Carrot Cake With Applesauce

Carrot cake with applesauce is going to be your new go-to recipe. You’ll forget all about boxed cakes once you taste this easy and super delicious dessert. 

The favorite dessert is topped with cream cheese frosting and is a moist and flavorful carrot cake.

The Perfect Dessert

Y’all are going to love this carrot cake with cream cheese frosting recipe. This is an easy cake recipe that turns out moist, flavorful, and perfect with the addition of the ultra-easy frosting.

This is such a simple carrot cake recipe. A friend mentioned to me the other day that she bought a box carrot cake recipe and it didn’t turn out well.

I promise you, this is the cake to beat out all carrot cakes. Plus, if you want to cut calories, you can use lower fat cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients For Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

Wet Ingredients

• Eggs (beaten)
• Vegetable oil
• Applesauce
• Vanilla extract
• Carrots (grated)

Dry Ingredients

• White sugar
• Brown sugar
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg

Frosting

• Butter (softened)
• Cream cheese (softened)
• Vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar

Full printable recipe with measurements and instructions listed at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Carrot Cake

Add the eggs to a large mixing bowl and beat them.

Add the vegetable oil to the bowl and mix in with the eggs.

Add the applesauce to the mixture.

The applesauce is going to help keep the cake moist, and will give it a little more nutrition and few carbs.

Add the sugar to the mixing bowl.

Add the brown sugar and vanilla extract to the ingredients and mix everything together.

This is an easy and quick recipe to gather up and mix.

Add the cinnamon and nutmeg to the bowl.

These are two of my favorite ingredients. Whenever I add them to a cake or a dessert, it feels like fall. The world seems to just feel right.

We don’t get much winter down here in Florida, so I have to make do with pumpkin, fall spices, and all the delicious goodness in carrot cake.

Plus, when you bake the cake, it smells amazing. Truly amazing. Your house is going to smell absolutely delicious.

Add the baking soda and baking powder to the mix.

Add the flour and mix together.

Add the carrots to the mixture and fold in. And you can tell everyone you’re getting plenty of veggies!

You can either shred the carrots with a grater or buy the carrots already shredded. 

I bought shredded carrots and then put the carrots in the food processor to grate them even smaller. I like the carrots super fine.

You can also buy fresh carrots and add them to the food processor, as well.

Pour the batter into a greased casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

For this recipe, I used a 9-inch by 13-inch pan.

I usually check in the center of the cake to make sure it has baked all the way through.

Let the cake cool to room temperature before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Add room temperature cream cheese and butter to a medium-sized bowl. Add the vanilla and cream everything together. 

Add the powdered sugar to the cream cheese mixture and blend until everything is well blended and smooth.

Cream cheese frosting works great on just about any type of cake. I’ve used it on angel food cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake, and vanilla cake. You can use it on cupcakes, or even pumpkin cake.

Plus, it’s super easy and inexpensive.

The frosting is such a delicious part of the cake. It really adds a lot to the flavor. And I love that the frosting is super easy to make.

Cream cheese, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar are all it takes! I always set the butter and cream cheese out on the counter for a little while to let them soften. It’s much easier to mix together.

Can I Make This Into A Layer Cake?

Yes, you can make this into a layer cake. I would double the recipe for the cake and frosting if you are making it in a rectangular cake pan.

If you choose to use two circular cake pans you will still need to double the cake and frosting recipe to make sure you have enough. Two 8-inch cake pans will work fine.

How To Store The Carrot Cake

Store the cake in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Can I Add Raisins To The Cake?

Yes, you can add raisins to the cake. If you choose to add raisins, I would add a cup of raisins to the mixture.

Can I Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes With This Recipe?

Yes, you can make cupcakes. Simply put the cake batter into a greased muffin pan and bake the cupcakes. The baking time will be a little different, so be sure to check them after 30 minutes to see if they are done.

More Delicious Recipes

• Coffee cake without sour cream – this is a favorite recipe at our house. ]
• Maple syrup pecan pie – this is a delicious and mouthwatering dessert.
• Homemade cinnamon applesauce from A Sweet Pea Chef works great in your carrot cake.

The Best Carrot Cake With Applesauce

Be sure to get a copy of the carrot cake recipe below. If you’re a huge fan of carrot cake, you will love this recipe.

I promise this will become your favorite carrot cake recipe.

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