Carrot Cake Cupcakes—moist, tender, and perfectly spiced—topped with sweet cinnamon-cream cheese frosting. Finish with pecans!
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
My family loves these Carrot Cake Cupcakes, and everyone who tries them loves them! My dad’s favorite dessert is Carrot Cake, so after years of perfecting my recipe, I turned it into these moist, tender, and flavorful cupcakes.
For “testing,” I’ve made them more times than I can count, and my toddler asks for them (or the cake) every Sunday when we bake together.
As much as I love the cake, these cupcakes are easier—especially with little hands adding ingredients faster than I can keep up!
How To Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes Tips
- Use room-temperature ingredients for the best texture. Warm eggs mix in better, making the cupcakes lighter.
- Measure flour correctly—spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off. Too much flour makes cupcakes dense, while too little makes them wet and sunken.
- Stir just until mixed. Overmixing makes cupcakes heavy.
How To Know When Cupcakes Are Done
- How to tell if they’re done: Cupcakes should be slightly domed with golden-brown tops.
- Toothpick test: Stick a toothpick in the center—if it comes out clean or with a few soft crumbs, they’re done. No toothpick? Lightly press the top—if it bounces back, they’re ready.
Quick Tip
#1 Tip: Grate carrots by hand for ultra-moist cupcakes. Store-bought shreds are too big and dry!
Cream Cheese Frosting
This frosting is soft, tangy, and sweet—the perfect match for these spiced cupcakes!
Frosting Tips:
- Use room-temp ingredients. Set out butter and cream cheese an hour before baking. Cold ingredients won’t mix smoothly, leaving lumps.
- Add powdered sugar slowly. Adjust to taste—more makes it sweeter and firmer, less keeps it tangier and softer.
Quick Tip
This recipe makes plenty of frosting for generously topped cupcakes. For less, halve the recipe or use extras as a fruit dip or spread on waffles or pancakes!
Variations
Switch Things Up
- Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free flour instead of regular flour.
- 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.
- 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 Magnolia copycat
- Cake Mix Cupcakes simple and delish
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
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!
Equipment
- Muffin pan lined
Ingredients
- 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.
Love the cupcakes. Realized I didn’t have applesauce so substituted Greek yogurt. My grandchildren loved them and had a serving of carrots!!
So happy you enjoyed these! 🙂
How would I adjust this recipe to make a cake instead of cupcakes?
I’d make this recipe instead: https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/candied-pecan-carrot-cake/
I made these exactly as the recipe called for. They were moist & so delicious! Shredding the carrots was a bit of a task. I ended up with carrot purée when I used the smallest part of the grater. May rethink that part next time. The cream cheese frosting was also delicious… decadent & yummy!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
So thrilled to hear that! Thanks for the comment Jen 🙂
Have you ever tried doubling the recipe to get 24 cupcakes? Just wondering if there would be any issues with doing that. Thank you!
I haven’t personally, but don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
This recipe was amazing !! I do want to know if the frosting will do well with color ? I want to make a tri- color frosting for Easter 🙂
Thank you!! Yes it should be great 🙂
Loved this recipe !! I did have a question though, can I add food coloring to it ? Thinking of making the frosting tri color for Easter !
I think it would be just fine with food dye! 🙂
Are they cupcakes, muffins, who cares!? 🥰They are perfect! I am at 8000 ft, I used my homemade applesauce, reduced leavening a bit, and baked at 360 degrees. Lovely!
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
These look sooo good, as do all your recipes-but I don’t have any applesauce – would it work out to substitute the same amount of canned pumpkin puree?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would work texture wise. Applesauce is naturally a lot sweeter than pumpkin though so you’d end up with a less sweet baked good
If I want to cook this in a pan instead of cupcakes what size pan should I use?
I’d recommend this carrot cake instead!
I’m planning to make the cupcakes on Saturday, frost them on Sunday and take them to work on Monday…. if I keep them in a sealed container in the fridge, am I safe? Or is it risky to frost them in advance?
I personally try to frost as close to possible for serving, but if you have a good airtight cupcake container I think it will be okay! The frosting firms a lot in the fridge so make sure to leave time for it to “thaw” a bit to room temperature so it’s not rock hard!