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Carrot cake meets coffee cake, and together they are a beautifully tasty concoction you won’t be able to resist. A delicious carrot cake base, cream cheese center, and crumb topping.

A slice of carrot coffee cake on a gray plate.

I am a huge fan of coffee cake, even as a non-coffee drinker, I love the idea of a piece of cake with my morning beverage. Cake for breakfast. How fun. This particular coffee cake started with my favorite coffee cake recipe (Dream Coffee Cake), and I simply adjusted it to give it a fun spring makeover.

I make it in a spring form pan that I coat with shortening, but you could line a 9″ round baking pan with parchment and cook it in that if you wish. If I am doubling the batch or making multiple kinds this is what I usually do, so I know it works.

Carrot coffee cake batter in a mixing bowl with fresh carrots in the background.

One trick to make things easier is to not worry about hand grating the carrots, instead use a food processor. It will make your carrots into tiny pieces in about 30 seconds. Then mix everything up. And you are good to go.

After everything is mixed properly, put it in your pan. You just push the batter flat, and up the sides a bit, making a well for the cream cheese mixture. If you wanted to do something fun you could add some coconut flavoring or shredded coconut to the cream cheese filling for added flavor.

Carrot coffee cake in a mixing bowlWith cream cheese filling.

Then you top with the crumb topping. It is pretty dry, don’t worry about it. The key is to get it to be fine crumbs, not super mixed together. You can use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in, or two fork! Or pop it in the food processor for a few pulses.

Carrot coffee cake in a round cake pan with crumb topping.

And bake. When you are doing baking, just insert a toothpick or knife into the center to see if it comes out clean, if it doesn’t then you will need to cook longer. Every oven is a bit different, it usually takes between 45 minutes to an hour to bake properly. It will also vary on how wet your carrots are. So check the doneness. I cooked mine a little under done because I had to head out the door to get kiddos, but it was still seriously yummy, so don’t stress too much.

Carrot coffee cake on a cooling pan with a slice removed and fresh carrots on the side.

You will want to let the cake cool completely before serving. I prefer to put it in the fridge overnight so that the filling is chilled.

Slices of carrot coffee cake on grey plates.

Then I just dig in! I mean seriously, so hard to resist this tastiness.

A slice of carrot coffee cake on a gray plate with fresh carrots on the side.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

 

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Carrot Coffee Cake

By: Alyssa Rivers
Carrot cake meets coffee cake, and together they are a beautifully tasty concoction you won't be able to resist. A delicious carrot cake base, cream cheese center, and crumb topping.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 8 Slices

Ingredients 

  • Shortening to grease pan

Cake Layer

Cream Cheese Filling

  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1/4 -1/2 cup sugar depending on how sweet you want it, 1/4 works great for me
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup pineapple preserves optional

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Grease a 9 inch springform or round cake pan
  • In a large bowl combine flour and sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg
  • Cut in butter and using 2 forks or a pastry cutter, form crumb mixture. (Cut until mixture resembles fine crumbs)
  • Reserve 1 cup of crumb topping, and set aside
  • To the rest of the mixture add in eg, sour cream, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and carrots. Mix well.
  • Spread over the bottom of prepared pan, and up the sides. The batter is thick, just press it where you want it, and form a bit of a well to hold cream cheese filling.
  • In a separate bowl combine cream cheese , sugar, and beaten egg.
  • Pour into the well you formed.
  • If using them, spoon preserves over the cream cheese as evenly as possible.
  • Spread reserved crumb mixture over the top of the cake, distributing evenly.
  • Bake for 45 minutes to 55 mins (may need an hour if carrots are super wet), test doneness with toothpick inserted in center.
  • Cool for at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight in the fridge.

Nutrition

Calories: 571kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 12gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 140mgSodium: 536mgPotassium: 176mgFiber: 2gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 1214IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 230mgIron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!

 

About Alyssa Rivers

Alyssa Rivers is the author of 'The Tried and True Cookbook', a professional food photographer and experienced recipe-developer. Having a passion for cooking, her tried and true recipes have been featured on Good Morning America, Today Food, Buzzfeed and more.

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6 Comments

  1. It is called Carrot coffee cake I thought it would be good to try but guess it meant relax and have cup of coffee with carrot cake.

  2. Hey, it’s me again just realised that it’s a typo! Thank God everything went fine. Although, next time I’ll put some spices in the carrot cake. Thank you for the recipe!!! 🙂

    1. Oh I am so sorry, it should have said cool! Not cook, thanks for catching the typo. And love the idea of adding spices.

  3. Do you bake the carrot batter first then the cream cheese part or bake them both together? Because there’s bake for 45 mins and then at 13, cook for 30 mins… So…. Anyways, I bake them both together, and I’m really hoping that it’ll work :/