These homemade Carrot Cake Cupcakes make for the BEST dessert. Soft and moist carrot cake batter baked as muffins and topped with a creamy cream cheese frosting and chopped walnuts!
These delicious muffins are inspired by our popular Carrot Cake Recipe.
CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES-
You will not believe how delicious a dessert with carrots can be! These carrot cupcakes are packed with flavors, from the classic cupcake ingredients along with the shredded carrots and chopped walnuts!
We really enjoy making this dessert for the holidays, parties, birthdays and even just a weekend treat!
INGREDIENTS-
- Flour– Make sure to use good quality all-purpose flour, measure then sift!
- Baking powder & baking soda– Fresh baking soda and baking powder is what will help your cupcakes rise and be fluffy!
- Cinnamon– For added flavors!
- Sugar– For these cupcakes, we use both granulated sugar and brown sugar!
- Oil– Oil is what gives you moist cupcakes.
- Milk-Whole milk also helps the moistness of the cupcakes.
- Egg– Acts as the binding agent for all the ingredients.
- Vanilla– Vanilla extract is perfect for this recipe!
- Carrots– Freshly grated carrots work best.
- Walnuts– We love adding chopped walnuts, but you can leave the walnuts out if you don’t like walnuts.
- Frosting– We top these delicious cupcakes with our homemade Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting!
HOW TO MAKE CARROT Cake cUPCAKES-
This dessert is so easy to make, you are not going to believe how fast you can have these cupcakes in the oven!
- Prep– Preheat the oven and line the cupcake pan with liners.
- Dry ingredients– In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Wet ingredients– In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars. Add in the oil, milk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Carrots– Add the grated carrots and chopped walnuts to the cupcake batter and combine.
- Combine– Fold in the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Add to liners– Divide the batter between the 12 liners.
- Bake– Cook until golden brown and cooked through and cool on a cooling wire rack.
- Frosting– While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare a portion of our homemade cream cheese frosting.
- Pipe– Pipe the frosting and decorate as desired and serve.
- Serve and Enjoy!
Decorating Ideas- There are different ways that you can decorate your cupcakes! You can just frost with a spoon or use a piping bag and tip for a decorative design. These are the bags we use for piping and this is the tip.
You can also top your cupcakes, here are some of our favorite toppings-
- Chopped walnuts
- Toasted coconut flakes
- Pecans
- Sliced almonds
- Carrot shaped candy
STORING OPTIONS-
You can store these in several different ways and you can store them frosted and unfrosted!
Unfrosted Cupcakes-
- Fridge– After the cupcakes are fully cool, transfer the cupcakes to an airtight container or plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days.
- Room temp- Once the cupcakes are cool, store them at room temp in an airtight container or bag for 1-2 days.
- Freezer- These freeze great! Once the cupcakes are cool, add them to freezer-safe bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Just thaw at room temp, frost, and serve.
Frosted Cupcakes-
- Fridge– We recommend refrigerating these cupcakes after frosting them! We love THESE cupcake containers for storing. They can last up to 2 days in the fridge.
- Room Temp– Once the cupcakes are frosted you don’t want them to sit out too long or the frosting will tend to melt. We don’t prefer they stay at room temp for longer than 6-7 hours.
- Freezer– We do NOT recommend freezing the cupcakes after you have frosted them.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS-
Although we do prefer using cupcake liners, you do not have to! Just spray the muffin tin with baking spray before you add the batter.
You can use light olive oil, canola, or vegetable oil.
Either dark or light brown sugar will work great for this recipe.
We do not recommend using any pre-grated or frozen carrots for this recipe.
Yes! You can use pecans or even almonds!
To avoid the cupcakes from sticking to your liners, you can spray the liners with baking spray.
Yes! You can prepare the cupcakes up to 2 days ahead of time and when ready, frost and enjoy!
This recipe makes 18 cupcakes!
OTHER SMALL DESSERT RECIPES-
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- Cherry Hand Pies
- Choc Oreo Pudding Delight
- Creme Brulee Recipe
- Cream Cheese Danish
- Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, measured then sifted (see tips in post)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup oil
- 3 Tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup grated carrots
- 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 1 recipe cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 cupcake pans with liners, enough for 18 cupcakes.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars. Add in the oil, milk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add the grated carrots and chopped walnuts to the cupcake batter and combine.
- Fold in the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Divide the batter between the 18 liners.
- Bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and baked through.Cool on a cooling wire rack.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare a portion of our homemade cream cheese frosting.
- Pipe the frosting and decorate as desired and serve.
- Serve and enjoy!