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.
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!).
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!
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 1/2-1 cup of add-ins.
- This recipe can be doubled to make 24 cupcakes.
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How Do You Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (157g)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed (100g)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 cups canola oil (180ml)
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 1/2 cups grated carrots (170g)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans optional
- 1 batch Cream Cheese Frosting
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 2/3-3/4 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
Nutrition
Valerie L. says
Same, these cupcakes both look and sound divine, especially with that dreamy looking Cream Cheese Frosting. I will definitely have to make some time to make these beauties. Thanks for passing this along to us!
Valerie L. says
Sorry about that typo on your name, Sam!
Violet says
What other oil can you use if you do not have canoli oil. ? Tkns
Sam says
Vegetable oil would work just fine 🙂
Jan says
Absolutely the best! Family and friends enjoyed every bite. Better than previous recipes I’ve tried. Thanks!
Sam says
I’m so thrilled to hear this! Thank you so much for letting me know how they turned out for you, Jan! <3
NinaD says
Hi Sam!
I tried this at home with my son. The amount of sweetness and the perfect blend of the ingredients made this recipe a must-try. Its perfect indeed. We all loved and finished every bit of it. Thanks a lot! Looking forward for more amazing recipe and tips. All the best!!
Sam says
Hi Nina! I’m so happy to hear that these were a hit and you and your son enjoyed them! Thank you so much for your kind comment <3
Birdy says
Excellent recipe! I cut both sugars by 1/3 since the icing is so sweet. I made them for my sister’s birthday. She loved them!
Sam says
I’m glad you (and your sister!) enjoyed them!! Thank you for commenting, Birdy!
Deb Manning says
I just made your carrot cupcakes and the cream cheese frosting for my hubby’s birthday today. They were a HUGE hit! Everyone loved both the cupcakes and the frosting. Thank you for sharing your delicious recipes.
Sam says
Thank you for your feedback Deb! I am glad everyone enjoyed them!
Rita says
Yummy, Yummy, Yummy! They disappeared in a blink of an eye! Am going to make more today. Was wondering if I can try almond extract since am out of vanilla at the moment?
Sam says
Hi Rita! I have not tried it, but I think it will definitely alter the taste. I would be hesitant to try it as I am not sure exactly how it would work.
Bisola says
Thanks for this recipe! I made it last night for my boyfriends birthday and he loved it! We both did!
But as soon as the cupcakes cooled down it became hard. Was that supposed to happen? If not what should I do next time to prevent that?
Sam says
The only thing I can really think of is that they might have been possibly been over-baked? I am glad you enjoyed them otherwise! 😃
Aishah says
I made this a few weeks ago and got compliments from everyone who tried them. Thank you for sharing.
Elena Rojas Crocker says
Total success! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them! ☺️
akki says
Made these today. It came out just superb. Everyone loved these muffins. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe 🙂
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them! ☺️
Stacey says
Hello – is this recipe intended for standard size cupcakes? My batch resulted in 15 standard cupcakes (vs 12) and they are all still round, puffy and overfilled looking…not nice and flat for icing. Did I do something wrong?
Sam says
Yes they are standard sized cupcakes. Puffy tops on them are ok. As far as the amount goes, sometimes with a cake batter you have more or less, it just happens.
Tracee says
I will be trying these soon! They look delicious. Can I use melted butter instead of oil? and is there another form a sweetener I can use instead of sugar? Curious.
Sam says
Hi Tracee! I don’t have a recommendation for a sweetener other than sugar, but you can get away with using melted butter instead of oil. The only difference is that it will make the cupcakes a bit more dry, but since they’re so moist anyway from the carrots I think you can get away with it.
Sarah says
I am baking these for some friends at school and am a bit concerned about not squeezing the moisture out of the carrots. Most recipes I’ve seen squeeze the shredded carrots and I am curious as to why you’ve chosen not too. Thank you I am excited to try this recipe!
Sam says
Hi, Sarah! It adds a great moisture to the cupcakes. It’s not necessary to squeeze your carrots for this recipe. 🙂