Carrot Coffee Cake with Maple Glaze

A sweet, moist, carrot cake, with lots of warm spices, and a cinnamon streusel topping, finished with a simple maple icing. This easy carrot coffee cake is sure to be family favorite.

What better way to usher in spring then with an easy carrot coffee cake! Instead of cream cheese frosting this carrot coffee cake has a simple maple glaze

We love coffee cake around here. Its so easy to throw together and makes the perfect treat after a morning working in the garden. This weekend we were prepping the garden beds and picked out a bunch of new seeds to try this year. The younger kids have been begging to give pumpkins and strawberries a try and my oldest is all about the beans and carrots.

As a kid my Oma had a giant vegetable garden and I was the biggest carrot thief! I would stop by her garden and grab carrots to rinse and eat on my way to find my Opa in the barn. Now my kids love to go to the garden to find snacks and I love it!

So we prepped our garden beds, did lots of weeding, and planted some of our seeds. Then the kids and I got to work on our afternoon treat!

The older kids got to work peeling and grating carrots while I gathered supplies. It was so nice out and our house is still mid renovation so we decided to make our carrot coffee cake outside!

After trying this carrot coffee cake my younger kids are much more excited about their big brother’s choice of carrot seeds!

Perfect for breakfast, brunch, as an afternoon snack, or dessert. This easy carrot coffee cake will definitely be making an appearance at our Easter Brunch!

Ingredients for Carrot Coffee Cake:

Carrots: you need 1 cup of freshly shredded carrots. Our carrots were pretty thin so this took us four carrots but those smaller young carrots have a naturally sweeter flavor that is so good in cake!

Eggs: because we are working with melted butter you want room temperature eggs.

Butter: melted better gives this carrot coffee cake a rich soft crumb that melt in your mouth. You can substitute with a neutral oil but you will lose some of that richness.

Sugar: I like to use a mix of brown and white sugar in my coffee cakes.

Flour: no fancy flours needed just your standard all purpose flour.

Baking Soda: a little baking soda gives this carrot cake coffee cake its light fluffy texture!

Vanilla: the vanilla enhanced all the other flavors of this cake

Spices: cozy warming spices are must in any good carrot cake. I like to use cinnamon and pumpkin spice.

Cinnamon Streusel: German style streusel topping makes this simple coffee cake extra special and adds crunch, texture, and a delicious burst of cinnamon.

Maple glaze: a subtly sweet maple glaze that sets up beautifully on the coffee cake.

How to Make Carrot Coffee Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch baking dish with parchment paper and lightly spray with a neutral oil like avocado. Set the prepared pan aside.

Prepare the streusel topping. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk or stir together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and salt.

Drizzle butter over the mixture and use a fork to gently toss the ingredients together until large clumps form. Don’t over-mix the streusel, simply toss together until the flour is completely absorbed and you have a bowl of delicious cinnamon sugar clumps to scatter over your coffee cake!

Peel and grate carrots with a box grater or in the food processor. You need 1 cup of grated carrots which took us 4 smaller carrots.

In a large bowl combine the sugars, melted butter, vanilla and eggs. Stir in the grated carrots.

In a small bowl whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice.

Combine the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Coffee cake batter should be quite thick compared to a traditional cake.

Spread batter into prepared 9 inch baking pan. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon streusel topping. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center is just set and a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack while you mix the maple glaze.

For the glaze melt butter in a small microwave safe bowl. Add maple syrup and powdered sugar. You want a thick glaze but it should be free of clumps. Add water or additional sugar until desired consistency is reached.

Frequently Asked Question!

What size pan should I use?

I used 9-inch square baking dish but a 9-inch round baking pan or pie dish will work as well!

Does this Carrot Coffee Cake taste like Carrots?

There is not a strong carrot flavor to this cake. My carrot hating child loves this cake just as much as my carrot loving child does!

Can I used pre shredded carrots for carrot cake?

I do not recommend using pre shredded carrots for baking. The pre shredded options are much thicker and dryer then when you grate your own. For the best flavor look for small carrots with the tops still on. These have a natural sweetness to them that is delicious in baked goods!

What is Coffee Cake?

Coffee cake is a single layer cake with a cinnamon streusel crumbly topping. There is no coffee inside of the cake, its named for how well it pairs with a cup of coffee.

How do you make a streusel topping?

To make a streusel topping you need flour, butter, and sugar. Some crumb toppings are also flavored with cinnamon or other spices. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl until all the flour is incorporated and the mixture gets clumpy. Scatter the clumps on coffee cake, muffins, or even pie!

Variations on this carrot coffee cake:

• Add pecans or walnuts
• Mix in some Raisins
• Add Shredded Coconut
• Use gluten free baking mix