If you're looking for a reason to eat carrot cake for breakfast (not that you really need an excuse), look no further! This Carrot Cake French Toast is my favorite carrot cake recipe in bread form, sliced up and cooked perfectly as french toast. Top it with a little dusting of powdered sugar and dollop of cream cheese frosting and you've got the best Easter brunch dish!
Why We Love This French Toast Recipe
- It's filled with delicious warm spices!
- It's amazing as a plain carrot bread or turned into french toast.
- It can be served for any meal, but is especially great for breakfast or brunch!
- The texture is perfectly moist and fluffy!
- It can be made as a loaf ahead of time and saved for french toast later.
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Looking for more carrot cake recipes? Try these delicious Carrot Cake Cupcakes or this easy Spiced Carrot Sheet Cake!
Ingredients
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Canola oil: Any other neutral oil (like vegetable oil) will also work.
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Sour cream
- Applesauce
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground ginger
- Ground cloves
- Ground cardamom
- Shredded carrots: Grating fresh carrots is the best option, but you can use pre-shredded carrots as well.
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
See recipe card below for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you're not a big fan of the spices used in this recipe, feel free to leave any of them out!
- Make a cream cheese glaze by mixing a little milk into the frosting.
- Brown the butter and let it cool before adding it to the cream cheese for an even better frosting flavor!
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
Equipment
This carrot cake french toast recipe is so easy, you'll just need some basic tools!
- A food scale to weigh the dry ingredients
- A grater to shred the carrots
- A 9x5-inch loaf pan
- A sifter or fine mesh sieve
- A non-stick skillet or griddle to cook the french toast on
- A hand mixer makes the frosting easier, but isn't necessary
Step by Step Instructions
Step One (Picture 1 above) - In a large bowl, mix together the oil and sugars. Stir in the eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream and applesauce.
Step Two (Picture 2 above) - In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the spices. Sift them into the wet ingredients and fold with a spatula just until a few flour streaks remain.
Step Three (Picture 3 above) - Add the grated carrots to the batter and gently fold them in.
Step Four (Picture 4 above) - Pour the carrot batter into a 9x5 inch greased loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Bake it at 350°F/177°C on the middle oven rack until a toothpick comes out clean (about 45 minutes). Let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then lift it with the parchment paper onto a wire rack.
Step Five (Picture 5 above) - While the carrot loaf finishes cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. Mix together the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth and then stir in the powdered sugar.
Step Six (Picture 6 above) - When you're ready to make the carrot cake french toast, cut the loaf into 1-inch slices. Whisk together the eggs and milk and then dunk a carrot loaf slice into the egg mixture so that it's coated all over.
Step Seven (Picture 7 above) - Cook the egg-coated slice over medium/low heat on a greased non-stick skillet. Make sure to flip it around so that each side and edge gets cooked. Repeat for as many pieces of french toast that you'd like to make. Top with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with powdered sugar!
Expert Tips
Tip #1 - Use a food scale. This will give you the best results since it can be tricky to accurately measure with cups. See the "metric" tab in the recipe card below for gram measurements. If you decide to use measuring cups for the flour, be sure to scoop it into the cup and level it off with a knife.
Tip #2 - Protect the top of the loaf! If the carrot loaf's top is baking quickly, place a sheet of foil over the pan around the 20 minute mark so it doesn't burn.
Tip #3 - Save carrot loaf slices for later. The loaf will store better than the cooked french toast slices, so it's best to save the carrot bread and make french toast from it whenever you want it.
FAQ
Not at all! It's perfectly delicious served as carrot cake bread.
This could be from using too much flour. I always recommend using a food scale to weigh dry ingredients so this doesn't occur.
Carrot cake and french toast for breakfast are always a win in my book! However, if you want to switch things up, try my Homemade Belgian Waffles or Cinnamon Honey Pancakes!
Storage
Room Temperature: The carrot cake loaf can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Refrigerator: Storing the carrot loaf in the refrigerator will likely dry it out, so it's not recommended. However, if you have leftover frosting, it should be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Freezing Instructions: Tightly wrap carrot bread slices in plastic wrap and/or a freezer-safe bag labeled "Carrot Cake Bread" and the date for up to 1 month. Let them thaw at room temperature before cooking and serving them as french toast.
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📖 Recipe
Carrot Cake French Toast
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Grater
- Sifter
- 9x5 inch loaf pan
- Non-stick pan or griddle
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Bread
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sour cream room temperature
- 2 tablespoons applesauce room temperature
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1½ cups (~3 carrots) shredded carrots
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Carrot Cake French Toast
- 2 large eggs *per 2-3 slices of french toast
- 2 tablespoons milk *per 2-3 slices of french toast
- powdered sugar for topping optional
Instructions
Carrot Cake Bread
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5" pan with oil and line it with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars and oil. Add the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and applesauce - mixing after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and gently mix with a spatula until only a few flour streaks are visible.
- Fold the shredded carrots into the batter until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean).
- Let the bread cool in the pan for 10-20 minutes and then carefully transfer it to a cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth, then mix in the powdered sugar.
Carrot Cake French Toast
- Cut the carrot cake bread into 1-inch slices.
- Beat the eggs and milk together in a medium-sized bowl.*
- Heat a non-stick pan on low-medium heat and grease it lightly with butter.
- Dunk carrot cake slices in the egg mixture so they're completely coated. (Don't coat them all at once! Dunk them in right before you cook them.)
- Cook the slices for 1-2 minutes on each side until they're light tan.
- Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and a dollop of cream cheese frosting!
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