I Tried 4 Boxed Carrot Cake Mixes to Find One Worthy of Your Easter Table

My mom was an excellent baker and often whipped up fantastic cakes from scratch. She also kept boxed cake mix on hand because there were times when convenience ruled. Luckily, we weren't just bound to basic chocolate or vanilla cake because there were and still are so many different varieties of cake mix to satisfy any craving, including carrot cake. 

Carrot cake has become a popular Easter dessert recipe , though I firmly believe it should be enjoyed year-round. Still, with the very real spike in carrot cake baking and eating as we move into spring and specifically into this Easter weekend, now felt like the perfect time to see if I could find the best boxed carrot cake mix. After a day of baking, cooling, frosting and tasting, I had a clear answer. Read on if you're looking for a shortcut sweet. (And, honestly, who isn't?)

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How I Chose These Carrot Cake Mixes

When I began my preliminary research, I was surprised to find there weren't that many carrot cake mixes out there. Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker were on the shelves of nearly every market near me, so including those two was a given. But, after scouring other stores in my area, both small neighborhood shops and big-box shops, including Target, Whole Foods and Shoprite (my big local chain), I still needed to order from Amazon. The four contenders were chosen mostly due to availability. Two of the four happen to be gluten -free, but I decided to pass on any mixes geared to Keto diets with sugar alternatives, as they would be too different from the others to compare fairly.

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How I Tested These Carrot Cake Mixes

For faster baking and easier sharing, I prepared each mix as directed and made cupcakes, following the visual cues and timing to determine doneness. After cooling, I topped the cupcakes with canned cream cheese frosting because, really, what's carrot cake without cream cheese frosting ? I was careful to add a moderate amount so it didn't overwhelm the spices in the cake or contribute too much extra sweetness.

I shared the carrot cake cupcakes with friends and family (including children) and asked for feedback to understand which ones they preferred and why. I also did my own taste test, of course, judging the overall flavor, spice level, tenderness of the cake, and finally, which mix was a solid representation of carrot cake. After comparing my results and those of the outside tasters, we had a clear winner.

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4 Boxed Carrot Cake Mixes, Ranked Worst to Best

4. GoNanas Carrot Cake Banana Bread Mix

GoNanas is a brand of cake, pancake and muffin mixes that are all based around, you guessed it, bananas. The idea of combining bananas and carrot cake made sense to me because hummingbird cake , another classic dessert, has a lot of similarities to carrot cake, except it contains bananas. To make the GoNanas batter, combine the dry mix with mashed bananas, milk, oil or butter, and maple syrup or honey. This mix didn't require any eggs, which is especially handy these days with the sky-high egg prices. Being able to skip the eggs also makes this a good option for folks with food allergies.

The gluten-free base is made of oat flour, sweetened and flavored with brown sugar, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Carrot powder is the form of the veggie in this mix, so there are no orange visible bits, but surprisingly, this mix has an abundance of white baking chips, which is not a classic addition to carrot cake. 

The mix had a strong earthy, slightly musty aroma, which unfortunately carried through when the cake was baked. These cupcakes were squat, with minimal rise, and uneven, slightly dry-looking tops. The inside wasn't dry, but it was dense and moderately gummy, bordering on gluey. I was surprised the cakes didn't have a stronger banana taste, but that could have also been due to the intensity of the spices that took over and skewed soapy rather than warming.

While the white baking chips added some texture and sweetness, I found them out of place, further pushing this away from tasting like carrot cake. Unfortunately, this mix didn't have a pleasing texture or flavor, which meant it landed it on the bottom of the list.

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3. Mom's Place Gluten Free Carrot Cake

This mix produced the best-looking cupcakes in the ranking, but that's also part of the reason they ended up in the third spot. Mom's Place offers a huge range of gluten-free mixes, including soups, pizza dough, cookies and cakes. However, many of the mixes, including this carrot cake, require more work and additional ingredients than other brands. 

To make the batter, I beat eggs, oil and vanilla together before adding the dry mix, which has a rice flour base. The mixture was thick and stiff, but when I folded in shredded carrots and drained crushed pineapple, it loosened slightly. Despite the stodgy batter, the cupcakes were fluffy and tender with a rich brown color. The texture wasn't exactly the same as a cake made with all-purpose flour, but it wasn't gritty or heavy. The blend of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger was cozy, and the visible shreds of carrot and pineapple gave the cake a homemade look. 

Overall, I was impressed!. So why didn't it take the top spot? Although I appreciate that a gluten-free flour blend is more complicated than just being able to grab a bag of all-purpose flour, the extra work of shredding carrots, adding vanilla and draining canned pineapple didn't feel like much of a shortcut, and the fresh elements almost gave it an unfair advantage. That said, if you can't have gluten, want to make carrot cake, and don't mind doing some work, this is the mix for you.

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2. Betty Crocker Super Moist Carrot Cake Mix

The front of the box boasts pudding in the mix, a well-established cake mix hack for flavorful, tender cakes. The ingredients list includes carrot-flavored pieces, made primarily from corn syrup and carrot powder, cinnamon and the less specific "spices." When mixed with water, oil and eggs, the pale, tan batter revealed flecks of orange that looked more like sprinkles than a vegetable.

These cupcakes were incredibly light and soft with an airy quality that made me feel like I could squish a whole cupcake into my mouth in one bite. I resisted that urge and instead took a few careful bites, ensuring it didn't topple over from the weight of the frosting when I set it down. These were the sweetest cupcakes of all four, with subtle spicing and an undetectable carrot taste from the orange bits.

This cake was particularly popular among my tasters who don't love carrots or carrot cake in the first place, and that makes sense because although perfectly pleasant in flavor and texture, it mostly tasted like a regular spice cake. If this is a bonus to you, great! But, when I'm in the mood for carrot cake, I want to see and taste carrots. This was the detail that landed this mix in second place. 

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1. Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Carrot Cake Mix

Duncan Hines Carrot Cake Mix calls out on the front of the box that this mix includes farm-grown carrots, which made an excellent first impression on me. The large carrot strands are dehydrated carrots, but they are still carrots and not powders or processed pieces, and there was a generous amount of them in the fragrant dry mix. Similar to Betty Crocker, this mix just needs water, eggs and oil. The total mixing time is 2 minutes and 30 seconds, so this cake lives up to its end of the bargain as a true baking shortcut in effort and ingredients.

The batter was a rich brown color with a tinge of orange, and the cupcakes baked with a smooth, perfectly domed top. Although the ingredients do not list individual spices, it's easy to tell that there's more than just cinnamon in the mix, with notes of peppery and sharp spices that are familiar and inviting. I picked up on ginger, nutmeg and either cloves or allspice.

While I loved the idea of the dehydrated carrots, they didn't fully hydrate during baking and retained a slight toothsome chew that reminded me of shredded coconut. It was particularly noticeable because the cake was so light and spongy. However, I was willing to overlook this because the rest of the cake was so perfect. The spicing was bold, keeping the sweetness in check, and even though the texture of the cake was soft, it didn't feel fragile. The balance of flavors and the presence of the carrot made this the best carrot cake mix. 

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