These Carrot Cake Cupcakes have all the spice flavors of traditional carrot cake with a super moist crumb and smooth velvety cream cheese frosting.
These Carrot Cake Cupcakes are supremely light and moist with a soft crumb and loaded with freshly grated carrots and warm spices. These cupcakes are made completely from scratch with a rich cream cheese that pairs perfectly with the cupcakes. Carrot Cake Cupcakes taste like spring with spiced sunshine and are a fabulous addition to any Easter dessert table.
If you're looking for even more delicious spring desserts check out my Lemon Lavender Cookie Bars.
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Lightly spiced and super moist with a delicious crumb
- Simply gorgeous dessert for any occasion, but especially Easter
- Easy recipe, 100% made from scratch
- Makes an even dozen cupcakes! Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
Ingredient Notes
Eggs - adds moisture and creates structure to the cupcakes. Use room temperature eggs.
Vanilla extract - A small amount of vanilla extract adds tremendous flavor to the cupcakes. I recommend using pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
Brown Sugar - Brown sugar not only sweetens the cupcakes, it lends more flavor and moisture than white sugar.
Baking Powder - This ingredient helps the cupcakes rise.
Ground Cinnamon, Ground Ginger & Salt - These three ingredients are essential for great flavor. I'm keeping our cupcake recipe simple by only using cinnamon and ginger. You could use additional spices like ground nutmeg, allspice, and clove.
Carrots - the key to carrot cake cupcakes. Freshly grated are best for moist cupcakes.
Oil - Use a neutral, flavorless oil like canola or vegetable oil. This helps let the spices shine.
Flour - All you need is some all-purpose flour. See my recipe notes on how to properly measure flour.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream Cheese - Use block-style cream cheese softened to room temperature. Make sure to use full fat cream cheese for best flavor. Avoid using cream cheese from a tub or spread, as they often contain added water.
Unsalted Butter -Since there’s already salt in the cream cheese I highly recommend going with unsalted butter so cream cheese frosting isn’t too salty. Use room temperature butter for easy mixing.
Powdered Sugar - Also known as confectioners sugar. No substitutes here, this very fine sugar makes for a smooth, non-gritty frosting. If your powdered sugar is super lumpy I recommend sifting before using to ensure smooth frosting.
Vanilla Extract - A small amount of vanilla extract adds tremendous flavor to the frosting. I recommend using pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
Decorations/Toppings
Chopped Walnuts - Adds texture and makes our cupcakes have a beautiful rustic finish.
Carrot Decorations - Sugar Paste, Gum Paste, Royal Icing. These are all different types of decor you can place on your cupcakes.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside. Put the brown sugar, eggs and oil into a large mixing bowl. Beat until all the ingredients are fully combined and look pale and voluminous.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, salt and vanilla extract to the bowl. Beat on a slow speed for about a minute or until all the ingredients have been fully incorporated.
- Add in the grated carrots and use a wooden spoon or spatula to fold them evenly through the cupcake batter.
- Divide the cupcake batter between the 12 cupcake liners (they should only be ¾ full) DO NOT OVERFILL.
- Put the the muffin pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 21-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in to the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leave to cool briefly in the muffin pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the cream cheese frosting put the softened cream cheese and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on a medium speed for 2-3 minutes. You will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times.
- Switch the paddle attachment for the whisk attachment. Add half of the powdered sugar and the vanilla and beat on the slowest speed for 30 seconds. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat on a slow speed for 30 seconds then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1-2 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with an open round nozzle (like a 1A). Pipe a double swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake then use an offset spatula to make a well in the center. Optionally, scatter over the chopped walnuts and add a carrot decoration to each cupcake.
Expert Tips
We recommend using fresh carrots and grating them yourself. The ones you can buy pre-grated tend to be dry. We want to get as much moisture into the cupcakes as we can. To easily grate carrots, you can use a rotary grater/shredder or some food processors have grating attachments. Or, you can use a box grater and some good old fashion elbow grease.
Properly Measure Flour: If you just dip your measuring cup into a bag of flour, chances are you have way too much flour due to packing. I keep a small digital scale to accurately measure flour BUT you can also you the spoon and level method too if you don't have a scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour within your flour bag or container. Then use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup and finally us the straight edge of a knife to level the flour across the measuring cup.
Delicious Add-Ins: We kept these cupcakes pretty simple but feel free to experiment by adding ¾ cup of any additional ingredients like nuts, raisins or pineapple chunks.
Cool Cupcakes Completely Before Frosting: If your cupcakes are even a tiny bit warm, the frosting will melt right off.
Use Room Temperature/ Softened Ingredients: this will create a consistent batter, uniform cupcakes and creamy frosting.
Recipe FAQ
For this recipe, we use oil for beautifully tall cupcakes with a coarser crumb and more spongy texture.
Yes, once cooled cupcakes can be frozen for up to a month. Individually wrap them in plastic wrap for best results and store in an airtight container. When ready to serve, defrost the cupcakes in the refrigerator before bringing to room temperature and frosting.
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Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 eggs, large room temperature
- ¾ cup canola or vegetable oil (or other flavorless oil)
- 1 & ¼ cups all purpose flour (150 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups carrots, grated about 4 medium carrots
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces full fat block-style cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Decorations (optional)
- chopped walnuts
- 12 sugar paste carrots or royal icing carrot sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside. Put the brown sugar, eggs and oil into a large mixing bowl. Beat until all the ingredients are fully combined and look pale and voluminous.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, salt and vanilla extract to the bowl. Beat on a slow speed for about a minute or until all the ingredients have been fully incorporated.
- Add in the grated carrots and use a wooden spoon or spatula to fold them evenly through the cupcake batter.
- Divide the cupcake batter between the 12 cupcake liners (they should only be ¾ full) DO NOT OVERFILL.
- Put the the muffin pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 21-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in to the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leave to cool briefly in the muffin pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the cream cheese frosting put the softened cream cheese and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on a medium speed for 2-3 minutes. You will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times.
- Switch the paddle attachment for the whisk attachment. Add half of the powdered sugar and the vanilla and beat on the slowest speed for 30 seconds. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat on a slow speed for 30 seconds then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1-2 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with an open round nozzle (like a 1A). Pipe a double swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake then use an offset spatula to make a well in the center. Optionally, scatter over the chopped walnuts and add a carrot decoration to each cupcake.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!