Great Grandma’s Carrot Cake is the best classic, wonderful carrot cake with great childhood memories.
This recipe comes from my sister-in-law. So it was her great grandmother’s recipe, and it’s one that she make often with great memories of grandma! See that wonderful layer of frosting on top? I’m so pleased with this cake recipe. The frosting is wonderful. And I love that there are no nuts or raisins in the recipe.
Ingredients needed:
- all purpose flour
- white sugar
- baking soda and salt
- ground cinnamon
- canola or vegetable oil
- eggs
- grated carrots
- cream cheese
- salted butter
- vanilla extract
- powdered sugar
How to make Great Grandma’s Carrot Cake:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
PREPARE THE CAKE:
This is a great cake to feed a lot of people. You can get 12 servings out of this cake.
And it’s not an especially fancy carrot cake recipe. It’s a cake made in a 13×9-inch pan. It’s super easy to bake, and a cream cheese frosting is spread on top. That’s it. No professional cake baking skills are needed. You can do this! Enjoy!
The Best Cake Recipes:

Great Grandma's Carrot Cake
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups finely grated carrots
FROSTING:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ to 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 13x9-inch pan with nonstick spray.
PREPARE THE CAKE:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- Add the eggs and oil to the dry ingredients. Use an electric mixer to combine the wet and dry ingredients. Stir in the carrots.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread to cover evenly. Bake for 45 to 50 minute, or until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool before frosting.
PREPARE THE FROSTING:
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese and butter until well combined and smooth. Add the vanilla and 1½ cups of the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar, if necessary, until you reach a desired frosting consistency.
Leslie H
Wednesday 29th of March 2023
Could I substitute the oil with melted butter?
RecipeGirl
Thursday 20th of April 2023
We have not tried that, so not sure.