Carrot Sheet Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
This carrot sheet cake is perfect for feeding a crowd! It is so easy to make, perfectly spiced, and utra-moist. The frosting is to-die for!
One of the best carrot cake recipes on the planet, this cake is a no-fuss, easy recipe for any occasion!
Carrot Sheet Cake Batter
This simple cake batter can be mixed together by hand in one bowl. It’s so easy!
Wet ingredients:
- Oil
- Unsweetened applesauce
- water
- vanilla
- eggs
Dry ingredients:
- Flour
- Cinnamon + nutmeg + allspice
- Baking soda + baking powder + salt
The finely shredded carrots are folded in at the end.
What Size is a Half Sheet Pan?
The carrot cake batter is baked in a half sheet pan. Sometimes these pans are called “rimmed sheet pans” or “large baking sheets” or even “jelly roll pans.”
To avoid any confusion, the outer measurements of a half sheet pan are right around 18 X 13 inches and the inner measurements are about 17 X 12 inches. The sides are 3/4 to 1 inch high.
NOTE: this recipe fills a half sheet pan very full. If you live at high elevation (where cakes are prone to overflow), use a deeper pan, if you have one, or remove 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the batter before baking and bake the extra batter as cupcakes. I live at 2,500 feet elevation and the recipe made, as written, works great with no overflowing.
Make-Ahead Carrot Cake
The baked and cooled carrot sheet cake is frosted with the most divine whipped cream cheese frosting.
At this point, the cake can be loosely covered and refrigerated for up to a day (it stays plenty moist made ahead of time!). Frosting the cake and then chilling helps keep the cake from drying out.
The cake is delicious served cold or at room temperature. Toasted, chopped pecans can be added to the top of the entire cake, to each individual serving, or left off completely.
This simple cake is one of the most delicious carrot cakes ever! It is always a hit no matter when or where I serve it.
What Others Have to Say About This Carrot Sheet Cake
If you’re looking for the perfect carrot cake – moist, fluffy, EASY – to make for a crowd, this is it!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is the best carrot cake and extraordinary frosting. I took it to a family get together for Easter and EVERYONE loved it and wanted the recipe. A definite keeper as are all of Mel’s recipes. -Darlene
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is the BEST carrot cake recipe! My whole family loved it, even my picky 4 yr old loved eating the “vegetable” cake. I made this on Saturday night for Easter Sunday and the leftovers even 4 days later are delicious. -Karen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Yum, yum and more yum! This was my first time making carrot cake and it was delicious! I loved that the recipe was HUGE and I could share the deliciousness with friends and family. We all LOVED it! Thanks so much! -Shanna
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I never knew I liked carrot cake until I made this for my husband’s birthday. Any time something is so ridiculously delicious that I lose all self-control and cannot stop eating it, I dub it: dangerous. This cake is Dangerous with a capital “D,” my friend. -Britt
Carrot Sheet Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 ½ pounds carrots, washed and ends trimmed (they don’t need to be peeled)
- 3 cups (636 g) sugar
- 4 large (200 g) eggs
- ¾ cup (145 g) oil
- ¾ cup (190 g) unsweetened applesauce
- ¾ cup (172 g) water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 ½ cups (497 g) flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- Toasted, chopped pecans, for serving (optional)
Frosting:
- 8 ounces (227 g) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 ¾ cups (428 g) powdered sugar
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a half sheet pan (11X17-inch rimmed baking sheet).
- For the cake, shred the carrots finely on a box grater or food processor (the yield should be 4 1/2 to 5 cups/about 520 g). Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce, water and vanilla. Whisk until well-combined.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and allspice. Stir until no dry streaks remain.
- Add the carrots and mix until evenly combined.
- Bake the cake for 25 to 27 minutes the top springs back lightly to the touch. Let cool completely.
- For the frosting, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a medium bowl using a handheld electric mixer, add the cream cheese, butter and vanilla and mix on medium speed until light and creamy.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until well-combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the frosting and mix gently until evenly combined and the frosting is smooth and creamy.
- Frost the cooled cake evenly with the frosting. Sprinkle with chopped pecans, if using. Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from my friend, Alisha O.
Recipe originally published March 2010; updated February 2025 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
This is the best carrot cake and extraordinary frosting. I took it to a family get together for Easter and EVERYONE loved it and wanted the recipe.
A definite keeper as are all of Mel’s recipes. Thanks Mel
hello,
im new to your website … the carrot cake caught my eye. im just wondering why so many have said the cake overflowed. some have commented that the 1-1/2 pds of carrots ended up being over 4 cups. i think its always best to use a scale for accuracy. im going to give this a try as everyone in my fam loves carrot cake and this would be so much easier to make when you’re short on time. im just keeping my fingers crossed that my cake doesn’t overflow. btw, i’ve bookmarked your website! thanks
My six year old wanted to make a carrot cake so I turned to this blog. It was simple enough that the kids could help. Thanks, Mel, for another winning recipe. The frosting was a little looser than I expected, but that was great for a sheet cake!
AMAZING!! Made this for Easter and had everyone coming back for seconds. Super moist, delicious and easy. The frosting is just perfect, just the right amount of sweetness!
Absolutely love this version of carrot cake. I’m just not a two-layer cake baker, this simple dessert is still a show-stopper – the frosting makes it!
Made for the first time for a get together tonight. The cake was really good and most, but the frosting was….amazing! The lighter whipped texture with the classic taste of cream cheese frosting was amazing! What a crowd pleaser. Thanks Mel!
I searched the recipe and comments but didn’t find an answer: Do we squeeze the juice out of the grated carrots or leave them as is? 🙂
No need to drain any liquid or squeeze water from the carrots. Just use them as is.
Just pulled this out of the oven and oh boy does it smell delightful. I will make the frosting tomorrow and let it cool over night. Cannot wait to try! Yay for Carrot Cake season!
Hi… doubted if the thickness of the carrot sheet cake and the Texas sheet cake will be the same. I wanted to make cake/ dessert boxes where they look neat and symmetrical.
thanks
This was delicious! Every Easter for the past five years I have made your ‘Best Carrot Cake Ever,’ and have always loved it. There was never a need for another carrot cake in my life until this year when I just didn’t have the time to prepare it. We had to have carrot cake, so I mixed up this baby and fell in love! The frosting was a dream! So light and creamy, it barely made it on the cake because I wanted to eat it all! I trust anything you post, thanks for all the goodness 🙂
Thanks so much, Jessica!
Haven’t made a carrot cake in years and it was a HUGE hit. Easy to make, crowd pleaser and no nuts or raisins for the win!
P.S. Mel, thanks for getting me out of my cooking/baking rut yet again. We adopted a child last year and with two boys who are almost twins in age, it’s been EXHAUSTING. But I have been combing through your recipes and we are all grateful for your ability to rock life, because we are eating well again 🙂
Haven’t made a carrot cake in years and this one was amazing. Easy, everybody loved it, no nuts or raisins so a total win!
(Thanks Mel for getting me out of my cooking/baking rut yet again! We adopted a child last year and so our two boys are almost-twins and it has been EXHAUSTING. I finally kicked my butt into gear and have been combing through recipes on here and we are all benefiting from your ability to just rock life.)
Oh, Rachel, wow! You are AMAZING!!
How deep does the pan need to be? Will a jelly roll pan work?
My pan is about 1- or 1 1/2 inches high.
I use a jelly roll pan to bake mine.
I made this cake today for my uncle who loves carrot cake. We all LOVED this cake and believe it was one of the best carrot cakes we had. Thank you for this recipe.
I am a mother of 3. I visit your site often for recipes and ideas. Thank YOU for doing what you do!
Thanks so much, Caroline!
What’s your suggestion with adjustments for altitude? (I’m in UT). Made a half batch today and it was still raw in the middle after 30 minutes. Gave it 5 more, then took it out, but it ended up sinking. So maybe I needed a higher temp overall? Love your site, and have been following for years!
Hi Kate – try adding a few tablespoons more flour and decrease the temp slightly (may need to cook longer but that way the sides don’t get done before the middle)
This was my second time making this recipe and each time it gets wonderful reviews. I use the frosting recipe from your other carrot cake because I tend to have those ingredients on hand. I love how it feeds a crowd and the leftovers stayed great for a few days afterward. Thank you for such great recipes!
Thank you, Alison!
Can you clarify the yield? On the top of the recipe it states a 9×13 pan but instructions have it baking in a 11×17 with notes at the bottom of the recipe to halve it for a 9×13. I have made this once and halved it for a 9×13 but it seemed really moist so I’m unsure if it was a misstep on my end. The flavors were spot on btw and my hubby is in love but asked me to add some nuts this time around. Thanks in advance!
Thanks for the catch, Alissa – the yield was incorrect for this. As written, it does yield a large sheet pan (11X17-inches or so).
I made the recipe exactly as the recipe said and it was all frothy on top while baking and ran and over the sides of my cake pan all over the bottom of my oven 🙁 I don’t know what I did wrong, other than 1 1/2 pounds of shredded carrots was a lot more than 1 1/2 -2 cups, like approximated in the above comments — it was more like 4 cups….
Oh darn it! Sorry to hear that, Ellen. Do you live at high altitude?
I live at 4500 ft and this overflows for me. I take about 2 cups of batter out and cook in a separate pan and the sheet pan comes out perfectly. It is such a delicious carrot cake!
Can this be made into cupcakes?
I haven’t tried – sorry! I’m sure the recipe could though – it’s a pretty basic cake recipe.
Do you know how many cups = 1 1/2 lbs of carrots? I LOVE Carrot Cake! MMMMMMM
I’ve actually never measured this – sorry! But I’m guessing it’s right around 3 cups or so?
For your 11×17 baking sheet – how tall do the sides need to be? Thank you!
I use the really common baking sheets that probably are about an inch high.
hi… i don’t have applesauce. what can i use to substitude it? thanks
You can use oil
First time making. I grated a 1 pound bag of carrots.. when pouring batter into 11X17 I had waaay too much batter. Put the excess into a round cake pan. I wonder what happened? My 11X17 had like inch high sides. Can’t wait to try it
Is it possible to make this as a two layer round cake? If so, how would you modify it? Thank you!
I would probably just make the unbelievable carrot cake recipe on my site instead. 🙂
LOVE this recipe!!! The cake gets raves every time it’s served. I added a handful of raisins to the batter today and it added even more deliciousness and texture.
This is the BEST carrot cake recipe! My whole family loved it, even my picky 4 yr old loved eating the “vegetable” cake. The frosting was divine. I made this on Saturday night for Easter Sunday and the leftovers even 4 days later are delicious.
Glad you loved it!
Hi will this cake be ok if I make it the day before? I have a lot of cooking Easter morning and it would help if this were already finished. Thanks!
Yes I made it last year the day before
Yes! It will be fine if well covered and refrigerated.
Made a 9×5 loaf and the rest made four cupcakes (four sampling). Loaf baked at about 32min, cupcakes 22min; and I used the cheesecake frosting from your cake recipe… aaaaahhhhh! Heaven, so keeping this in the dessert rotation!!!
would you recommend cake flour? what kind of flour do you use?
I use all-purpose flour.
I used only two scarce cups of sugar and the result was way better as it was way way way less sugary sweet, but the recipe itself is nonetheless lovely! Thank you very much!
I cannot get over how good this carrot cake is!!! For the oil I did half coconut oil/ half avocado oil (so it made me feel like we were being healthy ;). My husband hardly ever eats more than a small serving of any dessert I make (because his moms are always better…) and he ate two HUGE servings and took some to work today. Hooray!