Carrot cake is a popular dessert all over the country but did you know that the best carrot cupcakes are right here? Sweet with a hint of spice and lots of carrot flavor.
With carrot cake taking one of the top 5 favorite cake flavor spots it’s not hard to see why it’s so popular. With grated fresh carrots, chopped pecans, spices, and a cream cheese frosting for finish every bite is sweet, crunchy, moist, and oh so sweet.
We LOVE carrot cake cupcakes around here and I enjoy using everything from fresh garden carrots to storebought to make them. With every cupcake comes a little pile of cream cheese frosting and a few hands reaching to be the first to take a bite. You know cupcakes won’t last long in this house haha!
There’s never a bad time for carrot cake. It’s one of those traditional flavors that are great for holidays like Christmas as well as Easter and while it’s mostly sold and made in the spring it can be seen all year long. Just another point to prove this timeless classic is here to stay.
Ingredients for moist carrot cupcakes
- Sugar: We need granulated sugar to help the cupcakes turn out nice and sweet (and give them a golden color on top).
- Oil: You can use vegetable or canola oil.
- Eggs: We need 4 eggs to help give our cupcakes the binder that they need to stick together. Eggs also help with the texture and leavening.
- Cream cheese: Yes, that’s right, we want cream cheese IN the batter. It’s going to help add richness and moisture to every tender bite.
- Carrots: Shredded carrots are the star of the show in these cupcakes so make sure to let them shine.
- Pecans: Optionally you can add in some chopped pecans.
- Flour: We need all-purpose flour to be the base of our batter mixture.
- Baking soda: Baking soda is our leavening agent and will help these cupcakes to puff up nicely while baking.
- Salt: Salt is a flavor enhancer and will help to bring out the other flavors in this dish.
- Spices: We need a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for a perfectly spiced flavor.
- Cream cheese frosting: You can use storebought frosting or make homemade cream cheese frosting depending on what you prefer.
How to make carrot cake cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, and softened cream cheese until well combined.
- Stir in the carrots and the pecans.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Fold it into the wet ingredients until no flour streaks remain.
- Line or spray a cupcake pan.
- Divide the batter between 24 muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.
- Top with come cream cheese frosting once cooled.
Carrot Cupcake FAQs
If your cupcakes have already been frosted, it is best to store them covered in the fridge for food safety reasons as cream cheese needs to be kept in the fridge. If unfrosted cupcakes can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Carrot cupcakes frosted or unfrosted can last about a week if stored properly.
Yes, carrot cupcakes both frosted and unfrosted can be frozen for up to 3 or 4 months and still be fine. Unfrosted can actually be frozen for up to 6 months if stored in an airtight container.
For frosted cupcakes, you’ll want them in a taller airtight container to prevent the frosting from getting smudged and then thaw in the fridge or on the counter until soft enough to eat.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup oil vegetable or canola
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup cream cheese softened
- 3 cups carrots shredded
- 1 cup pecans chopped
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 2 cups cream cheese frosting see note
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Whisk oil, sugar, eggs, and cream cheese until combined well.
- Stir in the carrots and pecans.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
- Add it to the wet ingredients. Fold everything together until no streaks of flour remain.
- Line or spray the cupcakes tins.
- Divide the batter between 24 muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Ice with cream cheese frosting.
Notes
Nutrition
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