Moist Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Grinding up the carrots packs more carrots into each cupcake and makes these cupcakes extra moist and delicious! Creaming the butter and sugar together provides an extra tender crumb and a mostly flat top which is perfect for the lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting.
Servings 12 servings
Calories 325kcal
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 10 tbsp (5 oz) unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups (7 oz) finely minced carrots
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 tsp orange zest optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Take out a standard sized muffin tin and fill each well with a liner or grease them with butter.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a mixer on medium, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the down the sides of the bowl with a spatula a few times. Then add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the bowl again and add the sour cream and vanilla. Mix for 30 seconds more. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the carrots. Then add the flour mixture and mix until just combined with a few white streaks remaining. Give the batter a stir with your spatula and divide it among the twelve wells of the muffin tin.
- Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until the cupcakes are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. Let them rest for 2-3 minutes, then carefully take them out of the muffin tin and let them cool on a cooling rack. Can be made up to 2 days ahead.
- Once the cupcakes are cool, it's time to make the frosting. Whip the cream cheese and butter on high until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix in. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix on low until combined, then increase the speed to high and beat together until smooth.
- To decorate the cupcakes, either spread or pipe frosting onto them and then sprinkle the tops with a little orange zest.
Notes
To finely mince the carrots, peel them and roughly chop them. Then put them in a food processor with the metal blade and process until no large pieces remain, about 1 minute.
If you want to really pile on the frosting as I show in the pictures, double the frosting recipe. The amount I call for in the recipe provides a moderate amount of frosting per cupcake.
The butter should be soft, but not too warm. If you are scientifically minded, 60F is the temperature you want. Or you can press on the butter - it should give but still be cool. Also, to soften butter quickly, cut it into 1/2" chunks and it should be soft enough in 10-15 minutes.
For the eggs, if you didn't take them out ahead of time, no worries! Just put them in the some warm water for about 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Calories: 325kcal