Cream Cheese Filled Carrot Cake Loaf
Moist carrot cake loaf with warm spices and a creamy cream cheese filling ribbon. Great for brunch, dessert or treating yourself.
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake Batter:
- 1 ½ cups all‑purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup vegetable oil or canola
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups finely grated carrots about 3 medium
For the Cream Cheese Filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat and Prep Pan
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Grease and line a 9×5‑inch loaf pan with parchment paper so it lifts out cleanly.
Prepare Cream Cheese Filling
- In a medium bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Set this filling mixture aside.
Mix Dry Ingredients
- In another large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Mix Wet Ingredients & Carrots
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, both sugars, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. Stir in the grated carrots.
Combine Batter
- Add the dry mixture into the wet mixture, folding gently just until combined. Do not overmix to maintain tender crumb.
Assemble the Loaf
- Pour half of the carrot cake batter into your lined loaf pan. Spread the cream cheese filling evenly over that layer. Top with the rest of the carrot batter, smoothing the surface.
Bake
- Bake for 55–65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted (avoiding the cream cheese layer) comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Cool & Slice
- Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then lift it out using the parchment paper and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. This helps the filling set and give clean slices.