This carrot cake banana bread is the best of both worlds. It combines everything we love about classic carrot cake with the sweet familiar taste of banana bread in a healthier version you'll love. Enjoy it with or without the luscious cream cheese frosting for a delightful breakfast, snack, or anytime treat!
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
2cupsall-purpose flour
¾ cupbrown sugar, can sub coconut sugar
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonground cinnamon
1teapoonground ginger
½ teapoonsea salt
¼ teaspoonground cloves
¼ teaspoonground nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
3largeripe bananas
2 large eggs
1 ½ cupsfinely grated carrots
¾ cupapple sauce
¼ cupcooking oil
½ cupEACH: chopped walnuts and raisins, optional
Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)
6ouncescream cheese, softened
1tablespoonbutter, softened
1cuppowdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 5"x9" loaf pan with butter or cooking spray. Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
Mash the bananas in a large bowl then whisk in the eggs, grated carrots, apple sauce, and cooking oil.
3 large ripe bananas, 2 large eggs, 1 ½ cups finely grated carrots, ¾ cup apple sauce, ¼ cup cooking oil
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold the batter until only a few streaks of flour remain. Add the raisins and walnuts, if using, and stir a few more times.
½ cup EACH: chopped walnuts and raisins
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Check the banana bread after 45 minutes and if the top is browning too quickly, tent it loosely with foil. Let the banana bread cool completely before removing it from the pan.
Once the banana bread is completely cool, beat the cream cheese frosting ingredients with electric beaters until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
Remove the cooled banana bread from the loaf pan and cover the top with the frosting. If you'd like, decorate the top with a few chopped walnuts and a few pieces of shredded carrot.
Notes
Don't worry if you don't have all the baking spices, simply use the ones that you have. The most important one is cinnamon, so try not to skip that. You can also use 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual spices that are listed. If you have a smaller-sized loaf pan, only fill it ¾ full then bake a few carrot cake banana bread cupcakes with extra batter.