Old Fashioned Carrot Bread Recipe

simply deLIZious baking is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising revenues by advertising and linking to [Amazon.com or .ca, .co.uk, etc.]

This simple carrot bread recipe is packed with carrots, sweet cinnamon and toasy nuts. It’s moist, easy to make and full of delicious, warm, fall flavor.

I had my Joy of Cooking Cookbook open to my favorite pancake recipe and somehow I ended up finding this quick carrot bread recipe.  Bam! this quick carrot loaf recipe immediately caught my eye and the eye of my taste buds.  It spoke to my inner baker and said “bake me”.  I knew this would be a winner.

I ended up making this quick, old fashioned carrot bread recipe from Joy Of Cooking for a small brunch I threw in late September.  This moist carrot bread recipe was a hit, and with it’s cinnamon and toasted nuts, the most perfect, flavorful way to fall into fall.  

I hope you love this old fashioned carrot bread recipe and enjoy devouring it as much as my friends and I did on that Saturday morning in late September.

Super Easy Recipe For Carrot Bread

This old fashioned carrot bread recipe is simply a carrot quick bread recipe.  Yes, a carrot cake in the form of quick bread.  The most taxing part of this easy carrot bread recipe is grating your carrots.  

After grating those carrots and setting them aside, you simply sift your flour, baking soda and cinnamon together.  Next add your sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and salt to the flour mixture, fold in your carrots and nuts and it’s ready for the oven.  

Folks, this was such an easy carrot bread recipe that I felt like I’d cracked the cheat code for baking.  And, even better, its amazing flavor made it seem like I’d been slaving in the kitchen all day (woe is me, as I wipe my brow).  

What a great return on your investment you get with this old fashioned carrot bread recipe.  You hardly put any investment/effort in and you get back a 14 carrot gold quick bread in return.  Cha Ching!

On a side note, this is an old fashioned carrot bread recipe with oil.  When I see a cake or quick bread recipe with oil, inside I’m jumping up and down, because that usually means an EASY, PEASY recipe.

Cinnamony Nutty Carrot Loaf Bread – Just Fall-bulous

To me carrot cake and carrot bread are an any time of year (January, March, June, November) treat.  However, with the toasty nuts and cinnamon in this simple carrot bread recipe, you will bite right into fall y’all.  

I know, fall is all about pumpkins and pumpkin spice latte.  However, with the addtion of cinnamon and toasted nuts, this little carrot just sneaks right on into the pumpkin patch.  

Tools Used In Old Fashioned Carrot Bread

• 5×9 Loaf Pan
• Vegetable Peeler
• Vegetable Grater
• Mixing Bowl
• Sifter
• Spatula
• Dry Ingredient Measuring Cups
• Liquid Measuring Cup
• Cooling Rack

Ingredients In Simple Carrot Bread Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots (I peeled my carrots before grating)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

How To Bake Carrot Bread

• Preheat oven to 350℉
• Grease a 5×9 loaf pan or spray with baking spray.
• Sift together your dry ingredients – flour, baking soda and cinnamon.
• Add sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla and salt to the dry ingredients
• Blend in grated carrots and nuts with a few swift strokes.
• Bake in prepared loaf pan for 50 minutes to an hour.
• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
• Turn onto a rack for further cooling.

Tips For The Best Carrot Bread Recipe

• I peeled my carrots before grating them.  This is optional.  I have seen recipes saying the skin can have a bitter taste and and unpleasant texture after baking.
• To give your quick carrot bread even more flavor toast your nuts before folding them in the batter (see below for how to toast nuts).
• Do not overmix the batter, stir just until combined. Over mixing can cause quick bread to be tough instead of tender.
• Preheat your oven 10 minutes before baking – According to this post from Frugal Family Home, quick breads rise while they are baking. If you start them in a cold oven they might not have enough time to rise well before the bread starts to bake. 
• Get your batter into the oven quickly.  According to this post from Frugal Family Home,  the baking powder and soda start to work as soon as they get wet. If you delay in getting the loaves into the oven, you risk them not rising as well.
• Set a timer for 10 minutes less than the baking time listed in the recipe.  Ovens are different.  What takes 50 minutes in one oven might take 40 in another oven.  Better safe than sorry.
• Use a toothpick or sharp knife to test for doneness.  Insert it into the center of the quick carrot loaf. If it comes out clean, the bread is done.
• This old fashioned carrot bread is easier to slice when completely cooled.
• Serve your quick carrot loaf bread plain, or top with cream cheese, butter or almond butter.  Old fashioned carrot bread is a scrumptious breakfast carrot bread. Try it with a little butter spread on top.
• You can jazz up and sweeten this old fashioned carrot bread recipe by icing it with cream cheese frosting or drizzling the cooled loaf with a cream cheese glaze, melted Nutella or chocolate ganache.  

How To Grate Or Shred Carrots For Carrot Bread

Any recipe for carrot cake or carrot bread will require you to shred or grate your carrots.  This is the part of the old fashioned carrot bread recipe I was dreading.  However, it turned out not to be the cumbersome culinary experience I expected.  I used a box grater and in very little time I had 1.5 cups of grated carrots. 

To give a little more insight on shredding or grating carrots, here’s a post from Taste Of Home that gives us 4 different techniques to shred or grate carrots.

With a Box Grater – Peel your carrots and then shred or grate on the box grater.  Taste of Home suggests using the side with the largest holes.  However, I used the side with the smallest holes for this old fashioned carrot bread recipe and it worked perfectly.  A box grater is best for carrot cakes and other bakes, salad and slaws and meatloaf.

With a Food Processor – Peel your carrot and cut off the ends.  Then chop the carrots into chunks a few inches long. Fit your food processor with the grater disk (this comes in the box of most major food processor models) and pop in the carrots. Pulse until the carrots are perfectly grated.  This process takes just seconds.  A food processor is best for shredding lots of carrots, carrot cakes and other bakes and sides, like carrot raisin salad.

With a Mandoline – A mandoline with a grating surface is a cost effective, speedy way to shred your carrots. Peel your carrots, cut off the ends and shred away.  A mandoline is best for carrot cakes and other bakes, salads and slaws, stir frys and relish.

With a Julienne Peeler – This is an economical and small device (you can easily throw it in a drawer).  Use the julienne peeler like you would a regular vegetable peeler. As you pull it along the carrot, it’ll create fine, long strips.  A julienne peeler is best used for shredding a carrot to toss in a green salad, stir frys and garnishes.

How To Toast Nuts For Simple Carrot Bread

This simple carrot bread is bursting with nuts, so much so, that I consider this a carrot nut bread. 

Toasting the nuts, before folding them into the batter, exponentially brings out the flavor of the nuts in this carrot nut bread and other baked goods.  It draws the natural oils to the surface, which enhances the rich flavor of the nuts.  Toasting makes this carrot bread go from delicious carrot nut bread to exceptionally delicious carrot nut bread.

Here are three methods from The Spruce Eats to toast your nuts.

The Skillet Method 

• In a skillet cook over medium heat in a even layer.  
• Shake the skillet and stir with a wooden spoon.
• Consistently turn the nuts until they are brown and fragrant.
• Move them to a plate to cool as soon as they are browned and done.

The Oven Method

• Preheat oven to 350 and place nuts in a single layer on rimmed baking sheet.
• Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, periodically stirring and turning.
• When done move nuts to a plate and let cool.

The Microwave Method

• Put one cup of nuts on a plate.
• Microwave 3 to 4 minutes, uncovered.
• They will not be browned, but should have the nutty smell and taste.

How To Store Carrot Loaf Bread

So you’ve made this insalely delicious recipe for old fashioned carrot bread and you have a bit left over.  Of course, you want to savor every last bit of this old fashioned carrot bread, but will it last? 

No fear folks, you can keep it moist and insanely delicious by simply wrapping the leftovers in foil or placing them in a Ziploc Bag or a container with a tight fitting lid.  It will last up to a week stored like this at room temperature.

How to Freeze Carrot Quick Bread

You might be thinking, I need those quick carrot bread leftovers to last more than a week.  Again, fear not, you can store the carrot bread leftovers in the freezer for up to 3 months.  

To freeze your leftover quick carrot bread wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil.  You can thaw your carrot loaf bread overnight in the refrigerator.  

How To Make Carrot Bread, That’s A Wrap

This old fashioned carrot bread recipe is so worth the bake.   The combination of  moist carrots, warm spices and just the right amount of sweetness will have you and your friends begging for seconds (and even thirds, oh my). 

Plus, it’s such a simple carrot bread recipe.  Seriously, you want bake a sweat.   So, grab your apron and those carrots and let’s embrace the deliciousness, delight and simplicity of this old fashioned carrot bread recipe.

In case you have any queries regarding this old fashioned carrot bread recipe feel free to reach out via the comment section or the contact page. Also, if you have tried this recipe, I would love to hear about your experiences.

I have linked to our related recipes below and I’m sure you will love them.

More Old Fashioned Quick Bread Recipes

• Boozy Bourbon Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Quick Bread With Chocolate Chips
• Southern Sweet Potato Quick Bread
• Old Fashioned Date Nut Bread (With Chocolate Chips)