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.
Elaine
Hi this recipe is so yummy. Can I use it for a Bundt cake recipe?
Sam
Hi Elaine! I actually have a carrot cake recipe that makes a little more batter and will fit in a bundt pan. I haven’t tried it myself but others have reported a 55 minute bake time in a bundt pan with the carrot cake recipe. 🙂
Karen Harding
Hi. Can these cupcakes be frozen before frosting?
Sam
Hi Karen! That will work just fine. 🙂
Nacole Wicks
Out of curiosity, can unsweetened apple sauce replace the canola oil? If so, would I still use 3/4 cups?
Sam
Hi Nacole! I haven’t tried it but I think you probably could. You’d want to use the same amount. 🙂
Jacquie
Yes. I always substitute unsweetened applesauce for oil. Just be aware that the cupcakes may end up a little more dense. I will sometimes just replace half with applesauce the 1st time I try a recipe
Pat
Can you successfully freeze these cupcakes(of course, without frosting until thawed)?
Sam
Hi Pat! That should work just fine. 🙂
Doreen
Hello, I made these cupcakes a couple years ago for Easter and they were delicious. Do you think they would work as brunch muffin with no frosting ? Thx. Doreen
Sam
Definitely! They are a very moist flavorful cupcake. 🙂
Sandy
Is there anything else I can use to substitute for nutmeg? Or is it absolutely necessary?
Sam
Hi Sandy! You can leave it out if you’d like. It will just change the flavor of the cupcakes a little bit. 🙂
Taylor G.
Hi Sam,
How would you go about incorporating flax meal in to this recipe? I have a lot on hand unexpectedly and am trying to use it whenever possible.
Thank you! 🙂
Sam
Hi Taylor! You should be able to add a tablespoon or two without making any other changes but I haven’t tried it to be sure.
Amal
Amazing, and delicious! But heres a cool tip for the frosting! Instead of using 4 cups of powdered sugar, use 2 cups brown sugar and the other 2 cups powdered sugar! It makes the frosting have a awesome taste and flavor!!
Noreen
I absolutely love this recipe, it’s amazing. So moist with the perfect amount of carrot. I would totally recommend this recipe to everyone!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Noreen! 🙂
azrael
Thank you for this wonderful recipe.Can i lessen the sugar on the cupcake. Say i remove one of the 1/2 cup sugar?
Also any recommendation for the frosting to lessen use of powdered sugar and then use of any alternatives say brown sugar.
What does addition of cornstarch does?
Sam
Hi Azrael! You can reduce the sugar a little bit if that’s what you’d like. If you remove sugar from the frosting, it won’t be quite as firm. I would not use brown sugar or granulated sugar in place of the powdered sugar. I’m not sure where you want to add the cornstarch though? Sometimes it is used to help thicken the frosting a little bit.
Karineh
I used to bake carrot cake with butter, but loves your recipe with canola oil too, super moist and yummy. Thank You Sam for sharing.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Karineh! 🙂
Shan
Just made these today for my mom’s birthday. They turned out great! I used melted coconut oil instead of canola oil, and added 1/2 cups of raisins (per her request!). Mine took about 22 minutes to bake. I might add a bit less sugar next time.
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Lily Holland
Hi,
I just tried to make this recipe, but something went wrong and I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong. The only substitution I made was olive oil instead of canola oil. Would that make it sort of bubble over and not solidify properly?
Sam
Hi Lily! No, that would not do it, could something have been accidentally mis-measured?
Jan
Cupcakes are very good. I did add 2 to 3T crushed pineapples, well drained.. I didn’t use the nuts. This recipe is a keeper
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jan! 🙂
Chereese
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this recipe! Perfectly moist and flavorful. I have to stop myself from eating them. Thank you for sharing!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Chereese! 🙂
Zakkry Walls
This recipe is wonderful! This is by far my most requested cake to make for gatherings and celebrations! I slightly altered and mixed all wet ingredients together and then folded into the dry and then folded in the carrots. Thank you for sharing!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoys them so much! 🙂
Jennifer Martin
I use this recipe as a base recipe for other combinations of added fruits and nuts and it is always good. 🙂
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoy it so much, Jennifer! 🙂
Christina
Can I use butter instead of Canola oil?
Sam
Hi Christina! The butter will work, the cupcakes just won’t be quite as moist. 🙂
Lois Stevens
Can I make the carrot cake muffins in a 6-cup pan instead of 12? I like bigger.
Sam
Hi Lois! Yes, that should be fine. They will need more time in the oven, though. I can’t say for sure how long as I have not made them myself that way.