Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Carrot Cake Cupcakes. These tender cupcakes are loaded with spice and freshly grated carrots. Topped with the fluffiest cream cheese frosting ever! 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes from scratch! Made with fresh carrots, tons of spice, greek yogurt and topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting. These are the perfect cupcakes.

How do you make carrot cake cupcakes?

Following the recipe below will yield 20 carrot cake cupcakes. Plus I have several tips and tricks for you to ensure the BEST possible cupcakes.

• Room Temperature Ingredients. It just takes a little extra time to ensure that all the ingredients are at room temperature. Remove the eggs and yogurt about 30 minutes ahead of time to ensure they warm enough. Same for the frosting, you want the butter and cream cheese to be at room temperature to ensure an ultra creamy frosting.
• Don’t Overmix.   If overmixed then all the air bubbles will be crushed and our cakes will not be light and fluffy. Just mix the batter until the ingredients are just mixed together, we don’t need to mix out every single lump in the batter.
• Don’t Overfill.  Most recipes will tell you how full to fill the liners, maybe 2/3 or 3/4 full.  This is important because not all cupcakes rise the same.  So if we fill them too much then the tops will flow over and out, or if we don’t fill them enough they won’t rise up past the top of the liner.  If the later happens though, just add the frosting! To keep your cupcakes uniform try using an ice cream scoop to fill the liners.
• Preheat The Oven Always. Preheat your oven when baking. Starting in a cold oven is not going to help our cupcakes bake and rise.
• No Peeking! Don’t open the oven until it is time to check on them. Opening the oven during baking will release hot air, let in cold air, the cupcakes won’t know what’s going on and they won’t reach their full risen potential.
• Remove From the Pan to Cool. If we leave the cupcakes in the tin they will continue to bake off the heat of the tin. Let’s get them carefully out of the tin and onto a wire rack to cool and not dry out.
• Cool Completely Before Frosting. There is nothing better than fresh baked goods right out of the oven. But what happens when we put our beautiful frostings made of butter on top of those warm cupcakes? It melts.
• Frost Them!  The frosting acts as a sealant.  It holds in the moisture of the cupcake.  Without frosting the cupcakes will dry out quicker.
• Store Covered. Just like most things air will make them go stale. Just make sure they’re covered, keep them at room temperature unless otherwise noted in a recipe. Cupcakes can be frozen and brought back to room temperature.  Just wrap them tightly in foil and then place them in a freezer bag.

How do you grate a Carrot?

To prepare the carrots for grating make sure to rinse and dry them. Then peel the outer skin off. You can either grate them with a traditional box grater, using the large side. If you prefer smaller pieces of carrot that basically disappear into the cake while baking you can use the smaller side.

You can also grate carrots quickly and easily in a food processor if yours came with a grater plate. It would sit towards the top of the processor, cut the ends of the carrots off and place them in the hole in the cover. Press the carrots against the slicer while pulsing with the pusher. Quick and easy!

Can I Make this cupcake recipe into a cake instead?

Yes. This carrot cake cupcake recipe could be made as a cake also using a 9×13 size cake pan. Bake for about 40-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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Carrot Cake Cupcakes

4.96 from 21 votes

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Servings: 20

Author: Serene

Carrot Cake Cupcakes. These tender cupcakes are loaded with spice and freshly grated carrots. Topped with the fluffiest cream cheese frosting ever!

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 large eggs
• ▢ 5.3 ounces plain or vanilla greek yogurt
• ▢ ½ cup vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 cup light brown sugar
• ▢ 1 cup white sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ▢ 3 cups grated carrots
• ▢ ¼ cup chopped pecans

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350℉ degrees. Place liners in a cupcake tin and set aside.
• In a large size bowl combine the wet ingredients: eggs, greek yogurt, vegetable oil, sugars, and vanilla extract. Stir until completely combined.
• In a separate medium size bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Whisk together to combine.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until mostly combined. Fold in the grated carrots and the chopped pecans. Don’t overmix.
• Scoop the batter and fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full.
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Carefully remove the cupcakes from the tin and allow the cupcakes to cool on a wire rack.
• To prepare the frosting add the cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl. Mix until smooth. Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix on high speed until frosting is smooth and creamy.
• Spread onto cooled cupcakes  with an offset spatula or I used an Ateco 808 tip in a pastry bag.

Equipment

• hand mixer
• muffin tin

Notes

Nutrition information is for one cupcake minus the frosting.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 3g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sugar: 13g

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

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