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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
    4.96 from 449 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

     

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ashley

      January 20, 2023 at 8:02 am

      Can’t wait to make these this weekend! Can you use vegetable oil instead?

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        January 20, 2023 at 9:32 am

        That should be fine. Enjoy, Ashley!

        Reply
    2. Robbie Jones

      January 19, 2023 at 11:02 pm

      5 stars
      They came out beautifully. I left off the icing to use for breakfast muffins with coffee. They tasted great without the frosting.

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        January 20, 2023 at 9:32 am

        We’re so happy you enjoyed them as muffins too, Robbie! Thanks for commenting 😊

        Reply
    3. Leah G

      January 09, 2023 at 5:22 pm

      4 stars
      I want to give this a 5 star rating. The flavor was absolutely delicious. However, i am at altitude, and the cupcakes over rose. Do you happen to have high altitude recipe adjustments?

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 10, 2023 at 9:04 pm

        Hi Leah! I’m sorry to hear this happened. Unfortunately I am not familiar with high altitude baking so wouldn’t be able to advise on any alterations needed. 🙁

        Reply
    4. Maryam

      December 29, 2022 at 5:48 pm

      4 stars
      Foolproof. Always a crowd pleaser and I can always turn it into a sheet cake!

      Reply
    5. Holly

      December 21, 2022 at 2:45 pm

      I wanted to make bite sized muffins in my pampered chef deluxe mini muffin pan. This recipe should still work if I decrease the time, right?

      Reply
      • Sam

        December 21, 2022 at 9:47 pm

        Hi Holly! That should work just fine. 🙂

        Reply
      • Anya

        January 17, 2023 at 2:26 pm

        Did this work out ok Holly?
        How long did you bake them for?

        Reply
    6. Krystal

      December 15, 2022 at 3:03 am

      5 stars
      These muffins are the best thing in the world. My husband makes me make them for his work meetings as everyone at his work loves them so much. Not to mention how much our family loves them. Highly recommend!!! I would give ten stars if I could.

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        December 15, 2022 at 8:38 am

        Thanks so much for the sweet review, Krystal! We really appreciate it ❤️

        Reply
    7. Lila

      December 10, 2022 at 11:07 am

      This looks great! My dad loves raisins in his carrot cupcakes – advice about portion and if things need to be adjusted if I add the optional nuts and raisins?

      Reply
      • Sam

        December 11, 2022 at 9:59 pm

        Hi Lila! Just be sure not to overfill your liners. If you end up with any excess (which would be very minor) just discard it. 🙂

        Reply
    8. Najia

      December 05, 2022 at 5:08 pm

      This is an amazing carrot cupcake recipe… I was wondering if I can make it gluten-free and substitute the flour with Cup 4 Cup — will it work? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        December 06, 2022 at 8:16 am

        Hi Najia! We haven’t tried it, but we think it should work just fine. Let us know how it goes for you! 😊

        Reply
        • Najia

          December 07, 2022 at 6:19 pm

          I just made the recipe exactly without the nuts and substituted the AP flour with the brand Cup 4 Cup. It’s AMAZING!

          I filled the cupcake at 3/4 full with very little batter leftover, baked it for 22 minutes, left it in the pan for 6 minutes before letting it cool completely onto the rack.

          TIPS:
          1. Don’t be afraid to overmix your batter — because the flour doesn’t have gluten, it won’t become tough. Mixing the batter for a few minutes helps give it structure.
          2. Let the batter sit for about 30 minutes before baking to help the gluten free flour absorb more moisture from the batter.

      • Megan

        December 21, 2022 at 3:10 pm

        5 stars
        Delicious! I love the nutmeg in them and they were easy to make. 🙂

        Reply
    9. rozy

      December 05, 2022 at 9:33 am

      Hello! I’ve tried your carrot cake recipe and my family always loved it every single time! I was wondering if i could make 8 batches of this cupcake recipe since i haven’t tried it. I’ll be making 90 cupcakes so would it be okay to make 3-4 batches twice or do you have any suggestions on how i could go about it? 🙂

      Reply
      • Sam

        December 06, 2022 at 10:22 am

        Hi Rozy! I think 2 batches of 4 should work here. 🙂

        Reply
    10. Jessica

      December 04, 2022 at 10:04 am

      5 stars
      Great recipe! I doubled it and they were amazing. I’m wondering about using the same recipe for a small cake. Thoughts?

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        December 05, 2022 at 8:55 am

        Hi Jessica! We’re so happy you love them. We’d recommend using our carrot cake recipe instead and altering for your cake pans. You could halve the recipe for two 6-inch layers; as written it will make 3-4 6-inch layers. Hope that helps!

        Reply
    11. mary

      November 20, 2022 at 3:07 pm

      can I freeze them without frosting

      Reply
      • Sam

        November 20, 2022 at 8:39 pm

        Sure thing! 🙂

        Reply
    12. Laura

      November 13, 2022 at 8:49 pm

      5 stars
      This is a great recipe. I’ve used it at least a 1/2 dozen times and it’s awesome every time!

      Reply
    13. kdv

      November 09, 2022 at 6:31 am

      making these for a baby shower this weekend, i used a box grater for the carrots on the small grate side. should i have squeezed the excess liquid out of the carrots before incorporating into batter? they are dripping wet.

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        November 09, 2022 at 8:04 am

        There’s no need to squeeze them–we want that moisture in the cupcakes! Hope that helps 😊

        Reply
      • Susy

        December 22, 2022 at 8:48 pm

        5 stars
        These were the best cupcakes ever!!!
        Thank you so much!!! How long can I keep them in the fridge? Also, the Icing, can I store in the fridge for 4 days?

        Reply
        • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

          December 23, 2022 at 10:43 am

          Hi Susy! We’re so happy you liked them. They should last about a week in the refrigerator in an airtight container. And yes, that will work for the icing 🙂

    14. Johnna

      November 04, 2022 at 10:10 pm

      5 stars
      I just made these and WOW they are a 10/10! I LOVE carrot cake but I had never made it myself until now…I am so glad I came across your recipe. I followed it exactly as it was and it is perfect!

      Reply
    15. AD H

      October 23, 2022 at 8:09 pm

      I doubled the recipe and it turned off it really nice. Keeper recipe for us! Thank you!

      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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