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
Tried the recipe and it came out great! I used homemade oat flour and 1/4 cup natural olive oil (where it says either oil or milk of choice), and I used 1/4 cup of almond milk. Just tried it out of the oven and even though the recipe says it tastes better the second day refrigerated, I thought it was amazing as is. First time trying to make something from this website, and I’m SO glad I did. Will definitely make this again! Thanks so much Katie!
Does anyone have a suggestion for making this large scale in a 9×13 pan, to slice as bars? I figure double the recipe and just watch closely for doneness, but I’d like to hear other ideas beforehand!
Sounds like a fun experiment! Be sure to report back if you try!
can u make these into muffins? if so, how long and at what temperature should i bake them at?
https://lett-trim.today/2015/04/01/healthy-carrot-cake-cupcakes/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
LOVED this! I say loved because it’s already gone! My family gobbled it up. Even my carnivorous, doesn’t like anything vegan, husband loved it! He ate half a loaf! My girls also loved it even the picky one who doesn’t love my GF baking. It was a win all around! Next time I will definitely double. I used oat flour (oatmeal ground in my vitamix), maple syrup and 1/2 c canned full fat coconut milk instead of oil. I also doubled the cinnamon because I love spiced carrot cake. I didn’t add coconut or nuts because kiddos don’t like them.
okay, I’ve made a lot of things from CCK, and most successful, but this one is the best recipe I have made, yet. I wanted a more traditional carrot cake loaf, so I substituted one (steamed) apple for one banana and used one over ripe banana and the rest ground carrots (not finely grated, just normal grating). I also added 1/2 cup of raisins (pre-soaked in boiling water) and some ginger. I used two loaf pans for baking. I made a cream cheese icing and added walnuts on top for the loaf I will pass on to the neighbours. It turned out soo moist. I can’t get over how amazing this bread is. I seriously questioned if it would be sweet enough and it totally is! I wish I could give this more than 5 stars, even without vanilla (I’m still out…)
I used this recipe to make muffins for my toddler- they taste a little salty so i’ll be adjusting the salt next time.
Hi! Jst wanted to send along this link in case you want to try this one instead https://lett-trim.today/2015/04/01/healthy-carrot-cake-cupcakes/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
This was AMAZING!! Didn’ t expect the texture and flavour to be so on point. I used 1 cup white flour + 1 cup oat flour and coconut flour. I also used a little less than 1/2 cup of honey. Thank you, Katie!
Hello, Can I grind up oatmeal for the oat flour or is that not the same? I look forward to making this. thank you much!
You can!
Just made this it was amazing. Was a bit short on banana and carrot so I used a bit of applesauce to replace. I also replaced the additional milk/oil with half almond milk, half applesauce. Used pumpkin spice instead of cinnamon and nutmeg. And used sugar free maple syrup. Great all in all, will def be making again. Btw cut the whole thing into 12 pieces, about 85 cals a slice.
Where is the recipe to the carrot cake banana bread? I only see the photo but recipe is nowhere to be found?
Hmm I see the whole recipe. What do you see under the photos? Have you tried refreshing the page?
This bread is delicious. I didn’t realize it was a vegan recipe until I was almost done mixing the batter, so I added an egg, just in case. I didn’t have enough banana, so I used applesauce to make up the difference. And I used coconut milk. I threw it in the oven and kept my fingers crossed. It came out better than I expected! Next time, I will follow the original recipe and add some nuts and maybe chocolate chips too. This is one of the best online recipes I have ever come across. Thank you!