Carrot Banana Bread Recipe

This carrot banana bread recipe is super easy to make and packs a nutritional punch. It is delicious and contains beta-carotene, fiber, antioxidants and vitamins. Carrot banana bread is also a great way to use up that crazy surplus of homegrown carrots at the end of the summer!

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

For the best results, you want to use ripe bananas and fresh carrots in order to make a carrot banana bread recipe. Non-ripe bananas have less banana flavor & natural sweetness. Whereas, old carrots (or store bagged pre-shredded carrots) can be dry and/or woody.

You Can See The Carrot Shreds In This Banana Bread

Ingredients – Carrot Banana Bread Recipe

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas (ripe) – 345 grams – This is roughly 3 large bananas but use exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas for the best & most consistent results.
• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Use a mild tasting vegetable oil such as corn oil or mild/light olive oil. For more info, see the tips below.
• 2 – Large Eggs – 114 grams – Large eggs (not extra large or jumbo eggs).
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Vanilla Extract – 7.5 milliliters
• 3/4 Cup – Light Brown Sugar – 161 grams
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams – Not bread flour.
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Ground Cinnamon – 3 grams
• 1/4 Teaspoon – Ground Nutmeg – 0.6 grams
• 1/4 Teaspoon – Ground Ginger – 0.7 grams
• 1 Cup – Medium Grated Carrots – 85 grams – A loosely packed cup.
• Optional – 1/2 Cup – Chopped Walnuts – 58 grams

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 inch metal bread pan, oven mitts, soft silicone spatula, wire cooling rack and an oven.

Key Ingredients – Bananas & Carrots

Grated Carrots for Carrot Banana Bread

Instructions – Carrot Banana Bread Recipe

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C).
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Wash, dry & peel your carrots. This is to remove any dirt & the harder exterior of the carrots.
• Grate the peeled carrots using the medium holes on a box grater. FYI – Don’t use the fine or coarse grating holes.
• Lightly beat the eggs.
• Add the mashed bananas, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Stir until completely mixed.
• Add the remaining ingredients (except the carrots). Stir until the batter is fully mixed. FYI – I prefer to use a large spoon to mix the batter. An electric mixer can overmix the batter and this can lead to gummy & rubbery banana breads.
• Finally add the grated carrots to the batter and gently mix them into the batter.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in your oven at 325 F (163 C) for 65 to 70 minutes. FYI – When finished, use a digital bread thermometer to make sure the carrot banana bread is completely baked. The variability of the moisture in the cup of grated carrots can throw things off a little. See the tips section below for more info.
• Take out of the oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a wire cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1 to 2 hours.
• Please READ the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give it a 5 star rating. Jump to comment section

Grated Carrots Being Added To Batter

Check Banana Bread Temperature To See If Fully Baked

Helpful Tips – Carrot Banana Bread Recipe

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
• Click on this “print recipe” link if you want to print out my recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include my tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes such as banana nut bread, eggless banana bread and blueberry banana bread.

• Use RIPE bananas for the best results!! If you use unripe green or hard yellow bananas, your banana bread will come out bland (with little banana flavor). Unripe bananas have more starch and less sugar than ripe bananas. The natural sweetness of ripe bananas works best when making banana bread recipes.
• Ripe bananas are soft and have many small brown & black spots on the exterior of the yellow banana peel.
• FYI – A beautiful pure yellow banana (without any spots) is not fully ripe!!
• 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas equals ROUGHLY 3 large bananas. However, bananas vary in size so you need to use exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas (versus 3 random sized bananas). Using this exact amount of mashed bananas will help to prevent your banana bread batter from being too wet or too dry.

• For the best results, use FRESH orange carrots. Fresh carrots retain more of their natural sweetness and moisture.
• Old carrots (e.g. those that have been sitting in your refrigerator for a few weeks) or store bagged pre-shredded carrots can be dry and/or woody.
• I like to use longer, full sized carrots when making carrot banana bread. I find that longer carrots give me a better grip and are safer for my fingers when grating! I don’t like to use baby carrots as they are too short.
• Be careful not to accidentally grate your fingers! For safety reasons, I don’t bother trying to grate the last inch or two of my carrots.
• For this recipe, you should use the medium grating “holes” on your box grater.
• Do not use the fine holes of the grater or the carrot shreds will be too small and will disappear in the carrot banana bread.
• Do not use the large/coarse holes on the grater or the carrot shreds will be too large and might be still raw, hard and/or extra crunchy after baking.
• After grating, these thin carrot shreds should be roughly 1/2 to 1 inch long.
• The carrot shreds in the measuring cup should be loosely packed. Do not jam pack the carrot shreds into the measuring cup. See picture further up the page if you need an example.
• Be aware that the amount of packed carrot shreds in the measuring cup can impact the moisture in the recipe. See the tip further down the page about using a digital thermometer to ensure that the carrot banana bread is fully baked (because extra moisture might extend the required baking time modestly).
• I do not recommend using purple carrots as they can discolor the banana bread. I prefer the look of the carrot banana bread when it is made with orange carrots.
• Visitors – If you have any additional carrot tips or suggestions, please post them in the comment section below.

• My carrot banana bread recipe uses some ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and ground ginger. I think these spices give the banana bread more of a warm, spiced “carrot cake” type flavor (without overwhelming the banana flavor).
• Optional – For a little extra crunch & flavor, you can add a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to this carrot banana bread recipe. You would add the chopped walnuts to the batter at the same time as the grated carrots.
• Optional – Some of my visitors like to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of a coarse sugar (e.g. Turbinado sugar) or a brown sugar/ground cinnamon mix on top of the batter right before they place a banana bread in the oven. This optional step will add a nice sugary topping to the carrot banana bread.
• Other visitors like to sprinkle powdered sugar (confectioners sugar) on top of their banana breads after the loaves have cooled. Do not sprinkle the powdered sugar on top of the loaf while the banana bread is still warm or the powdered sugar will melt. This can result in wet, runny spots in the sugar topping.
• Visitors – What extra ingredients do you like to add a carrot banana bread recipe? Chopped walnuts? Different spices? Chocolate chips? Dried fruit? A special topping? Please post your additions & recipe variations in the comment section below.

• You should use a mild flavored vegetable oil (e.g. corn) in order to make this carrot banana bread recipe.
• Stronger flavored oils (e.g. peanut oil or extra virgin olive oil) may NEGATIVELY impact or change the taste of banana bread. You want to use an oil that has very little flavor (so it does not interfere with the banana flavor).
• If you want to use olive oil, I would recommend using a “mild”, “light” or “extra light” olive oil as they would have the least flavor impact on the banana bread. Unfortunately, extra virgin and virgin olive oil have stronger flavors and are more likely to negatively impact the taste of your banana bread.
• A number of my visitors like to use avocado oil in order to make their banana breads. Avocado oil has a neutral flavor and is high in monounsaturated fats. However, as you are probably aware, avocado oil is usually significantly more expensive than corn oil.

• Use FRESH ingredients (e.g. baking soda and flour) for the best results. For example, if you use stale baking soda and/or baking powder, your banana bread will not rise properly and will be too dense. Baking soda & powder is best if used within 6 months of opening the container. Using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your banana bread.
• Old flour can affect the taste of banana bread. Old flour can spoil and taste bitter, sour, musty, etc. Banana bread made with old flour does not taste great!
• Try to keep your ingredients (e.g. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life and avoid spoilage (e.g. exposure to moisture, pests and dust).
• Flour (if stored in an open bag and not in an airtight container) can absorb a lot of moisture from the air. This extra moisture throws off recipes and can lead to banana bread collapses, etc.
• This recipe is based on using all purpose flour and NOT bread flour. Bread flour has more gluten than all purpose flour. Therefore, you will get a tougher and more rubbery banana bread if you use bread flour (instead of all purpose flour).

• For this recipe (given the moisture variability of the grated carrots), I like to use a digital bread thermometer to test if the banana bread is fully baked. Generally, a “quick bread” (e.g. banana bread or pumpkin bread) is done when the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205 degrees F. Just make sure to measure the temperature in the center of the loaf for the most accurate reading.
• FYI – The amount of moisture in the grated carrots can vary due to the type of carrot used, size of the grated carrot “shreds” and the packing density of the carrots in the measuring cup (e.g. a heavily packed cup will have more moisture than a loosely packed cup).
• My recipe use a slightly lower temperature (and thus a slightly longer baking time) than many of my peers’ banana bread recipes. Why? Because the lower temp results in a softer & more tender banana bread. Moreover, the lower temp reduces the potential for an over-baked crust and/or an overly dry banana bread.

• To prevent your banana bread from sticking to the bottom of the bread pan, you should consider either “greasing” the bottom of the pan with butter or vegetable oil, using a cooking spray, using a nonstick pan or lining the interior of the bread pan with baking parchment paper.
• FYI – I have found as nonstick pans get older, they seem to get stickier. Therefore, as some anti-sticking “insurance”, I like to “grease” even my nonstick pans.
• Baking parchment paper is probably the best solution to prevent sticking (especially if you are using really sticky ingredients such as chocolate chips or fresh blueberries). It also allows you to lift the banana bread out of the pan without disturbing the top of the banana bread… in case you have added any special ingredients (such as chopped nuts or chocolate chips) to the top of the banana bread.
• FYI – Baking parchment paper is NOT regular paper. It is a specialty paper designed for use with baking.

• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients (when combining the wet and dry ingredients). I prefer to use an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can easily overmix the ingredients if used too long. Unfortunately, overmixing batter can result in a rubbery & gummy banana bread.
• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this quick bread could come out undercooked.
• It takes roughly 10-20 minutes to preheat most ovens with some variability due to the size of the oven, planned baking temperature (hotter takes longer), etc.
• If your oven does not have a built-in thermometer, you can buy an inexpensive hanging oven thermometer that you can place inside your oven (in order to correctly gauge the temperature & see if the oven has been preheated to the correct temperature). Moreover, some built-in oven gauges can be 25-50 degrees different than the actual temperature inside the oven. For the best results, you should know the actual temperature inside your oven (as this reduces the potential for over or undercooked baked products).

• In case, you didn’t see this in the “equipment used to make this recipe” section, this recipe is based on using a standard 9 by 5 inch metal bread pan. This means that the interior of the bread pan (not exterior) measures 9 inches in length, 5 inches in width and 2 1/2 inches in depth/height. Of course, Bread Dads are crazy about exact measurements… thus the use of measuring tapes! Ha!
• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 inch bread pan to make this recipe. If you start using different sized pans, there is a greater potential for bread top collapses (potentially less bread pan “wall” support for the quick bread as it rises), different interior batter to exterior bread ratios (thus the need for different baking lengths), smaller pans are more likely to overflow, etc.
• My recipes are based on using a metal bread pan and NOT a glass bread pan. Glass bread pans bake faster than metal bread pans. If you use a glass bread pan for my recipes, you are more likely to overbake your banana bread (e.g. burnt crust).
• My recipes are based on using a regular oven and NOT a convection oven. Convection ovens bake faster than regular ovens and require less baking time than what is stated in my recipes.

• Place your banana bread in the middle of your oven. If you place it on the top or bottom racks, the banana bread may be too near the oven’s heating element and bake faster than expected.
• When making this recipe, many international bakers prefer to use a kitchen scale versus using measuring cups. A kitchen scale provides greater accuracy because the amount of ingredients in a measuring cup can vary somewhat (e.g. a cup of fluffed flour vs a cup of densely packed flour). Therefore, this recipe also includes gram/milliliter measurements.
• As I said that the top of the page, this recipe is a great way to use up your homegrown carrots. However, if you have other homegrown veggies, you might like to try my bread machine recipes for Bread Machine Zucchini Bread, Bread Machine Pumpkin Bread, Bread Machine Garlic Bread or Bread Machine Onion Bread.
• Or try my oven baked dessert recipes for Sweet Potato Bread or Pumpkin Cranberry Bread.

• Problem with a sinking middle in your banana breads? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.
• Problem with dry banana breads? Check out my Tips For Making A Moist Banana Bread for information on how to avoid making dry banana breads!
• Long-term storage of banana bread – If you want to keep your banana bread for more than 1 or 2 days (depending on your home’s temperature & humidity), you will need to freeze it. Please read Bread Dad’s How To Freeze Banana Bread for more details.

• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (e.g. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (e.g. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (e.g. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a hot oven and bread pan.
• For more banana bread ideas (e.g. chocolate chip banana bread, eggless banana bread or blueberry banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s main section on Banana Bread Recipes.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give it a 5 star rating. Jump to comment section

Want more Bread Dad recipes? Check out these sections:

1. Bread Machine Recipes – 90+ recipes for banana bread, sourdough bread, pizza dough, cinnamon raisin bread, etc.
2. Bread Recipes – French bread, buttermilk bread, bagels, Italian bread, etc.
3. Banana Bread Recipes – 60+ recipes for banana nut bread, eggless banana bread, chocolate chip banana bread, etc.
4. Quick Bread Recipes – Recipes using baking soda such as pumpkin bread, cranberry bread, gingerbread, cornbread, etc.

Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Banana Bread
2. Wikipedia, Carrot

Related Recipes

1. Easy Banana Bread – Classic banana bread
2. Eggless Banana Bread
3. No Butter Banana Bread
4. Super Moist Banana Bread
5. Bread Machine Banana Bread
6. Bread Machine Pumpkin Bread

Please leave a comment & recipe rating in the comment box below. Thanks!