Carrot cake lovers, this one’s for you! I don’t know about you, but I love the cozy flavors of classic carrot cake—warm spices, sweet shredded carrots, and that dreamy cream cheese frosting. But sometimes, I just don’t have time to make and decorate a whole cake. Enter carrot cake cake balls—adorable, bite-sized treats that deliver all the flavor of your favorite cake in a fun and delicious form.
These carrot cake balls are easy to make and totally customizable. Whether you want to roll them in white chocolate, drizzle them with caramel, or sprinkle them with chopped nuts, they’re guaranteed to impress. The best part is: you can use a boxed carrot cake mix to get you started and just add a few ingredients.
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Ingredients for Carrot Cake Balls
Here’s what you’ll need to bring these delicious bites to life:
For the Carrot Cake:
- 1 box carrot cake mix
- ¾ cup buttermilk (or ¾ cup milk and ¾ tablespoon white vinegar)
- ½ cup melted butter (or vegetable oil, but butter is better!)
- 4 large eggs (instead of the 3 usually called for)
- 1 cup finely grated fresh carrots
- 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
For the Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
For the Coating:
- 20 oz white chocolate or candy melts
- Coconut oil (optional)
- 2-3 oz orange chocolate candy melts for decoration (optional)
How to Make Carrot Cake Cake Balls
Step 1: Bake the Carrot Cake
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake mix and pumpkin pie spice Add the buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Fold in the grated carrots until evenly combined.
3. Pour batter into a greased baking pan (any size will do, but I like to use a 9×13 since it bakes faster in a large pan) and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely
Step 2: Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
1. Beat the softened cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy.
2. Add the vanilla extract, then gradually mix in the powdered sugar until well combined. The frosting should be thick but spreadable and smooth.
Step 3: Form the Cake Balls
1. Once the cake has cooled, crumble it into fine crumbs using your hands or a food processor. A food processor makes things a lot easier! Store your crumbs in a large bowl
2. Add the cream cheese frosting a little at a time to your crumbs. Start with about half and work your way up. You’ll likely use most of the frosting, but you don’t want to use too much!
3. Mix until the crumbs stick together when pressed and can be rolled into a ball.
4. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or speed things up and use the freezer for 15 minutes).
Step 4: Coat the Cake Balls
1. Melt the white chocolate or candy melts according to the package instructions.
2. Add a little bit of coconut oil (or vegetable oil) to the melted chocolate to make the texture just a bit more watery and easier to work with.3. Using a fork or a dipping tool, dip each cake ball into the melted coating, tapping off the excess. Place them back on the parchment paper
4. Then, melt some orange candy melts according to the package instructions. Add some coconut oil to this batch for sure, because you want it to just drizzle on to your already-formed cake balls.
5. I like to stick my drizzle in a small icing bottle with a plain round tip, but you can just use a spoon too. Carefully drizzle orange chocolate over your cake balls to give them a cute decoration.
6. You’ll have some extra hardened chocolate around the bottom of your cake balls towards the end. Just carefully break those bits off with your fingers and store your finished cake balls in the fridge.
Pro Tips for Perfect Carrot Cake Balls
- Use finely grated carrots – The finer, the better! This ensures a smooth texture in your cake balls. It really doesn’t take a lot of carrots to get one cup of grated carrots, but it really enhances the texture and flavor.
- Don’t overdo the frosting – Add your frosting slowly. Too much can make the mixture too soft and difficult to roll. You can always add more frosting to your cake if you need to, but once you have too much frosting and your cake balls don’t hold their shape, you can’t go back.
- Chill before dipping – Cold cake balls hold up better when dipping in warm chocolate, and they just make the whole decorating process easier and smoother.
- Thin out the chocolate if needed – I recommend adding a tiny bit of vegetable oil or coconut oil to smooth it out. I prefer coconut oil, but I will warn you that the coconut oil leaves a bit of a coconut-y taste with it. If you don’t like the coconut-y taste, vegetable oil will work just as well!
- Decorating tips– chopped nuts and other toppings should be added right after dipping, before the chocolate sets. If you’re going to drizzle an orange chocolate drizzle on top of your cake balls like I did, you can wait until the first coating sets before drizzling on any topping.
FAQs About Carrot Cake Balls
Q: Can I use a homemade carrot cake?
A: Absolutely! Just prepare your carrot cake like you normally would, and you’re good to go!
Q: How do I store carrot cake cake balls?
A: Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. They can also be frozen for up to a month!
Q: Can I use milk or dark chocolate instead of white?
A: Yes! White chocolate gives a nice contrast, but milk or dark chocolate works too if that’s more your vibe.
Q: Why isn’t my chocolate coating melting properly?
A: Melting chocolate is tricky for sure! First, I really, really, really recommend you melt them exactly as the instructions on the package tell you to. Normally, you have to melt them in your microwave at 50% power for some amount of time. If you microwave melting candy at full power, you might end up burning it and hardening it before it even melts and you get to use it. If you followed the package instructions and your melting chocolate is still really thick, add some coconut oil or vegetable oil to thin it out. That can make a huge difference.
Q: Do I have to use the extra mix-ins?
You can totally bake the box mix according to its instructions if you don’t have the extra stuff. However, I did a taste test to see if I liked the plain box mix cake before writing this, and I have to say that I thought it was a little lackluster. The buttermilk, butter, extra carrots, etc. really add to the box mix’s overall flavor and texture. I was really hesitant about the extra carrots to see if it was worth my effort in grating them, and I truly do think it was! I love to be a lazy baker whenever possible, but these extras really make for a better cake flavor overall.
And there you have it—carrot cake balls easy enough for anyone to make! These little bites are bursting with warm, spiced carrot cake flavor, creamy frosting, and a sweet outer shell. Try them out, and let me know how they turn out in the comments! Happy baking!
Carrot Cake Cake Balls
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 1 box carrot cake mix I used Betty Crocker, but a similar brand would be just fine
- 3/4 cup buttermilk Or 3/4 cup milk mixed with 3/4 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 cup melted butter slightly cooled
- 4 eggs Or take the number of eggs your cake mix calls for and add 1
- 1 cup finely grated fresh carrots
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Coating
- 20-24 oz white melting chocolate
- 4-5 oz orange melting chocolate optional, for decoration
- 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil optional, to help thin out the melting chocolate. Vegetable oil also works.
Instructions
Bake Carrot Cake
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake mix and pumpkin pie spice
- Add the buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
- Fold in the grated carrots until evenly combined.
- Pour batter into a greased baking pan (any size will do, but I like to use a 9x13 since it bakes faster in a large pan) and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean
- Allow the cake to cool completely
Make Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the softened cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy.
- Add the vanilla extract, then gradually mix in the powdered sugar until well combined.
Form Cake Balls
- Once the cake has cooled, crumble it into fine crumbs using your hands or a food processor. Store your crumbs in a large bowl.
- Add the cream cheese frosting a little at a time to your crumbs. Start with about half and work your way up. You’ll likely use most of the frosting, but you don’t want to use too much!
- Mix until the crumbs stick together when pressed and can be rolled into a ball.
- Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or speed things up and use the freezer for 15 minutes).
Coat the Cake Balls
- Melt the white chocolate or candy melts according to the package instructions. I would recommend doing this in chunks and not melting all your chocolate at once. Otherwise, the chocolate might harden before you can use it all.
- Add a little bit of coconut oil (or vegetable oil) to the melted chocolate to make the texture just a bit more watery and easier to work with.
- Using a fork or a dipping tool, dip each cake ball into the melted coating, tapping off the excess. Place them back on the parchment paper toset.
- Then, melt some orange candy melts according to the package instructions. Add some coconut oil to this batch for sure, because you want it to just drizzle on to your already-formed cake balls.
- Drizzle a bit of orange chocolate on top of your cake balls for decoration. I like to use a small icing bottle with a plain round tip for this.
- You’ll have some extra hardened chocolate around the bottom of your cake balls towards the end. Just carefully break those bits off with your fingers and store your finished cake balls in the fridge.
