)!

Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

A carrot cake perfect for Easter.

This Carrot Cake Sheet Cake recipe is perfect for any occasion, but we especially love it at Easter. It’s a perfect dessert for Easter dinner. Make sure to check out more of my Easter recipes here.

Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe

Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe Tips:

  • Carrots: I prefer to peel the carrots before grating them. I just use a cheese grater to grate. You can also use a food processor.
  • Applesauce: You can use store bought unsweetened applesauce, or you can make your own homemade apple sauce.  I made my own with 3 medium sized apples, and mashed it down until it was nice and smooth.
  • If you like pecans or raisins in your carrot cake, feel free to add a 1/2 cup of either to the cake batter before baking.
  • Make sure the cake has cooled completely before frosting, or the frosting will melt.
  • Make Ahead Tip: This cake tastes even better served the next day!
  • Storage: Store this cake on the counter in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also keep it in the fridge if you’re more comfortable with that.
  • Freezing: This cake freezes well. Place the cake in an airtight container WITHOUT the frosting added, then keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to serve it, bring the cake up to room temperature then add the frosting.
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Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

This Carrot Cake Sheet Cake Recipe with a Cream Cheese Frosting is tender, sweet and so delicious!  This recipe is made with less oil than many other carrot cake recipes.

  • Author: Jo-Anna Rooney
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yield: 1012 servings 1x
  • Category: Baking
  • Method: Baking

Ingredients

Units Scale

Carrot Cake

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup applesauce
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3 cups grated carrots

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 (8 oz) block of cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut for sprinkling

Instructions

Making the Cake

  1. Preheat your oven oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Prepare a 9 x 13 oven safe pan: either butter it and dust with flour, or use a baking spray.
  3. Using a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, applesauce, oil, sugars and vanilla.
  4. In a separate large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
  5. Combine the wet ingredients with the flour mixture.
  6. Stir in the shredded carrots.
  7. Pour into your 9 x 13 prepared pan.
  8. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  9. Let cool on a wire rack completely before adding the frosting.

Making the Frosting

  1. While the cake is baking make the frosting.
  2. In a mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and icing sugar, until smooth.

Putting the Cake Together

  1. Let the cake cool in the pan completely before frosting.
  2. Once the cake is cooled, spread the frosting evenly on the cake.
  3. Optional: Sprinkle the frosted cake with the sweetened, shredded coconut.
  4. Cut and serve!

Notes

If you like pecans or raisins in your carrot cake, feel free to add 1/2 cup of either to the cake batter before baking.

Keywords: carrot cake, sheet cake, carrot cake sheet cake

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Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

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8 Comments

  1. Hi Jo-Anna,
    I love carrot cake and this recipe sounds really good! I’m going to try it for Easter dinner with my family on Good Friday. I have a question on the process, though… the wet ingredients are in one bowl and then the dry ingredients are in another bowl. Do you stir the carrots into the wet or dry ingredients, and then is it better to add the dry to the wet or the wet to the dry?
    Thanks,
    Patricia

      1. Thanks, JoAnna! The cake turned out beautifully and it was a HUGE hit with my family! This will be my go-to carrot cake recipe for sure! As a side note, I halved (is that a word!) the icing recipe and it was still enough 🙂 If I can figure out Instagram, I’ll post a pic!

      1. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to let me know. I offer free recipes that I work very hard to make, photograph and share so I feel no guilt getting paid for my work. As I am sure you don’t feel guilt for your paycheck. Have a nice day.

        Jo-Anna

  2. I’m going to make this for my daughters birthday. If I wanted to do 1/2 sheet pan and make 2 layers: should I double the recipie or just make one batch split into 2 sheet pans? Can I leave cream cheese frosting out over night?

    1. Hi Kelly! Depending on how many people you want to serve, doubling the recipe may be too much cake? The recipe as is will easily serve 8-10 people. If that’s enough, then you could certainly make the two layers. Regarding the frosting, I’m comfortable with leaving it out overnight.