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    You are here: Home / Desserts / Cupcakes / Carrot Cake Cupcakes

    Carrot Cake Cupcakes

    February 27, 2018 Updated March 19, 2019 BySam 1,023 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    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 ½-1 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 recipe for moist and fluffy carrot cake cupcakes! 
    Recipe from SugarSpunRun.com
    4.97 from 454 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: cupcakes
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 25 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes
    Servings: 12 cupcakes
    Calories: 219kcal
    Author: Sam Merritt

    Ingredients

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

    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.
    • Stir in canola oil. Add eggs, one at a time, pausing to scrape down sides of the bowl after each addition.  Beat until well-combined.
    • Stir in vanilla extract and milk.
    • Add carrots and nuts (if using). and stir until combined.
    • 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 completely before decorating with 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.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cupcake 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

     

    « The Best Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Connie

      March 06, 2023 at 1:01 pm

      5 stars
      Always the best!!! I make these again and again… they are the favorite out of all the cupcakes I make! Thank you, Sam!!!!

      Reply
      • Paula

        March 15, 2023 at 1:32 am

        What would you recommend bake time for jumbo muffins, the 6 muffin pan?

        By the way I’ve made these cupcakes 4 times already and they are always delish! Thank you for the recipe.

        Reply
        • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

          March 15, 2023 at 10:08 am

          Hi Paula! We haven’t tried this ourselves so we can’t say for sure what the bake time will be. We’d recommend you just keep an eye on them. Enjoy 😊

    2. Kourtney

      February 23, 2023 at 9:53 am

      5 stars
      Really yummy! I used OliveNation’s vanilla extract and it made this recipe taste so good! It has more of a vanilla taste than an alcoholic taste. Huge game changer.

      Reply
    3. Joanne

      February 14, 2023 at 2:12 am

      What would you recommend for the bake time when making mini cupcakes?

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        February 14, 2023 at 9:42 am

        Hi Joanne! Other commenters have reported that they took approximately 11 minutes as mini cupcakes. Hope that helps! 🙂

        Reply
    4. Marissa Smith

      February 11, 2023 at 8:06 pm

      Hello! Would it be okay if I substituted the canola oil for melted butter? Thank you!

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        February 13, 2023 at 4:36 pm

        Hi Marissa! That will work fine here. Enjoy 😊

        Reply
    5. Marissa

      January 25, 2023 at 11:32 am

      Do you think it would work out if I added some golden raisins along with the nuts?

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        January 25, 2023 at 1:56 pm

        Absolutely! Enjoy, Marissa 😊

        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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