A delicious healthy recipe for carrot cake banana bread made with no refined sugar, plump raisins, and an easy and delish vegan cashew cream cheese frosting! Enjoy for breakfast or to bring to a holiday brunch!
If you love carrot cake or banana bread, well I’ve got the perfect match for you. Bet you didn’t ever really think to combine two of life’s greatest desserts into one? Well, I did.
Anytime I can get away with eating carrot cake for breakfast is a perfect day to me.
Carrot Cake Banana Bread
Something about the two of these combined just tastes like my childhood in a loaf. It’s almost like sweet, healthy banana bread made with ripe bananas and fresh carrot cake filled with plump raisins and walnuts just had a baby.
This recipe is a healthier twist on the traditional banana bread recipe and the traditional carrot cake recipe.
Carrot Cake Banana Bread Muffins
Yep! I said it, you can easily turn this carrot cake banana bread into muffins if you want! All you need to do is line a muffin tin with liners or spray it real good with nonstick spray, then pour batter into each cup until it’s 2/3 full.
You’ll want to bake for 17-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out nice and clean.
Ingredients in carrot cake banana bread
- Bananas and grated carrots, of course! Super ripe bananas and fresh grated carrots work best in this recipe.
- White whole wheat flour – you can swap this with all purpose, regular whole wheat flour, or gluten-free 1:1 flour but I prefer the fluffy texture of white whole wheat best.
- Coconut oil – more below on my tips for baking with coconut oil
- Honey – one of my favorite ways to sweeten a banana bread is with natural sugar. Bananas already have some sugar in them so you don’t need much!
- Eggs
- Spices like cinnamon and nutmeg
- Raisins
- Walnuts or pecans
Baking with coconut oil
If you haven’t realized by now, baking with coconut oil is my absolute favorite way to make anything sweet. It’s the only oil I use when baking, actually, because it can be fragrant and subtly sweet for baking. But it can also be completely flavorless!
Since most coconut oil solidifies at room temperature, you’ll want to measure it once it has been completely melted. I sometimes even buy liquid coconut oil so that it always stays liquid at room temperature and is easier to measure.
My biggest tip for working with coconut oil that isn’t always room temperature: bring all of your other ingredients to room temp. If you try to whisk eggs straight from the fridge with your coconut oil, it will solidify and clump up. I bring my eggs to room temp placing them in the oven for about 5 minutes while it starts to heat up.
This same thing is to be said with any other ingredient that you’re using straight from the fridge!
Unrefined vs. refined coconut oil
Unrefined coconut oil undergoes minimal processing, which causes there to still be a little bit of coconut flavor in the oil, whereas refined coconut oil does not have any flavor whatsoever because it has been high-heat processed, and ‘refined’ a little bit more.
Other banana bread recipes
- Healthy Banana Bread
- Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- Tahini Banana Bread
- Cinnamon roll banana bread
- Perfect Paleo Banana Bread
If you make this recipe, be sure to comment below and let me know how it was! Also tag @erinliveswhole on Instagram and use the hashtag #erinliveswhole so I can see it and feature you!
Carrot Cake Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
Description
A delicious healthy recipe for carrot cake banana bread made with no refined sugar, plump raisins, and an easy and delish vegan cashew cream cheese frosting! Enjoy for breakfast or to bring to a holiday brunch!
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Banana Bread
- 2 medium overripe bananas, mashed
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1/2 cup raisins
Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese
- 1.5 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight or in hot water for at least 2 hours
- 1/2 cup filtered water
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare bread pan with nonstick spray or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together mashed bananas and eggs.
- Add in oil, honey, and vanilla. Stir till combined.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg.
- Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until fully combined.
- Add in grated carrots, nuts, and raisins.
- Stir in any desired mix-ins.
- Pour into prepared bread pan and bake in oven for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- While baking, combine frosting ingredients (cashews, filtered water, maple syrup, vanilla, salt) in a high powered blender, like a Vitamix.
- Blend until completely smooth, scraping along the sides as needed. This could take a couple minutes.
- Place in refrigerator to thicken.
- When loaf is COMPLETELY cooled, ice the top of the bread.
- Enjoy!
- Category: dessert, breakfast
Keywords: banana bread, carrot cake, dessert, breakfast, whole wheat
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Traci says
Looks amazing! What kind of GF flour can I use instead of whole wheat if I’m gluten intolerant?
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Erin says
Any 1:1 gluten free flour replacement should work just fine!
Sarah says
This cashew cream is life changing. It’s soo simple. Added a bit of cinnamon to it too! The carrot banana bread is so perfect! Made it with a packet of apple sauce and a little bit of avocado oil bc I was too lazy to melt and cool coconut oil. I also used half honey and half maple Syrup. And bc I was making this for Passover I used almond flour and a few table spoons of coconut flour. Seriously, even though I changed so much, this was the perfect base to do spin offs! Thanks Erin 🙂
★★★★★
Erin says
YOU ARE AMAZING!! I need to try it with almond flour and coconut flour – you obviously know what youre doing in the kitchen because that is the perfect gluten-free blend! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!
Samantha says
Hey Sarah, do you know how much almond and coconut flour you used as sub? Thanks!
Tessa says
Can I use roasted instead of raw cashews in the frosting recipe?
Erin says
I would only use raw! Roasted are greasier and will be tanner in color.
Tina says
I would love to make this with almond flour, but not sure on the ratio. I also have coconut flour. Thanks , looks delish.
Erin says
I would try two cups of almond flour!
Jenna says
The recipe turned out delicious!
I had never tried cashew frosting before, and it pairs perfectly with the bread. Thanks for a quick and tasty bread recipe!
★★★★★
Erin says
YAY! I’m so happy that you like it!!! Thanks for sharing
Kasie Kolosik says
How much cashew cream cheese frosting does this make? I’m wondering if it’s enough to frost your GF Healthy Carrot Cake recipe (between layers and on top, not necessarily sides) or if I’d need to double it for that. And am I able to leave the frosted cake at room temperature for a party? Thank you!
Erin says
Yes! Will be enough for top and middle. I would double if you want full sides.
It will keep okay at room temperature for about 5-6 hours.
Ashley says
I tried this with coconut flour and it didn’t turn out very well. What should I do differently?
Erin says
Hi Ashley! Most flour ratios aren’t 1:1, so it is recommended that 1/4 – 1/3 cup of coconut flour can be substituted for 1 cup of wheat flour. How much coconut flour did you use?
Elizabeth says
Hi Erin! I’m excited to try this recipe and want to make it into muffins so I can easily freeze (I’m 38 weeks pregnant!).
How many muffins will this recipe make?
Thank you!
Erin says
Hi Elizabeth, many congrats!! It should make about 12 full muffins! Let me know how they come out!
Madeline says
Love this recipe! Already made it twice this week for the family! I used half white, half whole wheat flour and maple syrup instead of honey. Delicious!
Erin says
Hi Madeline, I am so happy everyone enjoyed it so much!!
Payal says
I don’t have white whole wheat flour but I have all
Purpose and whole wheat. Can I do some combination of those two?
Erin says
Hi Payal, yes, you can use a different flour. Before you bake just be sure to check the ratio because some flours are not a 1:1 ratio. It might be best to use all of one flour instead of mixing them. Let me know what flour you use and how it comes out!Â
Brooke says
SO GOOD. I subbed the whole wheat flour for 2 cups almond flour (it’s all I have) and I was really happy with the result. The perfect Easter treat. The cashew cream was the simplest and most delicious I’ve ever made.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Brooke, thanks for your kind words! I am so happy you enjoyed the bread and made it your own!
Markie Mitchell says
Where do I keep this? In the fridge? On the table? How long will it keep?
Lisa Stevens says
Hi,
I have made this delicious loaf with the cashew nut icing. Does this loaf need to be refrigerated due to the cashew nut icing please?
Thank you
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Lisa, yes, I would definitely refrigerate it. Let me know how it goes!
Rachel says
Soooo delicious!!! perfect texture and taste! didn’t put the frosting on and it was still perfect!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Rachel! Thank you so much for your kind words! I am so glad you liked it!
Jenna says
I’ve made a different banana bread every week this quarantine and this is by far the family’s fave. Used olive oil instead of coconut oil, maple syrup instead of honey. So so good!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Jenna, wow you’re a banana bread expert! Thanks for making mine and glad everyone loved it so much!!
sarah says
Hi, this recipe is so dry- should it be? the batter was really thick like wet dough….i followed the recipe exactly so not sure what has happened or if it should be like this….
Erin says
Hi Sarah, I haven’t heard that from anyone else so seems as if there must have been a measuring error. Let me know if you make it again and how it goes.
Erin N says
Made this but in muffin form and they taste great! 🙂 I was too inpatient to make the topping but am definitely going to next time!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Erin! What a great idea! I definitely recommend the topping next time! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Julie says
Turned out wonderful! Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Julie! I’m so happy you liked the bread!!
Bill says
This was fun and easy to make. My son loved doing it.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Bill! I am so happy he loves the bread!
Emily says
This is by far my favourite muffin recipe to date! Texture and flavour were amazing. I typically don’t use wheat flour so I milled oats instead and threw in some flaxseeds and grated some ginger. Everything else was the same. Thank you so much for this!!
Erin says
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for the kind words. I am so happy you like it and made it your own. 🙂