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Carrot Cake Cupcakes are much better than a slab cake, or a round cake. I've always been team cupcake because they are so easy. Don't be intimidated by this recipe - it's wildly easy with impressive results. I top these with Browned Butter Cream Cheese which takes these cupcakes to another level. Browning Butter is simple and I walk you through the process here.
Ingredients for Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Carrots
- Brown Sugar
- White Sugar
- Eggs
- Canola Oil
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Salt
- All-Purpose Flour
Ingredients for Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Icing Sugar
- Vanilla
- Salt
How to Make Carrot Cupcakes
- Mix the sugars and grated carrot until blended well, about 3 minutes.
- Mix the oil and eggs together, and add to the carrot-sugar mix.
- Sift together the flour, leaveners, salt and spices.
- In three parts, fold in the spiced flour mixture. Only mix until the flour is no longer visible. Over mixing will cause a dense and chewy cake.
- Line a standard-size cupcake/muffin tin with paper liners.
- Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit preheated oven for 25 minutes.
- Make Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing
- Decorate once Chilled
- Enjoy
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, absolutely! I like to use 2 8" cake pans and line them with parchment paper rounds. If you don't have parchment paper rounds you can cut them yourself using this method or grease the pans and flour them first. Bake the cake in a 350 Degree Fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
You can add the crushed walnuts into the batter instead of on top of the icing but it will throw off the volume of the cupcakes making more than 12 so keep that in mind.
Once frosted, you should store it in the fridge. It will remain delicious and safe for 6 days.
Yes, It will add a lot of moisture and increase baking time by about 5 minutes. Drain the pineapple first, don't add more than 1 cup of pineapple tidbits. it will throw off the volume of the cupcakes making more than 12 so keep that in mind.
More Easy Recipes
If you like these cupcakes please try my Pumpkin Pie Muffins with a Cream Cheese Swirl they taste so similar and are even easier to make!
📖Recipe
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Carrot Cake - Wet Ingredients
- 1 Cup Carrot Finely Shredded and Packed
- ½ Cup White Sugar
- ½ Cup Brown Sugar Packed
- 2 Large Eggs
- ¾ Cup Canola Oil
Cake Ingredients to Sift together - Dry Ingredients
- ½ Teaspoon Table Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
- ⅛ Teaspoon Cloves
- ¼ Teaspoon Ginger
- ¼ Teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1⅛ Cup All Purpose Flour
Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- ⅛ Cup Browned Butter ⅛ of a cup is equal to 2 tablespoons
- 1 Brick Cream Cheese (8 oz or 250g) Softened
- 2 Cups Confectioners Sugar Spooned and Leveled
- 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract or 1 vanilla bean
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
Cake Topping
- ½ Cup Crushed Walnuts
Instructions
Prep Work
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Cake - Wet Ingredients
- Wash, Peel and Shred Carrots. Measure by packing the shredded carrot into a dry measuring cup, for most accurate results. I like to use the smaller 'zest' side of a box grater for this.
- With a stand or hand mixer, blend the carrots with the brown sugar and white sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes.
- Whisk the eggs and oil together and add in to the carrots + Sugar mixture. Mix until combined.
Cake - Dry Ingredients
- Using a fine mesh sieve, combine the salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and flour. Note: to measure the flour spoon it into a dry measuring cup and then level it off. (⅛ of a cup is equal to 2 tablespoons)
Cake - Combine wet and dry Ingredients
- Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients into the wet. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the dry ingredients. Doing this by hand helps prevent over mixing. Mixing the dry ingredients in ⅓ at a time helps to ensure that everything is incorporated evenly without having to over mix.
Bake
- Using a large cookie scoop, fill cupcake liners ⅘ of the way full.
- Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes. If you have a convection oven I find having it on regular bake mode (no fan) produces better results.
Icing
- While the cupcakes bake take the cream cheese out of the fridge to soften it.
- Make the Brown Butter: In a thick bottomed saucepan or skillet on medium heat: melt the butter. Once Butter is melted, stir continuously, the butter will foam up and the butter solids will start to toast and brown up. The butter will start to have a nutty aroma. At this point you are done and can remove the butter from the stove and into the fridge to chill the butter. Chill for one hour to firm up.Note: You can make this icing without browning the butter but if you've ever had browned butter then you will know that it's totally worth the effort.
- Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer: Blend the Cream Cheese and Firmed up Brown Butter together. Add in Sugar. Blend. Add in Vanilla and Salt. Whip to Combine and you're all done - easy hey?!
Decorate
- You can pipe this icing on to the cupcakes but cream cheese icing is not as stiff as buttercream. So, just know not to expect a tall swirl like you can achieve with buttercream. I like to use a 1M Tip and start in the middle and work my way outwards to create a simple flower. You can also use a spoon and smooth the icing on top. It's a very forgiving icing to work with. If you would like to top with walnuts simply crush them and sprinkle on top.
- Store in the fridge until ready to enjoy.
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