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This Carrot Bread recipe will blow you away. It’s made with 100% whole-wheat flour, is naturally sweetened with honey, and is full of carrots. Tender, moist and incredibly flavorful, this bread is a must-make!
I recommend enjoying a slice (or two) slightly warmed. Warming the bread just a bit brings out the flavors of the brown butter and spices. And if you want to take it to heaven-on-earth status, a slather of butter does the trick nicely.
How to Make Carrot Bread
This carrot bread recipe is a categorized as a quick bread recipe. Think banana bread—it’s that easy.
Step 1
Whisk together dry ingredients (whole wheat pastry flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg)
Step 2:
Brown butter in a skillet over medium heat; pour into a large bowl and cool slightly.
Step 3:
Add wet ingredients (honey, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla) to browned butter and whisk to combine.
Step 4:
Stir carrots and pecans into butter mixture.
Step 5:
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
Step 6:
Transfer batter to a loaf pan lined with parchment; lightly smooth top and sprinkle with turbinado sugar and chopped pecans (optional)
Step 7:
Bake carrot bread until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean; let cool in pan 10 minutes.
How to Make Carrot Muffins
You can easily bake this carrot bread into muffins, here’s all you need to do:
- Heat oven to 400°F and line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
- Divide batter between muffin cups, sprinkle turbinado sugar and chopped pecans over batter.
- Bake muffins until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centers come out clean; 12–15 minutes.
- Let muffins cool in pan 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Variations
- Olive Oil Carrot Bread: Swap the browned butter for olive oil (use ½ cup)
- Carrot Cake Bread: Add some golden raisins (about a ¼ cup) to the batter, skip the pecans and sugar on top and instead opt for a cream cheese glaze.
- Carrot Apple Bread: Replace half of the shredded carrots with shredded apple.
- Carrot Zucchini Bread: Replace half of the shredded carrots with shredded zucchini.
Whole Wheat Browned Butter Carrot Bread
Description
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Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 cups (232g) whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup honey
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- ½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)
- 1 tablespoon each chopped pecans and turbinado sugar, optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F.
- Coat a 8½ × 4½-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides; coat paper with nonstick spray.
- Whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; set aside.
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly, until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1–3 minutes. Transfer browned butter to a large bowl, scraping any brown solids at the bottom of the pan into the bowl, and let cool slightly.
- Add honey, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla to brown butter and whisk until smooth; stir in carrots and pecans.
- Add the flour mixture butter mixture and mix just until combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped pecans and turbinado sugar, if using. Bake carrot bread until top is dark golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45–50 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.
- Let carrot bread cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Turn bread out and let cool completely on wire rack.
Equipment
Notes
Make carrot bread muffins:
- Heat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper liners; divide batter between muffin cups.
- Bake muffins until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centers come out clean; 18 minutes.
- Let muffins cool in pan 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Oh my sounds yummy.
Thanks Selina! 🙂
Hi, this recipe looks great! To use buttermilk I would have to by a quart, and I might not get around to using the rest. Can I use plain yogurt instead?
Hi Vince, great question! Do you have regular milk on hand? If so, I would recommend making a quick buttermilk with your regular milk. To do this, combine 1/3 cup milk with 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar, let the mixture sit 10 minutes then use as directed in the recipe. If you do not have regular milk on hand, I think you could make it work with yogurt. I have not tested this, so I cannot say for certain, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work!
I hope that helps!