Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- By Amy Dong
- Published Mar. 24, 2014
- Updated Aug. 17, 2022
Carrot Cake is the perfect treat for those who have a sweet tooth to satisfy, yet want something fairly healthy. Made with fresh carrots (+raisins and walnuts if you like), these carrot cake cupcakes are sure to beat that sweet tooth and pack a nutritious punch at the same time! We serve these for breakfast, completely guilt-free.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
These carrot cake cupcakes are moist, tender, and perfectly spiced, with balanced sweetness. The cream cheese frosting is pure indulgent dreaminess. I stuffed some luscious cupcakes with cream cheese…feel free to do so, if you love some extra frosting!
These cupcakes are perfect for carrot cake lovers everywhere, and even healthy or at least semi-healthy. Because there are all those carrots within, with raisins and walnuts included, if you’d like your carrot cake cupcakes without add-ins.
Easy Cream Cheese Frosting
This cream cheese frosting is super easy and can be used on more than just carrot cake.
- Be sure your salted butter is softened to room temperature, but not at all melty
- Use whole, regular cream cheese, once again softened to room temperature. Cream cheese actually benefits from being even slightly melty, as it helps to prevent clumps when mixing.
- It may seem like a lot of powdered sugar, but because powdered sugar is very airy and fine, it compresses once added to the butter and cream cheese.
- Vanilla extract is always great for cream cheese frosting, as it lends fantastic flavor.
- Best of all: this cream cheese frosting can be made up to several days ahead of time. Cover and chill until ready to use.
Carrot Cupcakes are a healthy-ish treat
Carrot Cake Cupcakes are the perfect treat for those who have a sweet tooth to satisfy, yet want something fairly healthy. Made with fresh carrots (+raisins and walnuts if you like), these carrot cake cupcakes are sure to beat that sweet tooth and pack a nutritious punch at the same time! We serve these for breakfast, completely guilt-free.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger provide plenty of flavor to the cakes
- 3 cups of freshly grated carrots offer extra moisture and pack in the vegetables without feeling like you’re even eating vegetables
- Feel free to use olive oil in place of canola oil; we often do so, and the cakes don’t taste like olives at all.
- Chopped walnuts and raisins are healthy add-ins, if you’d like.
More to Bake and Eat:
- One Bowl Yum-Yum Cupcakes (oil and dairy free!)
- Boston Cream Cupcakes
- Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Ganache Frosting
- Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes
- World’s Best Chocolate Oatmeal Cupcakes
Did you make this?
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Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup salted butter, softened to room temp
- 16 oz regular cream cheese, softened to room temp
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cupcakes
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp table salt
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cups canola oil
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups grated peeled carrots
- ½ cup chopped walnuts, optional
- ½ cup raisins, optional
Instructions
- To make the Frosting: Combine butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Beat with electric whisk on medium high, until smooth and incorporated. Add sugar gradually and beat well until fully combined and smooth. Cover and place in fridge to chill at least 30 minutes to firm enough to frost cupcakes.
- To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl: Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger until well blended.
- In another bowl: Whisk sugar and oil until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Slowly fold in flour mixture with wet mixture using rubber spatula, just until batter is incorporated.
- Fold in carrots, and optional walnuts and raisins. Divide batter evenly into 24 muffin tins.
- Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out almost clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting.
- When ready to serve, let chilled frosting rest at room temp long enough to reach desired frosting consistency. Frost cupcakes and serve.
- * If you'd like to fill the inside of cupcakes with frosting, simply use a sharp knife to cut a quarter-sized circle (about halfway deep into the cupcake) and fill with frosting. Replace the top layer of cupcake, and frost the tops.
Notes
Nutrition (per serving)
Delicious Little Cakes to Make:
This Carrot Cake below is my favorite for sheet cakes, loaf cakes, etc. There’s a touch of pineapple in this one, which brings the moistness over the top!
If you like your cupcakes moist, tender, and sweet… yet healthy-ish, you’ll adore these Chocolate Oatmeal Cupcakes. They are going to open your entire cupcake world!
And these Classic Golden Yellow Cupcakes, made from scratch, are so easy! Bake ’em and eat ’em the same afternoon.
