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 ½-1 cup of add-ins.
- This recipe can be doubled to make 24 cupcakes.
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 Cupcakes
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
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
Storing
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.Nutrition
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.
Catherine
Moist decadent treat
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Catherine! 🙂
Haylene
Could i use sunflower oil instead of canola oil ?
Sam
Hi Haylene! Sunflower oil is a neutral oil so that should work here. 🙂
Monica
I loved this recipe! Super easy to make and recipe was easy to follow. I replaced the eggs cause i ten out with applesauce (Trader Joe’s apple carrot to be exact) and they came out ah-mazing! Would definitely recommend to any other carrot cake lovers.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Monica! 🙂
Emma
I made these for mothers day and they were a hit. First batch i subbed in olive oil (coles brand at that) and second batch i used canola. Both were great but different people had different preferences. I made them again with bananas instead of carrot and my partner said they were his favorite. You just have to add a bit extra flour to balance it out. Also i found half the sugar for the icing and half the icing in total was enough for 1 barch.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Emma!!
Angel
Is it okay if i don’t have nutmeg?
Sam
It will definitely change the flavor of the cupcakes without it.
Mahika Dawar
Can I substitute cinnamon for the nutmeg?
Sam
Hi Mahika! You could add a little more cinnamon if you’d like, but I would be more inclined to just leave the nutmeg out. The cinnamon won’t give you the same flavor. 🙂
Ms. Mo P.
I just made it today, and it was easy to follow and tastes AMAZING! This recipe is a KEEPER!!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Kay
I baked these today and followed the recipe as written, no nuts. Perfectly baked at 20 minutes. I also made your cream cheese frosting. Delicious!! This recipe is a keeper.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Kay! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Ebonie
Is it possible to use this recipe for carrot cake but not in the shape of cupcakes?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Ebonie! I actually have a carrot cake recipe that I would reccomend using instead. 😉
Lynae
I’ve tried many receipes for carrot cupcakes, but this one is for sure the best of the best! Perfection all the way, wouldn’t change a thing!
Sam
I am thrilled to hear this, Lynae! Thank you for commenting!
Molly
Great recipe to follow!!! Amazing taste too! Do these need to be refrigerated?
Sam
Hi Molly! The frosting would be your only issue here. You would want to refrigerate them if you live in a humid area or you don’t eat them within 24-48 hours. 🙂
Naomi Reyes
Hi I wanna know what I can do if I don’t have granulated sugar but have brown sugar?? Cause also I don’t wanna it to be too sweet soo want are your Recomendations. Also I’m going to be doing the same serving size that says in the recipe
Sam
Hi Naomi! You can substitute the granulated sugar with an equal amount of brown sugar, but it will make the cupcakes sweeter. I don’t think they will be overbearingly so, but if you are worried about it you can reduce the sugar a bit (a tablespoon or two). Enjoy!
Elaine
Usually I’m that person who looks for reviews but doesn’t bother rating but this recipe was so easy to follow and completely delicious. Thank you!
Sam
Thank you so much for rating and letting me know how it turned out! I appreciate it, Elaine! 🙂
Mary Vaughn
Easy and met with rave reviews – I’ve already been asked when I plan to make them again 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that they have been such a hit, Mary! Thanks for trying my recipe and for sharing them. Good luck on your next batch. 😉
Carol
These cupcakes are super delicious without any changes to the recipe! I even ate one without frosting (I couldn’t wait) and it was awesome! I noticed someone asked about adding pineapple…..first it doesn’t need anything added….but ever the experimenter, I wondered if there should be an adjustment to the recipe if you did add pineapple. For the amount of liquid it would add. I had an 8-0z can of crushed pineapple I was tempted to try but didn’t because I wanted to see what the cupcakes were like following the recipe exactly. Again I repeat, it is a keeper recipe without changing a thing.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you loved the cupcakes, Carol! As for the pineapple I have not tried it with this recipe, however, think that would taste awesome. I will let the experimenter chime in to share what worked well for her. Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Deb
I tried it and it now one of my favourites.
Thanks for sharing
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear how much you enjoyed the cupcakes, Deb! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. I am glad that you now have a new favorite. 🙂