Carrot Cake Coffee Cake
This carrot cake coffee cake is unbelievable! An easy one-bowl cake batter is topped with golden streusel and a cream cheese drizzle. So delicious!
Oh my heavens, I’ve eaten a lot of carrot cake in my day, but this carrot cake coffee cake is definitely one of the most delicious carrot cake variations I’ve EVER had!
One-Bowl Carrot Cake Batter
The batter for this cake, is ultra-simple. It’s an easy, one-bowl recipe, and it comes together fast!
- Whisk together melted butter, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, and vanilla.
- Add the shredded carrots.
- Mix in the dry ingredients.
- Gaze lovingly at the luscious carrot cake batter before you.
For the carrots, I highly recommend finely shredding full-size carrots (you’ll need 2 to 3 of them for this recipe) yourself. Bonus: no need to peel them first. The pre-shredded carrots in the produce section are a bit too coarse/thick for this recipe.
Simple Streusel
The streusel that adorns the top of this carrot cake coffee cake is simply:
- brown sugar
- flour
- cinnamon
- salt
- melted butter
Yes, melted butter.
It saves the agony of cutting in cold butter to the dry ingredients (anyone else shiver when they read recipe directions that indicate “cutting in butter” is required??). The streusel is buttery, sweet, and magnificent.
Top the carrot cake batter evenly with the streusel.
Depending on how long the streusel has sat patiently waiting to fill the measure of it’s existence, it might need to be gently broken into pieces to crumble over the top of the cake.
As the cake bakes, it’s normal for the top of the cake to be a bit wavy as the streusel dips into little pockets here and there.
To Drizzle or Not to Drizzle
The cream cheese glaze for this recipe is exceptionally delicious and pairs perfectly with the golden, streuseled cake.
However, the cake is mighty delicious on its own. So you can choose whether to employ the bewitching qualities of the glaze or not.
If you do go the glaze route, you can drizzle the entire top of the cake with the glaze OR drizzle individual pieces with the luscious, creamy frosting.
A Truly Exceptional Cake
This carrot cake coffee cake is phenomenal. I’ve never had anything quite like it.
It is one of the best carrot cake variations I’ve ever had, and that’s saying a lot, because from about February to April every year, I happily eat an extraordinary amount of carrot cake and humbly consider myself quite the carrot cake expert.
The cake is incredibly soft and moist. The streusel settles into the top of the cake creating the most amazing buttery, sweet crust. And the cream cheese glaze binds everything together into the perfect carrot cake dessert.
Although coffee cake is often known to be served for brunch or relatively informal occasions, this carrot cake coffee cake makes a stunning dessert for any occasion.
(Just sayin’ that leftover pieces of this cake make for a pretty remarkable breakfast, too.)
This cake is incredibly delicious served warm or at room temperature. Both options will provide outstanding cake for your taste buds.
I am SO excited to get this recipe in front of you. I hope you love it as much as I do!
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Carrot Cake Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- ¾ cup (170 g) butter, melted
- 3 large (150 g) eggs
- ⅔ cup (161 g) buttermilk (see note)
- ⅔ cup (141 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (106 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (200 g) finely shredded carrots (see note)
- 2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Streusel:
- 1 cup (142 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (212 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, melted
Cream Cheese Glaze:
- 3 ounces (85 g) cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons (29 g) butter, softened
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (114 g) powdered sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan and set aside. (If using a glass pan, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.)
- For the cake, in a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, eggs, buttermilk, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and vanilla until evenly mixed.
- Add the shredded carrots and mix until evenly combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg, and mix until no dry streaks remain and the batter is evenly combined (try not to over mix in this step).
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
- For the streusel, in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until evenly combined. Add the melted butter and mix well until small clumps form.
- Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the cake batter (depending on how long the mixed streusel has been left to sit, it's normal to have to break it into clumpy pieces to sprinkle int his step).
- Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes until the top springs back lightly to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Add time as needed (the exact time will vary a bit based on differing oven temperatures, pan types, etc.). If the streusel is browning too much but the cake needs more time, place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the top of the cake while it continues baking. Let the cake cool until room temperature or slightly warm.
- For the glaze, in a medium bowl using an electric handheld or stand mixer, mix the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the vanilla and mix.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the mixture is thick and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add milk to thin the consistency so it is thick but pourable.
- Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cooled or just-warm cake OR drizzle over individual servings. The cake is delicious at room temperature or slightly warm.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
This cake is so addictive! I used kefir instead of buttermilk, and it worked wonderfully. I didn’t have any cream cheese so skipped the glaze. It was delicious with just the right amount of sweetness for me.
Have you tried using the streusel topping in an apple crisp?
I haven’t tried that, Rosie, but it’s a great idea!
I made this last weekend for family that came over for dinner. It was a huge hit and they all said it should be on the list for Thanksgiving dessert. Thanks for another fabulous recipe Mel!!
So happy it was such a hit!
Sometimes when I read reviews about how wonderful and delicious a recipe is and make it myself I’m disappointed. Not with this one, it truely is a delicious moist and flavoursome carrot cake.
This is one of my hubby’s favorites – I made it in a bundt pan sans streusel and it’s sooooo good!
This was delicious, super tasty and nice and quick! Polished off the whole pan in 2 days.
Should the carrot cake coffee cake have coffee in the ingredients list please
No, coffee cake is just a term for cake that is often served with tea or coffee (although it doesn’t have to be!)
Have you (or any readers) tried this was shredded or masked sweet potatoes. I’ve used those as substitutes in several recipes and usually with great results. Wanting to give it a try but seeing if you’d recommend. I love your recipes!
It took me a few weeks to get around to making this, but I finally did and so good! My kids were not thrilled when I told them I made carrot cake coffee cake for their after school snack, but we cleaned out the pan in one day. I tried a piece warm as promised and was in heaven.
I made this cake and when my family was eating it, we all decided something was off. I realized it was the streusel topping. I only put a 1/4cup of butter instead of 1/2 a cup. So if you make this cake follow the recipe and make sure you use 1/2 a cup of butter. I don’t know what I was thinking, I’m usually a really good baker. The cake and frosting are delicious. I’m going to have to make this cake again and redeem myself.
I’ve tested countless oil-based carrot cake recipes over the years, and was intrigued by the melted butter in this cake. The online consensus is that oil produces a lighter, more moist crumb than butter in carrot cakes. However, contrary to popular opinion, this was one of the most tender, light, carrot cakes I’ve made. The oil-based cakes may have been a bit more moist, but they were also more dense and heavy. The cream cheese glaze is delicious, and a nice change from a traditional cream cheese frosting which can be cloyingly sweet. I used a bundt pan, so had to crumble the streusel in the bottom of the pan before adding the batter. I prebaked the streusel on a baking sheet and only needed a half recipe. I doubled the spices and vanilla and didn’t find them overpowering. The bundt cake wasn’t as tall as a pound cake, but it looked great with the drizzle. This is an excellent make-ahead dessert. It improves with age.