These carrot cake cupcakes are moist, soft, perfectly spiced, and every carrot cake and fall lover’s dream. These cupcakes are made with grated carrots, brown sugar, and fall spices, topped with a creamy cream cheese frosting.
These carrot cupcakes are unbelievably moist and fluffy, and they stay moist for 3 days!
If you like making cupcakes as much as we do, you should check out our easy chocolate cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes, honey cupcakes, and our strawberry filled cupcakes.
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Why this recipe works
- These cupcakes are unbelievably moist and fluffy.
- Topped with dreamy cream cheese frosting.
- Stays moist for 3 days!
- The ingredients for these cupcakes are super simple and basic, you probably have them lying around in your kitchen.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the baking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Carrots- use fresh carrots for this recipe! Not canned carrots and not pre-shredded carrots, to get moist cupcakes to use fresh carrots and grate them yourself.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe, self-rising flour, and cake flour will work great as well.
Baking powder and baking soda – to allow the cupcake to rise.
Brown sugar- we like using brown sugar for this recipe, the brown sugar adds extra flavor and tastes amazing with fall spices.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Eggs– To give the cake a good structure. Make sure you’re using room-temperature eggs.
Vanilla extract– Vanilla extract Is an essential ingredient for baking.
Cinnamon- use ground cinnamon for this recipe, the cinnamon adds so much flavor so don’t skip it.
Nutmeg- use dried ground nutmeg or freshly grated nutmeg.
Salt– We used kosher salt for this recipe. Salt doesn’t give the cake a salty taste, it helps to enhance the chocolate flavor.
For the cream cheese frosting
Butter- make sure you are using room temperate butter.
Cream cheese- make sure that you are using whole-fat cream cheese that is is at room temperature.
Powder sugar- known as confessional sugar. For a smoother buttercream, sift it before adding to the butter.
Pinch of salt- to balance the sweetness.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prep a cupcake pan with liners.
Into a big mixing bowl, add the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and kosher salt. mix with a whisk until combined.
Finely and grate the carrots. Add the grated carrots to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined. Don't overmix the batter!
Pour the batter ¾ into the cupcake tins and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
For the cream cheese frosting
Make the cream cheese frosting: into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
Add the cream cheese and mix until smooth.
Add ½ of the powder sugar at a time (you don’t want to be in a powder sugar cloud).
Add a pinch of salt, and the vanilla extract and mix well until smooth.
Transfer the cream cheese frosting into a piping bag with a round tip and frost the cupcakes. We like to top the cupcakes with ground cinnamon or crushed nuts like walnuts or pecans (roasted).
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cupcakes and not dense and dry cupcakes.
- Use room temperature butter and cream cheese.
- Use full-fat cream cheese, this step makes sure that your frosting is stable.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before adding the frosting.
- Mesure you flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Do not overfill the cupcake liners! don't fill the cupcake liners with more than ¾ of the way full. These cupcakes will puff up and expand. It doesn't seem like much but it truly puffs up beautifully.
- Double or triple the batter for more cupcakes! this cupcake recipe makes 12 cupcakes. So double or triple the batter for more cupcakes!
- Use fresh carrots for this recipe, not canned carrots and not pre-shredded carrots, this step ensures that you have moist cupcakes.
Faq's
These cupcakes will last up to 4 days stored in the fridge. Cover them with plastic wrap or foil to prevent it from drying out.
Yes! These cupcakes bake great as a sheet cake! Make sure you change the baking time.
We use all-purpose flour for these cupcakes. Self-rising flour and cake flour will work great as well.
Storing
The cream cheese frosting needs to be refrigerated because it contains cream cheese and butter.
If your cupcakes aren’t frosted, it’s okay to store the cupcakes at room temperature. Make sure that you store the cupcakes in an airtight container so they won’t dry out.
Freezing
Freeze these cupcakes after they cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months.
Our tip is not to freeze them decorated or covered with frosting, because it can ruin the decorating on the cupcake, we suggest freezing the cupcake and decorating it when you defrost it.
If you’re not looking to impress anyone with your decorating skills, it’s absolutely okay to freeze the cupcake with the frosting on.
Substitutions
There are a few substitutions that may be helpful for your diet:
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, replace the flour with gluten-free flour. We never tried this but let us know if it works!
Dairy-free - you can make this cake dairy-free by replacing the butter with vegan butter or using your favorite recipe for vegan vanilla frosting or vegan cream cheese frosting.
Variations
Frosting- If you don’t like cream cheese frosting, you can use vanilla buttercream, maple buttercream, or cinnamon buttercream.
Add-ins- You can basically add any of your favorite add-ins to this cake. You can add chopped nuts, raisins, pineapple, chocolate chips, and applesauce.
Tools
Mixing bowls- best glass mixing bowls.
Whisk set- our favorite copper whisk set.
Cupcakes tins- our favorite Wilton cupcake tins.
Open star piping tip- our favorite Wilton piping tip for cupcake decoration.
More fall recipes to try:
Moist honey cake- This honey cake is moist, rich in flavor, and full of spices that will make your house smell like autumn. This honey cake is definitely a family favorite. Every Rosh Hashana we make this honey cake, it’s our favorite time of the year.
Apple upside-down cake- This apple upside-down cake recipe is a must-have for fall. This apple upside-down cake features an incredibly moist cake that is loaded with cinnamon and nutmeg, topped with a caramelized apple topping.
Easy apple cake- This cake is fluffy, light, airy, moist, soft, and delicious. This apple cake contains only a few simple ingredients to make and takes under 20 minutes to prep.
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📖 Recipe
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups Flour
- ½ cups Sugar
- ¼ cups brown sugar
- 2 Eggs large
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¾ cups Vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 2 cups Grated carrots
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 230 g Cream cheese soften
- 100 g Butter
- 3 cups Powder sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prep a cupcake pan with liners.
- Into a big mixing bowl, add the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and kosher salt. mix with a whisk until combined.
- Peel and grate the carrots. Add the grated carrots into the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined. Don’t overmix the batter!
- Pour the batter ¾ into the cupcake tins and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
For the cream cheese frosting:
- Make the cream cheese frosting: into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
- Transfer the cream cheese frosting into a piping bag with a round tip and frost the cupcakes. We like to top the cupcakes with ground cinnamon or crushed nuts like walnuts or pecans (roasted).
- Add ½ of the powder sugar at a time (you don’t want to be in a powder sugar cloud).
- Add a pinch of salt, and the vanilla extract and mix well until smooth.
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cupcakes and not dense and dry cupcakes.
- Use room temperature butter and cream cheese.
- Use full-fat cream cheese, this step makes sure that your frosting is stable.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before adding the frosting.
- Mesure you flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Do not overfill the cupcake liners! don't fill the cupcake liners with more than ¾ of the way full. These cupcakes will puff up and expand. It doesn't seem like much but it truly puffs up beautifully.
- Double or triple the batter for more cupcakes! this cupcake recipe makes 12 cupcakes. So double or triple the batter for more cupcakes!
- Use fresh carrots for this recipe, not canned carrots and not pre-shredded carrots, this step ensures that you have moist cupcakes.
Lee Coughlan says
I'm not a fan of carrot cake, but this was the best cupcake I've ever eaten in my whole life! Seriously!