This Carrot Cake Coffee Cake is filled with warm spices, topped with a cinnamon streusel, and drizzled with a cream cheese glaze! It’s an easy recipe that lets you enjoy carrot cake for breakfast!
Carrot cake is a favorite around here, especially this time of year. And while we could enjoy carrot cake scones, carrot cake donuts, and even carrot cake snacks and desserts, we still didn’t have one of our favorite breakfast foods. . .coffee cake!
That had to change with this Carrot Cake Coffee Cake. All the flavors of carrot cake wrapped up in a tender, streusel topped coffee cake!
The base of this cake is our Healthier Carrot Snack Cake. We doubled the amount of carrot and switched up some of the spices to pair with a crunchy layer of cinnamon streusel!
And since you can’t have carrot cake without cream cheese frosting, we added a cream cheese glaze to make the coffee cake have more of that classic carrot cake flavor.
Feel free to either go big and cover the entire cake with the glaze or just give it a generous drizzle! Either way, you’ll find that this carrot coffee cake won’t last long!
How to Make Carrot Coffee Cake
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9×9 inch baking dish with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
(You can also use an 8×8 inch baking dish if you want a thicker cake layer and thicker streusel layer. Cake shown was made in a 9×9 inch baking dish.)
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves until the spices are thoroughly combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk together unsweetened applesauce, melted coconut oil, honey, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla extract until the eggs are incorporated.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Stir in the grated carrot.
(Treat the batter like a muffin batter, the less stirring you can do the better to get that tender texture.)
Spread batter into your prepared baking dish.
In another medium bowl prepare the streusel. Whisk together all-purpose flour, brown sugar, chopped pecans, and cinnamon.
Stir in the melted butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the cake batter. Gently press into batter.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a couple crumbs.
Remove to a wire rack to cool while you prepare the cream cheese glaze.
In a small bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese, confectioner’s sugars, 2 tablespoons milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
(You can use an electric mixer or sturdy spoon for this.)
Add additional milk, as necessary, to reach desired consistency.
(This recipe gives you enough glaze to completely cover the cake if you add enough milk to make it runny. If you just want a light drizzle, you can halve the recipe.)
Drizzle the glaze over warm cake. Allow the glaze to set before cutting the cake into pieces.
Enjoy!
Store any leftover coffee cake in an airtight container. The cake will stay freshest in the refrigerator. Allow the cake to return to room temperature before enjoying.
Tips for Making Carrot Cake Coffee Cake
- Do not use bagged grated carrots. You want to grate the carrots yourself, so that you get the moisture from the carrots.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined. This will keep the texture of the cake more tender.
- Don’t like nuts? You can leave the nuts out of the streusel topping.
- Bake the cake just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a couple crumbs.
Optional add-ins and substitutions
- Swap out the pecans for walnuts in the streusel, or leave nuts out entirely.
- Add chopped pecans or walnuts to the cake batter.
- Add shredded coconut to the batter or streusel.
- Add raisins to the cake batter.
Love the carrot cake flavor? More carrot cake recipes to try!
Carrot Cake Coffee Cake
This Carrot Cake Coffee Cake is filled with warm spices, topped with a cinnamon streusel, and drizzled with a cream cheese glaze! It's an easy recipe that lets you enjoy carrot cake for breakfast!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 Cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 Cup melted coconut oil (measure in liquid state)
- 1/4 Cup honey*
- 1/4 Cup maple syrup*
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Cups grated carrot
For the Streusel
- 3/4 Cup all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 Cup brown sugar
- 1/2 Cup chopped pecans
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 Cup butter, melted
For the Cream Cheese Glaze
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 Cup confectioner's sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray a 9x9 inch baking dish. You can also use an 8x8 inch baking dish. (Cake pictured was made in a 9x9 inch dish.)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the unsweetened applesauce, melted coconut oil, honey, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Stir in grated carrot until combined.
- Spread batter into prepared baking dish.
- Prepare the streusel. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, chopped pecans, and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the cake batter. Gently press into batter.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few dry crumbs. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
- While cake is cooling, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, beat together the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. (You can use a mixer or a spoon.) Add additional milk, as needed, to reach desired consistency.
- Drizzle glaze over warm cake.
- Allow glaze to cool, and enjoy!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container.
Notes
*Instead of using both honey and maple syrup, you can use 1/2 cup of honey or 1/2 cup of maple syrup. We just like the taste of using both.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 305Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 196mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 3gSugar: 18gProtein: 6g
Nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator and may not always be accurate. Nutrition values can vary greatly based on brand used. It should not be considered a substitute for a medical professional’s advice.
