Carrot Cake Cupcakes

These easy Carrot Cake Cupcakes are moist, tender, infused with the perfect amount of spices, and topped with a sweet cinnamon-cream cheese frosting. Add a sprinkle of pecans for the perfect finishing touch!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

These Carrot Cake Cupcakes are one of my family’s favorite treats and everyone that tries these goes crazy for them! My dad’s all-time favorite dessert is Carrot Cake and after spending literally years perfecting my carrot cake recipe, I thought I’d tweak it a bit to create some perfectly moist, tender, and flavorful cupcakes.

All in the name of “testing,” we’ve made these cupcakes more times than I can count the last couple of months. My toddler alternates asking for these or Carrot Cake every single Sunday when we bake a treat together. As much as I love that cake, these cupcakes are easier to make (especially with four little hands adding ingredients quicker than I can monitor!).

Carrot Cake Cupcakes Taste

So what can you expect taste-wise from these cupcakes?

These classic Carrot Cake Cupcakes are moist, tender, and soft. They’re spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves — none of which are overpowering but work together subtly to create a deep, rich flavor. This cupcake recipe emphasizes brown sugar over white– which further intensifies those deep notes of spice. The brown sugar also contributes to a more moist and tender cupcake.

These cupcakes are topped with a luscious and sweet cream cheese frosting that has a hint of cinnamon spice. The slight tang of the frosting helps to balance the sweetness of the cupcakes.

How to make Carrot Cake Cupcakes from scratch

My top tips for success in making these homemade cupcakes:

• Start with room-temperature ingredients. It’s important for the final texture of these cupcakes that all of your ingredients are at room temperature. Using room-temperature eggs ensures that the eggs disperse more evenly into the batter; that gives these cupcakes a lighter texture (the eggs trap air). Soaking refrigerated eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for about 10 minutes is a quick way to do this. Otherwise, pull the eggs out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before use.  (You’ll also want the applesauce and carrots at room temperature.)
• When you measure the flour, be sure to spoon and level the measuring cups so you aren’t adding in too much or too little flour. Too much flour and you’ll get dense cupcakes and too little flour and these cupcakes will likely sink and be too wet.
• Stir everything until just combined. If you overmix the ingredients, you’ll end up with dense cupcakes.

How to know when these Carrot Cake Cupcakes are done

• Visual cues for doneness: Cupcakes are slightly domed and the tops are caramelized in appearance.
• Physical cue for doneness: A toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean or with a couple of moist (not wet) crumbs. If you don’t have a toothpick, press down gently on the top of the cupcake, if the cupcake springs back nicely, they are done.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes FAQs

Variations

• Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free flour instead of regular flour.
• More Spices: Add more nutmeg, ginger, and cloves for a stronger taste.
• Nuts or Raisins: Put in some chopped nuts or raisins for extra crunch and sweetness.
• Pineapple: Mix in some crushed pineapple to make the cake moist and fruity.
• Coconut: Use some coconut oil and add shredded coconut to give a tropical flavor.
• Switch Up The Frosting: Add a plain Vanilla Frosting, Vanilla or Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, or a Peanut Butter Frosting.

More tasty desserts

• Lemon Blueberry Sweet Rolls with a sweet glaze
• Coconut Macaroons dipped in chocolate
• Magic Cookie Bars with a graham cracker crust
• Creamy Lemon Pie with a graham cracker crust

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4.89 from 18 votes

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

By Chelsea Lords

These easy Carrot Cake Cupcakes are flavored with just the right spices and topped with sweet cinnamon-cream cheese frosting. A sprinkle of pecans adds the perfect finishing touch!

Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Equipment

• Muffin pan lined
• Mixer

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1-1/3 cups flour spooned and leveled
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• ▢ 2/3 cup light brown sugar packed
• ▢ 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 1/4 cup applesauce unsweetened
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
• ▢ 1-1/2 cups finely shredded carrots see note 1

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• ▢ 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese room temperature, do not use low fat
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans optional

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a 12-cavity muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside. Set out the cream cheese and butter to get to room temperature.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
• In a separate large mixing bowl, use a mixer to beat together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and eggs until combined. Mix in applesauce and vanilla extract. With the mixer running at low speed, slowly pour in vegetable oil and mix until combined. Finely shred the carrots on the small side of your grater and measure to ensure you have 1-1/2 cups. Add the dry ingredients right on top of the wet ingredients and the shredded carrots right on top of that. Stir until just combined, be careful to not overmix.
• Pour batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup about 3/4 full. You should use all of the batter between the 12 cavities. Bake in preheated oven for about 18–22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool in the muffin tin for several minutes; transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Frosting

• Using a hand mixer, cream together the room temperature butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until completely smooth. Mix in vanilla extract, salt, and cinnamon. With mixer running on low speed, slowly add powdered sugar and beat until well blended and smooth. If you'd like a thicker frosting, add a bit more powdered sugar (see note 2). Chill the frosting while the cupcakes finish cooling.
• Frost completely cooled cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and if desired, sprinkle crushed pecans on top.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Shredding carrots by hand can be a pain, but you’ll be amazed at how much moisture you get. Pre-shredded carrots in the grocery store are much too large and dry for these cupcakes and the results won't be the same.

Note 2: This makes a lot of frosting, enough for each cupcake to have as much frosting as pictured in these photos. If you'd like less frosting, you can halve the recipe.

Storage: Store cupcakes in the fridge, tightly wrapped with plastic wrap, or in a cupcake holder for up to 4 days. The finished and frosted cupcakes don't freeze and thaw well, but you can freeze unfrosted cupcakes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 286kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.5g | Protein: 2.7g | Fat: 17.7g | Cholesterol: 51.3mg | Sodium: 27.8mg | Fiber: 0.9g | Sugar: 18.9g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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