These Carrot Cupcakes are packed with fresh grated carrot and delicious spices. They are moist and not too sweet and the cream cheese frosting makes them over the top delicious! If you have never made carrot cake from scratch before, jump in and make these. These make a perfect Easter treat!
Ingredients for Carrot Cupcakes:
- 1 cup pecans, or walnuts, toasted and chopped
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 4 cups peeled and shredded carrots
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter, one stick, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- pinch of salt if using unsalted butter
Let’s make some Carrot Cupcakes!
The first thing we are going to do is toast the pecans. You can skip this step but we think it is worth the extra couple of minutes to bring out the nutty flavor. Place the nuts in a pan over medium-low heat and allow to toast, stirring once in a while so they do not burn. Once they have deepened in color and you get that nutty smell, they are good to go. Set them aside to cool, then chop.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
In another large bowl, whisk together oil, sour cream, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.
Next add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in batches. Stir until smooth.
Fold in the shredded carrots and chopped nuts, if using.
Place cupcake liners in muffin tin and fill each 2/3 full with cupcake batter. Depending on if you use nuts or not, this recipe will make approximately 34 to 36 cupcakes. Feel free to halve the recipe if making for a smaller group.
Bake cupcakes in a 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean, then allow cupcakes to cool before frosting.
To make the cream cheese frosting:
In the bowl of a mixer add softened cream cheese and butter and whip 5 to 7 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix on low until incorporated, then turn onto high and whip several more minutes.
PRO TIPS:
If your frosting is too thick you can add a little bit of milk to thin it out.
If the frosting is too thin you can add more powdered sugar or corn starch to thicken it.
HOW TO MAKE ADORABLE FROSTING CARROTS:
We thought little carrots would look cute on top of these carrot cupcakes. Take a small amount of frosting into 2 small bowls. Add green food coloring to one and orange to the other. I am a big fan of gel food coloring because you can get rich colors without using much, but I couldn’t find mine this time so I used regular food coloring.
Stir the food coloring into the frosting until it is all mixed in and you’ve reached your desired color. Put the frosting into piping bags with small tips, or use a couple Ziploc bags with the tip snipped off like we did.
Add a triangle shaped squiggle in orange to the top to make the carrot, and add green coming out the top for the carrots tops. Have fun with it!
We made about half of ours with nuts, and half without. On the ones with nuts we added more chopped pecans around the edge of the frosting. We hope these Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are the best you’ve had! We think they are delicious!
Carrot Cupcakes with Pecans and Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Cupcakes made with shredded carrots, spices, and toasted pecans. Topped with a delicous cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 4 cups peeled and shredded carrots
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- In another large bowl, whisk together oil, sour cream, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.
- Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients in batches until smooth.
- Fold in shredded carrots and nuts.
- Add cupcake liners to 3 muffin tins. Fill each liner 2/3 full with carrot cupcake batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Instructions for Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Add softened cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a mixer.
- Whip on high for 5 to 7 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix on low until just incorporated.
- Turn to high and mix for several more minutes until light and fluffy.
- If frosting is too thick, add a splash of milk.
- If frosting is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar or corn starch.
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