Eggless carrot cake is soft, moist, and perfectly spiced. This cake is pure comfort, packed with tender carrots, warm cinnamon, and a hint of vanilla. Whether you top it with cream cheese frosting or enjoy it as is, this easy carrot cake recipe is one you’ll want to make again and again!
I grew up eating my mom's carrot cakes. Sometimes she made the eggless whole wheat carrot cake with jaggery, and sometimes with sugar. She just dumped what she had at hand into a bowl and baked. No recipe, no measuring, just pure magic. And year after year, the cake came perfectly soft, sweet, and full of cozy spice.
This is what this carrot cake reminds me of - my mother's carrot cake with its homeyness, simplicity, and love!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
It’s the perfect carrot cake and everything you want it to be – super moist, soft, and laden with nuts, bits of crunchy carrots peeking through. Every bite is delicious with the warm cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and zesty fresh orange flavors.
This carrot cake without eggs is super easy to make with simple step-by-step instructions and basic pantry ingredients. Perfect for beginner bakers!
Whether you enjoy it plain or frosted, this cake is just right for any occasion. Serve with your favorite tea or coffee, or for dessert, this carrot cake hits all the right spots!
Carrot Cake Ingredients
Flour: Whole wheat gives the carrot cake a hearty feel. You can certainly switch to all-purpose flour.
Spices: A warm mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, and homemade vanilla extract adds a cozy flavor.
Yogurt: The secret to keeping this eggless cake moist and tender while adding a slight tang. I prefer Greek yogurt, but regular yogurt works too, as long as it is drained well and is thick.
Milk is a substitute for eggs. It helps bring the batter together and keeps the cake light and fluffy. I used light coconut milk, but oat milk, cashew milk, or almond milk are great too. You can also use regular dairy milk.
Oil makes this whole-wheat carrot cake extra soft. My choice was coconut oil, but any neutral-tasting oil works.
Sugar: I used brown sugar for a deeper, caramel-like flavor. Feel free to use white sugar, cane, or coconut sugar. I love this cake with jaggery powder too.
Carrots are the star of the show! They add natural sweetness, moisture, and a beautiful texture to every bite. Use the fine side of a box grater to grate them finely. If you love more texture in a cake, grate them coarsely.
Walnuts lend a crunchy and nutty texture, which makes this cake even better.
Orange juice and zest brighten up the taste, giving it a citrusy touch that you’ll love, love, love! I always recommend adding both.
Cream Cheese: Homemade or store-bought, a rich and tangy cream cheese is a must for making the frosting for this classic Easter carrot cake. This frosting is so good on carrot cake cookies, too!
Please see the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
Add-ins: Walnuts are the classic choice for eggless carrot cake. You can also swap them for pecans( like in this carrot banana bread), hazelnuts, or almonds, or leave them out. Sultanas, dried currants, cranberries or raisins are fantastic with it too.
Vegan: Make the carrot cake without eggs completely vegan by using plant-based yogurt in the batter. For the frosting, use plant-based cream and cream cheese.
How To Make Eggless Carrot Cake
Step 1: Combine all the dry ingredients - wholewheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange zest in a large bowl. Whisk well.
Step 2: Whisk together yogurt, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla extract, and orange juice in another bowl.
Step 3: Gently stir the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Your mixture should be thick, not a soft dropping consistency.
Step 4: Fold the shredded carrots and chopped walnuts into the batter.
Step 5: Transfer the batter into a 6" greased cake pan.
Step 6: Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 7: While the cake is baking, make the cream cheese frosting. Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the chilled cream and icing sugar into this mixture until thick and creamy, and you have a spreadable consistency. Refrigerate this frosting until the cake is baked and completely cooled.
Step 8: Once the eggless carrot cake is completely cooled, top it with the cream cheese frosting. Decorate with some walnut halves and some more orange zest. Serve and enjoy!
Pro Tips
- This cake's batter is a thick one. Not the same consistency as the regular cake batter. The carrots release enough moisture to ensure that the cake comes out wonderfully soft and never dry.
- If the batter seems too dry, add a tablespoon or two of milk.
- If the cake starts browning on top and isn't cooked through, loosely cover with a piece of foil to prevent the top from burning.
- Make sure your ingredients ( except the whipping cream) are at room temperature. This helps make a smooth batter quickly.
- If your cream cheese frosting is a bit runny, refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes to make it more easily spreadable.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
How To Store
Store the frosted no-eggs carrot cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The carrots keep the cake soft and moist. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
You can freeze the cake, as long as it is not frosted. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
📖 Recipe
Eggless Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup Wholewheat flour
- 1.5 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1/2 cup Yogurt
- 1/2 cup Light coconut milk You can use any milk you like.
- 1/3 cup Coconut oil You can use any vegetable oil you like.
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- Juice of 1 orange
- 1/2 cup Brown sugar
- 1 cup Carrots, shredded
- 1/4 cup Walnuts, chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3/4 cup Cream cheese, softened
- 3-4 tbsp Icing sugar
- 3-4 tbsp Chilled whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease a 6" pan very well.
- In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients - wholewheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange zest.1.5 cups Wholewheat flour (190g), 1.5 tsp Baking powder, 1/2 tsp Baking soda, 1/8 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp Nutmeg, Zest of 1 orange
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla extract, and orange juice.1/2 cup Yogurt (135 g), 1/2 cup Light coconut milk(100 g), 1/3 cup Coconut oil (60 g), 1 tsp Vanilla extract, Juice of 1 orange
- Gently stir the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Your mixture should be thick, not a soft dropping consistency. If it seems too dry, add a tablespoon or two of milk.
- Fold in the grated carrots and walnuts. 1 cup (155g) Carrots, shredded, 1/4 cup (30 g) Walnuts, chopped
- Transfer the batter to your prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes at 180 c (350 f) or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, with a few moist crumbs attached.
- If the cake starts browning on top and isn't cooked through, loosely cover with a piece of foil to prevent the top from burning.
- Let the baked cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack.
- Once completely cooled, top it with the cream cheese frosting. Decorate with some walnut halves and some more orange zest. Enjoy!
Cream Cheese Frosting
- While the cake is baking, make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the chilled cream and icing sugar into this mixture until thick and creamy, and you have a spreadable consistency. Taste and adjust for sweetness. You can add more sugar at this point if you like. Refrigerate until the cake is baked and completely cooled.3/4 cup (150 g) Cream cheese, softened, 3-4 tbsp chilled whipping cream, 3-4 tbsp Icing sugar
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Notes
- This cake's batter is a thick one. Not the same consistency as the regular cake batter. The carrots release enough moisture to ensure that the cake comes out wonderfully soft and never dry.
- If the batter seems too dry, add a tablespoon or two of milk.
- If the cake starts browning on top and isn't cooked through, loosely cover with a piece of foil to prevent the top from burning.
- Make sure your ingredients ( except the whipping cream) are at room temperature. This helps make a smooth batter quickly.
- If your cream cheese frosting is a bit runny, refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes to make it more easily spreadable.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
Alisha Dsouza says
Hie, wanted to check if i could substitute 1 cup of wheat flour with semolina? to get a grainy texture, more like your orange cake recipe
would that work?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Alisha, I think it may work, but I haven't tried it myself. 🙂
Ankita says
Hello ,
I tried the recipe without the orange juice and orange zest .. the flavors came out really nice but the cake didn’t rise well. Go you help me with what might have gone wrong.. may be the whisking of wet ingredients?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Ankita, it could be many factors - maybe the oven was not hot enough, or if your baking powder/soda was old. Overmixing can also cause this.
Thank you for trying this recipe out though. Hopefully next time your cake will rise properly! 🙂
Kelley says
It turned out pretty delicious (carrot cake is ALWAYS too sweet for me, but this is perfect!), but I noticed it baked all the way through by 35 mins (in fact, I think that slightly overbaked it) but the carrots were crunchy. I made some substitutions, though, so I'm wondering if that's the problem. Ghee for coconut oil and whole wheat chapati flour for the whole wheat all purpose. Maybe it absorbed too much of the moisture?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Kelley, so glad you enjoyed the cake!
As ovens differ in their temperature settings, yours could've gotten done faster in 35 minutes...which is great! Maybe next time, 30 minutes would be sufficient? Ghee would be great here and I use regular wholewheat for my cakes. Not sure if the chapati one is different. Happy baking!:)
Ruchira Vijayvergia says
Hi. Can you tell me the cup measurement for the carrots pls?
Two carrots is bit confusing as sizes may be different. Plan to make it in the eve.
Much thanks.
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Ruchira, one cup of grated carrots should be good for this recipe. Happy baking:)
Ruchika Sharma says
There are no carrots in this carrot cake!
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Ruchika, we changed the recipe format and by mistake, the carrots and dry fruits went under the cream cheese frosting section. I've fixed that now. Thanks for pointing it out.
Ruchika Sharma says
Thanks! Because I wanted to make the cake without the frosting. And got very confused. Glad it's fixed now
Natasha Minocha says
Gald you pointed it out. All the best with cake. Do let me know how this worked out for you. Cheers