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.
Mary
I was trying to make these cupcakes and my batter turned out a bit thick. This is before adding the vanilla extract and milk. What can I do to fix my batter?
Sam
Hi Mary! I would add the milk and see what it looks like. You always want to make sure to measure flour properly as well. If there is too much flour in the cupcakes they will be pretty dry. I hope this helps. 🙂
Christina
Can I do a cake instead of cupcakes? If so about how many cake tins would this fill?
Sam
Hi Christina! If you want to do a carrot cake I would follow my carrot cake recipe. 🙂
Cassandra
I work in a restaurant and made these cupcakes once a long time ago…. Now I get requests to make them every few weeks! I’m not a chef!
Thanks for such an easy to follow recipe. Love making these and putting smiles on everyones faces!
Quick Question – Can you make the cupcakes a day or two ahead and keep them refrigerated, then frost the day to serve?
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys them so much, Cassandra! You can make them a day or two ahead of time and just leave them in an air tight container at room temperature. Putting them in the refrigerator will run the risk of them drying out a bit. 🙂
Julia
Carrot cake isn’t usually my first choice when it comes to cake, but I made these for a birthday (their favorite cake is carrot) and WOW these are amazing! You bite it and they are just so moist and have the perfect balance of spices. I will be making these again! They are perfect with your cheese cheese frosting too.
Thanks for sharing!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Julia! 🙂
Kat
Hi. What would happen if i just use 200 grams brown sugar as i dont have the granulated one? Thanks.
Sam
Hi Kat! That should work here. 🙂
Charmaine
Hi. Thanks for sharing all your amazing recipies
Wonder if I could use coconut oil instead?
Sam
Hi Charmaine! I haven’t tried it but it should work. Let me know how it goes if you try it. 🙂
Priscila
These turned out lovely!
Recipe was easy to follow and I managed to NOT mess anything up. 🙂
Tastes fantastic even without frosting.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Priscilla! 🙂
Annie
Is there any reason you think vegetable oil wouldn’t work as a sub for canola oil?
Sam
Nope, vegetable oil will work here. You just need a neutral oil. 🙂
Cindy
I’ve even substituted unsweetened applesauce using the exact same amount and they come out beautifully. We’re on Weight Watchers and it goes from 11 points for one unfrosted cupcake down to 7 points. The original recipe is wonderful, but if you want one of these and are needing to cut calories this is how to do it. I still put a little smear of cream cheese frosting on top, too. Yum!
Cindy
Sorry, in case my comment didn’t get attached to the question about using vegetable oil instead of canola oil, the unsweetened applesauce replaces the oil. 3/4 cup of either. One of the best carrot cupcake recipes ever, so glad I found it!
Tia
This was my first time making cupcakes from scratch in general and these cupcakes came out so well and tasted AMAZING!!! I was wondering if I wanted to make a cake should I double or triple the recipe? Just making a regular round 2 tier cake! Also starting my own blog, and will be linking everyone to this recipe!! SO GOOD!
Sam
Hi Tia! I actually have a carrot cake recipe. They are very similar recipes but the cake has been modified to be better in cake form and the cupcakes were modified to work better as cupcakes. Good luck with your new endeavor! 🙂
Jill Ellis
Good Morning Sam,I make these all the time everybody loves them.
Can I freeze them?
Sam
Hi Jill! I am so glad everyone enjoys them so much! They would probably do better to freeze without icing, but they can be frozen. 🙂
Jill Ellis
Thanks!
Cindy
Do you adjust for moisture when adding raisins? Thanks
Sam
Hi Cindy! There are no adjustments needed. 🙂
Cindy
Thank you for the speedy reply!
Brigitte Catania
Hi Sam,
Thank you for the recipe, easy to follow and the cupcakes turned out amazing, I didn’t have time for the frosting but my guests loved them.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Brigitte! 🙂
Shannon
Delicious!
This recipe gave me the opportunity to use up some of our leftover carrot peeled bits from juicing. Albeit that I will have more leftover carrot bits than I can do with, it just gives me the excuse to make this recipe again!
Oh! and The cream cheese… to die for!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Shannon! 🙂
Phoebe
Hi! I’ve made this tons of times and my family loves it every time! Question though, can I multiply the recipe 3 times in order to make a bigger batch? Thank you!
Sam
Hi Phoebe! You can certainly triple the recipe. I’m so glad everyone enjoys them so much. 🙂
Suzie
These were delicious! I didn’t have cupcake liners, so just made them like muffins. We halved your cream cheese frosting, as you suggested, and it was just the right amount. I got 13 cupcakes out of it. They’d be great without frosting too. Could I put it in a loaf pan and make it a loaf?
Sam
Hi Suzie! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! I haven’t tried making it in a loaf pan but it should work just fine. 🙂
Chipo
Hai Sam,
How long can the cup cakes keep frozen?
Sam
I would say they would be good frozen for several months. 🙂