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    Home ยป Recipes ยป Cupcakes

    Carrot Cake Cupcakes

    February 27, 2018 Updated March 19, 2019 BySam 1,314 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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    Carrot Cake Cupcakes

    Soft, fluffy, and moist carrot cake cupcakes! Made completely from scratch with real grated carrots and the option to add nuts or raisins, these cupcakes are always a hit! Make sure to top them off with the absolute best cream cheese frosting.

    A Carrot Cake Cupcake Topped off with a cream cheese frosting swirl

    Carrot Cake Cupcakes will forever be my favorite way to get my daily serving of vegetables.  Give me a cupcake and a zucchini muffin for each hand and I’ve got the bottom of the food pyramid covered.

    Alright, maybe carrot cake cupcakes aren’t the best way to get your daily vegetables, but it’s definitely the tastiest, especially when topped off with a very generous swirl of cream cheese frosting. They’re soft, moist, and cheerfully fluffy, these cupcakes taste like springtime and sunny weather (which I could really, really use right now!).

    Bite taken out of a carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting

    These carrot cake cupcakes are a modified version of my favorite carrot cake.  The recipe is almost identical to the cake portion except for a bit more liquid in the batter — the original is perfect for cake but I found it to be too dense in the small space of a cupcake liner and added some milk for a bit of levity.

    I use all oil in this recipe (no butter) for the moistest (sorry if you hate that word, if you have a better substitute I’m happy to hear it!) cupcakes, and thanks to the spices you’re not missing anything in terms of flavor, I promise!  I found that butter just didn’t give these cupcakes the texture that they really needed.

    I have a few tips on how to make your own carrot cake cupcakes turn out perfectly, so let’s get into that!

    Carrot Cake Cupcake Batter

    Tips for Making Carrot Cake Cupcakes

    • I recommend using the grate setting on your food processor to prepare your carrots, and then briefly pulsing them in your food processor for fine shreds of carrot.  I feel like just grating them leaves carrot pieces that are too big, but don’t overdo it when you pulse or you’ll have carrot juice and it will impart way too much carrot flavor into your cupcakes!
    • If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a hand grater to grate your carrots.
    • While I didn’t use them for my carrot cake cupcakes, you can add walnuts, pecans, or raisins (why, though!) to this recipe, if you’d like.  This batter can hold about ยฝ-1 cup of add-ins.
    • This recipe can be doubled to make 24 cupcakes.

    Half of a carrot cake cupcake, showing the moist vibrant orange center

    Enjoy! The full printable recipe is just below the video, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you enjoy watching these videos!!

    How Do You Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes

    Carrot cake cupcake with white frosting on a plate

    Carrot Cake Cupcakes

    A moist and fluffy carrot cake cupcakes recipe! Perfect for Easter or any time of year, these are sure to be the star of your dessert table.
    4.97 from 676 votes
    Print Pin Rate
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    Course: cupcakes
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
    Servings: 12 cupcakes
    Calories: 219kcal
    Author: Sam Merritt

    Ingredients

    • 1 ¼ cups (157 g) all-purpose flour
    • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
    • ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar packed
    • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
    • ¾ cups (180 ml) avocado, vegetable, or canola oil
    • 2 large eggs room temperature
    • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 2 Tablespoons milk
    • 1 ½ cups (170 g) grated carrots
    • ½ cup (60 g) chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
    • 1 batch Cream Cheese Frosting

    Recommended Equipment

    • Cupcake tin
    • Mixing bowls

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a 12-count muffin pans with paper liners.
    • In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer), whisk together flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
      1 ¼ cups (157 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar packed, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
    • Stir in oil. Add eggs, one at a time, pausing to scrape down sides of the bowl after each addition.  Beat until well-combined.
      ¾ cups (180 ml) avocado, vegetable, or canola oil, 2 large eggs
    • Stir in vanilla extract and milk.
      1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 Tablespoons milk
    • Add carrots and nuts (if using). and stir until combined.
      1 ½ cups (170 g) grated carrots, ½ cup (60 g) chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
    • Evenly divide batter into cupcake liners, filling each ⅔-¾ of the way full.  Transfer to oven and bake on 350F (175C) for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs.  
    • Allow to cool in the baking tin for 5 minutes before carefully removing to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating with cream cheese frosting*.
      1 batch Cream Cheese Frosting

    Notes

    *Cream cheese frosting recipe will decorate 12 cupcakes if you use as much frosting as seen in the photos.  If you plan to just spread the frosting on the cupcakes, you can probably get away with cutting the frosting recipe in half.

    Storing

    Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cupcake (without frosting, please see cream cheese frosting for frosting nutrition info)with frosting | Calories: 219kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 179mg | Potassium: 46mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

    Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

    Carrot Cake Cupcake on a plate, surrounded by flowers

     

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Adriana

      June 02, 2025 at 4:20 pm

      5 stars
      Made them yesterday and even my daughter that doesn’t like carrots ate it and complimented! Do you know if I could use the same recipe for banana cake?

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        June 04, 2025 at 11:58 am

        Wonderful! We’d recommend our banana cake or banana cupcakes instead ๐Ÿ˜Š

        Reply
    2. Stephanie

      May 28, 2025 at 1:51 pm

      I am not using any oils anymore, could I swap out butter for oil? I have read it won’t be as moist, should I add more butter then?

      Reply
      • Sam

        May 28, 2025 at 1:57 pm

        Hi Stephanie! You are correct that it will not be as moist with all butter but you can definitely swap the oil for an equal amount of butter. I would not recommend adding more or it could mess up the texture of the cupcake. Honestly, this is a very moist cupcake anyway so you’ll probably be just fine and likely won’t really miss the oil. Would love to hear how they turn out for you!

        Reply
        • Stephanie

          June 02, 2025 at 11:47 am

          They came out great with the butter! My family loved them! Thank you for your response to me! It encouraged me to try it.

        • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

          June 04, 2025 at 12:17 pm

          Wonderful! Thanks for letting us know, Stephanie ๐Ÿฉท

      • Km

        May 29, 2025 at 6:54 pm

        you can swap out applesauce for oil, 1:1. I do this for all recipes with oil and it is fantastic!

        Reply
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    The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

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