Sweet, moist, and absolutely delicious, this frosted homemade carrot cake banana bread recipe is perfect for a healthy breakfast or dessert!
If you’re looking for a wonderful springtime recipe to serve family or guests, this classic carrot cake banana bread is always a huge crowd pleaser.
The recipe can be low fat, low calorie, oil free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and vegan. And it’s super easy to make, using ingredients you already have on hand.
You may also like Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
If only carrot cake were always in season.
I’d be so happy posting carrot themed recipes all year round.
But since possibly no one else besides me wants to eat carrot cake in December (or maybe you do too?), I try to pack as much carrot cake as I possibly can into the few weeks between St. Patrick’s Day and Easter.
Because I’ve already posted carrot cake oatmeal, waffles, and Healthy Carrot Cake, this year I decided to turn the flavor into banana bread, one of my other favorite flavors.
I knew the recipe would be good before even tasting it. After all, it’s carrot cake AND banana bread!
Above – watch the carrot cake banana bread recipe video
Carrot cake banana bread ingredients
To make the recipe, you will need flour, cinnamon, shredded carrot, pure vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sweetener and milk of choice, and mashed banana.
While the carrot cake banana bread is completely wonderful on its own, one of my favorite things about carrot cake is the frosting.
For vegan carrot cake banana bread, choose your favorite dairy free milk of choice. The carrot banana loaf is already naturally egg free.
Types of flour that work include spelt flour, oat flour, white all purpose flour, or some all purpose gluten free flours. Feel free to experiment with others, although I do not recommend using coconut flour or almond flour.
You can frost with softened Coconut Butter or about half a cup of the homemade vegan cream cheese frosting recipe from my Vegan Cinnamon Rolls.
I sprinkled crushed walnuts and shredded carrot over the top to decorate.
How to make carrot cake banana bread
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and grease a 9×5 loaf pan or line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients and stir well. You can add half a cup of crushed walnuts or shredded coconut if you wish.
Whisk all remaining ingredients, including the shredded carrot and banana, in a separate bowl. Or you can technically save time and whisk them straight into the dry ingredients to form a batter. Do not overmix.
Smooth the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place on the oven’s center rack, and bake for forty five minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the carrot banana loaf comes out mostly clean.
Let the bread cool completely before going around the sides with a knife. Invert onto a large serving plate, and frost if desired.
Baking and storage tips
Loosely cover with cloth or paper towels, and store on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight.
The taste and texture of this bread are better the next day, because excess moisture will evaporate, resulting in a fluffier loaf.
After one day, it is best to refrigerate leftovers for three or four days in a covered container. Or slice and freeze for up to three months.
For low carb, try this Keto Carrot Cake
Carrot Cake Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups white, spelt, or oat flour (or try this Almond Flour Banana Bread)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- optional 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cup mashed overripe banana (for banana free, try this Vegan Carrot Cake)
- 1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave
- 1/4 cup milk of choice or water
- 1/4 cup oil or additional water
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- optional crushed walnuts, coconut, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×5 pan, or line with parchment. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. If desired, you can add 1/2 cup crushed walnuts and/or a handful of shredded coconut. Whisk liquid ingredients—including carrot and banana—in separate bowl. Pour wet into dry, and stir to form a batter. Smooth into prepared pan. Bake on the center rack 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Let cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Taste and texture are much better the second day (and even better the third day as it gets sweeter). Leftovers can be sliced and frozen for up to a month. If you want to frost the bread, I included a few links to some frosting recipes above in the post, or you can use about 1/2 cup softened coconut butter, sweetened if desired.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Healthy Banana Recipes
I’m delighted to see another banana bread recipe. This looks so delicious, I cannot express it through mere words. I, for one, love carrot cake and would gladly eat it in December. If I try this next week, I will report back with photos.
That bread looks delicious! You’re not the only one that wants to eat carrot cake all year round either. I love carrot cake and will happily eat it any time of year. Could you do a recipe for carrot cake pancakes? Since you’ve already done carrot cake cupcakes, oatmeal, and bread, I think pancakes (with cream cheese frosting!) are a logical thing to try next.
Totally trying this out this week with all the leftover bananas and carrots we have!
Paige
Do you think whole wheat flour would work in this recipe?
While Katie can only vouch for the flours she’s tried (the ones listed), you are always free to experiment, and please be sure to report back if you do!
Itll workout just fine! Trust me.
Love your recipes! Thank you for them. I seem to have trouble with coping them on my computer. It doesn’t print a a picture–which I like to have with the recipe. It also will print some of the recipe at the bottom of the page and therefore, I have print the instructions on the back of the page. Is there a reason for this? Can you help? Just wondering.
Hi, are you pressing the “print this recipe” button or just copying/pasting?
Jason
I’ve made it with whole wheat flour every time and it’s absolutely perfect!
I wonder if it works with almonds flours??
Hi, for a low carb version try this recipe instead: https://lett-trim.today/keto-carrot-cake/%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> Or this almond flour banana bread: https://lett-trim.today/almond-flour-banana-bread/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
What a yummy combination! Carrot cake always makes me excited for Spring!
xo,
Em
I am going to make this tonight. Sounds delicious!
This recipe says it is oil free but lists oil as an ingredient, though you say this is optional. Katie, did *you* use oil in your recipe? I’ve had bad luck with your recipes that say I can sub milk for oil. They don’t cook well and never look anything like the picture.
If it’s listed as an option for a recipe, it means that either Katie or one of her testers has tested that option. I know many readers and Katie have made her banana bread recipes with milk instead of oil and it still works well, and she talks about this in her Healthy Banana Bread recipe. What recipes did you try that didn’t work? Maybe I can help troubleshoot.
I wonder the same. Could Katie answer maybe? I would love to read her reply not someone else’s.
Agreed Melissa. I think it’s so rude that they don’t reply back to a recipe they’ve posted. It shouldn’t have to come from another reader.
I came here to leave a comment about the recipe but unfortunately found this comment from Connie instead. Yes Connie, it’s so rude that someone who runs a blog where she isn’t charging you anything to see the recipes wouldn’t be able to personally respond to every one of the hundreds of emails, comments, and facebook messages she probably gets every day because she’s too busy living her life. It’s so rude that she doesn’t spend her whole day in front of the computer screen to make sure she answers your comment because of course it’s the most important comment of all. Honestly what I think is much more rude is to be so unappreciative about something you’re getting for free and forget that the bloggers you’re criticising are actual people with lives outside of the internet.
Katie, feel free to take my comment down if it’s out of line. I thought about letting it go but just couldn’t not say something.
Thank you Jennifer. The world needs more people like you for sure.
I cannot believe the nerve of some people.
I love CCK recipes, and i am so sorry that people find a way to fault her for stuff like these while her blog is incredibly useful to some of us.
HAHA! You are awesome. Amen to people getting something AMAZING for free and still wanting more. It’s nice if the bloggers comment but please remember everyone, THEY HAVE LIVES TOO.
Amen! Well said.
Well said!
Amen, sister ♡
I figured out that Jason works for Katie before he mentioned it anywhere.
Plus, now that this free website has grown significantly and recipes are so popular, it’s extremely unrealistic to expect Katie to manage all of this website on her own.
I appreciate your useful free website and recipes Katie. Thank you to You & your Team 🙂
So who has a comment about actually making this recipe and tells the readers of the results?
I’m just seeing these latest two replies, and I apologize for both the drama and the confusion my initial comment may have sparked. I am on the media team for Chocolate Covered Katie and so it is my job to help answer questions, because while it’s true that she gets too many to respond personally to all of them individually, it’s also true that she is grateful to all of her readers and doesn’t want any question they took the time to leave to go unanswered. In Katie’s recipes, as I mentioned in my initial comment, if Katie lists something as an option it means she or one of her testers has tested it to make sure that option will work. If something is not listed in the recipe as being an option, you are still free to try it at your own risk. Hope that helps clear up any confusion!
Jason (media relations)
I figured out that you work with Katie without you having to write it anywhere 🙂
Thanks for your timely replies to the thousands of questions Jason!!!
I was going to make the banana/blueberry bread today. I have my bananas and was ready to go until I saw this! I have a bag of carrots I wasn’t sure how to use and this recipe magically appears in my email! I am going to make this AND throw some blueberries in it too. I make my own oat flour with my Braun hand blender. Fun thing to do during a snow storm on the first day of spring. lol. PS: Bean soup in the crock pot too. YUM! I just pray the power doesn’t go out!!!
Carol, I wanna come to your house! Except it’s sunny and 60 degrees at mine… But your foods sound delicious and inviting!
Lucky you! Yesterday, I was sitting outside in the sun in 60 degree giing myself a pedicure. Now today we are being buried in snow but it won’t be around long. Mother Nature is going through menopause. lol. My bread is delicious by the way. I’m going to post pics via a separate comment.
I made the Blueberry Banana bread. It was delicious. VERY moist and yummy!
Oatmeal flour is so easy to put regular oatmeal in the blender and blend until powder. Works great. You should also be blending up sugar to make powdered sugar without the chemicals.. All of Katie’s recipes are so tasty !
This recipe looks delicious,, what can I use to substitute for cinnamon or vanilla.
Do you need to substitute them because of an allergy? Or you don’t like the taste? Leaving them out will not affect the texture, only the taste, so texture-wise it would be fine to omit. I just don’t think Katie can vouch for the flavor because she hasn’t tried it.
Yes omitting cinnamon and vanilla because of an allergy.. I’m also going to try using tapioca flour because I’m allergic to wheat and gluten as well, so that eliminates spelt or oat flour.
I made her gingerbread banana bread with my own gluten free flour mix. It turned out great.