Carrot cake for breakfast? Yes, please! This carrot coffee cake is a moist, single layer cake topped with a buttery brown sugar pistachio streusel. It’s made without a mixer and ready in under an hour.
This is one of those breakfast recipes you can actually enjoy with coffee anytime of the day!
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This yummy cake has all the classic carrot cake details like warm spices, freshly grated carrots, and a cream cheese drizzle. I also snuck in some delicious upgrades!
The pistachio streusel adds a nutty crunch, and the optional halva layer gives this cake a special tahini flavored sweetness. If you use olive oil, it adds a slightly savory flavor that is really good with the carrots.
You can also enjoy carrot cake flavor with these carrot cookies and these carrot scones!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Enjoy the flavor of carrot cake for breakfast or an afternoon snack with this cake. It’s the perfect treat anytime of the day, just like these banana rhubarb muffins.
- Carrots help make this cake moist and naturally sweet like my chocolate and carrot muffins.
- Serve it plain, with a drizzle of cream cheese icing or dusting of powdered sugar. You could also top it with the simple icing from my banana strawberry cake!
Ingredients
Below are useful notes about some of the ingredients.
- Oil keeps this cake incredibly moist. Use a mild oil such as pure olive oil, canola, or avocado oil. Extra virgin olive oil works too but its flavor comes through so avoid grassy or bold types. For a more neutral result with EVOO, use half EVOO and half canola or avocado oil.
- Use light or dark brown sugar. Make sure your brown sugar is fresh.
- Use 1 large, room temperature egg.
- The batter is flavored with a combination of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom (optional). It’s deliciously spiced just like my spiced banana cake!
- You’ll need 2-3 medium carrots for 1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots. Grate the carrots on the small holes of a box grater or use a food processor. If you have extra carrots, try carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and my carrot cake loaf recipe!
- Sour cream makes the cake extra moist.
- Use full fat block style cream cheese. Do not use the kind in a tub. Leave it at room temperature for at least an hour before making the frosting.
- Powdered sugar sweetens the icing.
- Pistachios add extra flavor and crunch to the streusel. They make this cake extra delicious just like my banana and pistachio bread and pistachio and ricotta cake!
- Halva (optional) is a Middle Eastern candy made from tahini and sugar. It’s sweet and has a delicious tahini, sesame flavor! You can find halva in Middle Eastern stores, the international section of well stocked grocery stores, or online. Spread half the batter in the pan. Sprinkle a little halva on top before adding the rest of the batter. It’ll bake into little gooey, flavorful spots throughout the cake. You can also sprinkle a little on when you pull the cake out of the oven or after you drizzle it with icing!
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
- Use pecans, walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts in place of pistachios.
- For a dairy free version, swap in dairy free butter and vegan cream cheese.
- Replace the brown sugar with granulated sugar. It won’t be quite as tender and moist, but it will be delicious.
- To make this extra bright and fresh tasting, add a little lemon or orange zest to the icing.
How to Make Carrot Cake with Crumble Topping
Quick Video Recap
Instructions
Step 1: Finely chop the pistachios. Stir them together with the rest of the streusel ingredients. Chill in the refrigerator until needed.
Step 2: Stir together the oil, egg, sugars, sour cream, vanilla and finely shredded carrots. Next, stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.
Step 3: Spread batter in an 8 inch square pan. (If you’re adding halva in the middle, spread half the carrot cake batter in the pan. Sprinkle the halva evenly then spread the rest of the batter on top).
Step 4: Break chilled streusel up with a fork. Sprinkle it evenly over the cake.
Step 5: Bake at 350 F for 38-42 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean with a few crumbs. Set pan on rack. Cool 30 minutes then lift it out of the pan. Enjoy as is or with a little halva or a dusting of powdered sugar or cream cheese icing on top.
Step 6: (See photo 6 above). For the optional icing, mix powdered sugar and room temperature cream cheese with a mixer on low speed. Mix in the vanilla and salt then add the milk about 1/2 tablespoon at a time til thick but pourable.
Natalie’s Baking Tips
- Don’t overmix the cake. Stir only til combined when you add the dry ingredients.
- Grate your own carrots. Store-bought shredded carrots are very dry compared to freshly grated carrots.
- Use the small holes on a box grater or food processor to grate carrots.
- Make sure your egg, sour cream and cream cheese are room temperature. This will help them incorporate into the batter better and will keep the icing from having lumps.
Recipe FAQs
Coffee cake doesn’t usually have coffee in it. It’s named coffee cake because it’s often served with coffee.
It’s safe to eat the carrot peel as long as the carrots are washed.
Store unfrosted carrot coffee cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. If it has cream cheese icing on top, store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To freeze, tightly wrap the cooled, unfrosted cake in plastic wrap then a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months.
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Carrot Coffee Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- ¼ cup (30 g) chopped pistachios use raw or roasted shelled pistachios
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup (62 g) all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter melted
Carrot Coffee Cake
- ⅓ cup (78 ml) oil Use pure olive oil, canola, vegetable oil or avocado oil or use a half or all neutral oil and half extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) brown sugar light or dark, packed
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ⅓ cup (76 g) sour cream room temperature
- 1½ cups (230 g) finely grated carrots about 2-3 medium carrots
- 1½ cups (187 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom optional
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (59 g) halva optional, see recipe notes below
Cream Cheese Icing (optional)
- 2 ounces (56 g) cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup (30 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon (14 ml) milk or up to 1½ tablespoons, til desired consistency
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Crumb Topping
- In a small bowl, mix together all of the streusel ingredients with a fork til crumbly and combined. Place crumble in the fridge while you prepare the batter.
Carrot Coffee Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Grease an 8X8 inch square pan. Line it with parchment paper leaving an overhang on two sides to make it easier to remove once baked.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use a spatula to stir together the sugars, egg, olive oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, and finely shredded carrots until creamy and combined.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
- (If you're adding the opotional ingredient-halva, please see recipe notes below about how to add it). If you're not using halva, continue to the next step.
- Pour the batter into the pan. Use a spatula or offset spatula to spread it.
- Remove crumble from the refrigerator. Use a fork to break up the crumble if needed. Spread crumble evenly over the batter.
- Bake 38-42 minutes until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs when inserted in the middle of the cake.
- Place pan on a cooling rack. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 30 minutes then use the parchment paper overhang to lift the cake out of the pan. Enjoy as is, or drizzled with cream cheese icing or dusted with powdered sugar.
Cream Cheese Icing (optional)
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix the powdered sugar and cream cheese with an electric mixer on low speed. Turn the mixer up to medium low and beat til creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract and salt then add the milk about 1/2 tablespoon at a time til icing is thick but pourable.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Aubrey
I too am a huge fan of delicious carrot cakes. This recipe is no exception! Great afternoon treat with a hot beverage.
Natalie
Hey Aubrey, I’m so happy you enjoyed this cake! Happy Easter!