Carrot Cake Cupcakes

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These Carrot Cake Cupcakes have all the spice flavors of traditional carrot cake with a super moist crumb and smooth velvety cream cheese frosting.

Several Carrot Cake Cupcakes in a dark brown liner on a white scalloped platter. Each cupcake is topped with cream cheese frosting, chopped walnuts and a gum paste carrot.

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.

A single Carrot Cake Cupcake on a white mini cake stand. The cupcake has a dark brown cupcake liner and is topped with cream cheese frosting, chopped walnuts and a gum paste carrot.

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

Carrot Cake Cupcakes Ingredients on a stone background. Each ingredient is labeled with an individual dark red rectangle box with white text in all caps.

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

Yellow batter in a large glass mixing bowl on a cement table with a black square and with a white '1' in the upper left corner.

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.

Yellow batter with spices and dry ingredients getting beaten with a hand mixer with a black square and with a white '2' in the upper left corner.

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.

Carrot cake batter in a large glass mixing bowl with a wooden mixing spoon off to the side. It all sits on a cement background. In the upper left corner is a black square with a white '3'.

Add in the grated carrots and use a wooden spoon or spatula to fold them evenly through the cupcake batter.

A cupcake pan with 12 slots. Each slot has a dark brown cupcake linear with carrot cake batter. In the upper left corner is a black square with a white '4'.

Divide the cupcake batter between the 12 cupcake liners (they should only be ¾ full) DO NOT OVERFILL.

A cupcake pan with 12 slots. Each slot has a dark brown cupcake linear with baked carrot cake cupcakes. In the upper left corner is a black square with a white '5'.

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.

Cheese cheese and butter beaten in a steel mixing bowl with a bowl of powdered sugar off to the side. In the upper left corner is a black square with a white '6'.

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.

A steel mixing bowl with whipped cream cheese frosting. A whisk attachment is off to the side. In the upper left corner is a black square with a white '7'.

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.

A hand placing a gum paste carrot on top of a carrot cake cupcake on a small white cake stand. In the upper left corner is a black square with a white '8'.

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.

A carrot cake cupcake with no liner with a big bite taken out on a small white cake stand.

Recipe FAQ

Which is better? Butter or oil in cupcakes?

For this recipe, we use oil for beautifully tall cupcakes with a coarser crumb and more spongy texture.

How do you freeze cupcakes?

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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