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 canola 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 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.
Barb
Hi Sam, can I assume that these could be made into mini cupcakes and if so, how long should they be baked? Thank you!
Sam
Hi Barb! You shouldn’t have any issues making these as mini cupcakes. I haven’t personally tried baking them but I would guess it would take around 14 minutes to bake them. You may want to start checking them a bit sooner so they don’t over-bake. 🙂
Teri G.
I just want to say that I LOVE that the ingredients are listed in each step of instructions. So much more convenient than having to scroll back and forth to the top. I haven’t made this yet but will later today.
Sam
I hope you love them Teri! 🙂
Kathy
Totally agree with the ingredient list within the instructions. A real game changer. I made these last night and they were amazing!
Fredrick Salas
Amazing flavor and easy to make!
Riley
Hi! I am hoping to sub the white and brown sugar for raw cane sugar (usually my sub for white sugar) and coconut sugar (usually my sub for brown sugar) do you think I’ll need to make any measurement adjustments?
Sam
Hi Riley! I haven’t personally tried it, but I think it could end up changing the texture and making it more dense. It could certainly be worth a shot and if you do try it I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
Rileh
Hi! The cupcakes were AMAZING! I did a little less raw cane sugar (for white) and a 1:1 sub coconut sugar (for brown). I also didn’t have oil, so I used 1/4c coconut oil and did 1/2c butter. That cream cheese frosting is the best topping too! My husband said they were his favorite of all time. Thank you!!
Sam
I’m so glad they were such a hit! Thank you for the feedback using your substitutions. 🙂
Jazmin Ruiz
very delicious and soft
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for giving them a try, Jazmin! Enjoy ☺️
A-
Best cupcakes I’ve ever made. Perfectly moist inside and baked perfectly. I added nutmeg and cinnamon to the cream cheese frosting as well.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for giving them a try! We are so happy you enjoyed them 😍
Bella Z
Is there recipes of this into a cake?!
Sam
Hi Bella! I do have a carrot cake recipe I would recommend checking out. 🙂
Mel
Can I use this recipe to make banana nut muffins and just substitute the carrots for bananas
Sam
Hi Mel! I have a banana cupcake recipe that you can add nuts to that. I would add about a cup. 🙂
Sandy
I made this recipe but due the excess amount of zucchini i had on hand i mixed 1/2 zucchini and 1/2 carrots. Turned out awesome!!!!
Brittany L.
I’m in Ukraine and can’t find brown sugar can I just use regular sugar?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Brittany! We have a tutorial on how to make brown sugar that should be helpful for you 😊
Monique
Can I use these measurements for a bento cake?
Sam
Hi Monique! You may actually have a bit too much batter so just make sure to not overfill your pans. I’m not sure on a bake time. 🙂
Maureen
Incredible! Turned out perfectly. I made them exactly as written, then made a second batch using GF flour and they were fantastic as well!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear they were such a hit for you, Maureen! Thank you for letting me know how they turned out (and with GF flour, too!), I appreciate it!
kb
I first made these two years ago for my fiancé’s birthday and he has requested them every year since. They are soo moist and delicious, and the cream cheese icing is the perfect compliment!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That is so nice to hear! Thanks for trusting our recipe and coming back to leave a review–we really appreciate it!
Julie Anderson
Can’t wait to try these😋
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We hope you love them, Julie! 🥰
Tammy
I saw on one of your replies that mini cupcakes would take around fourteen minutes. Approximately how many minis should I get out of one batch?
Sam
I haven’t done it personally so I can’t say for sure how many it would make.
Jolynn
Can I use cake flour instead of AP flour?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jolynn! We think the cake flour should work here 🙂
Char
Just made a batch of these cupcake to test out for my daughter in law upcoming baby shower. The recipe was so easy. They came out so light and fluffy. Taste so good without any frosting. Looking to put an Italian meringue buttercream with a little cinnamon and nutmeg as they will be sitting out for a bit.
Lisa
Best carrot cake, cupcake recipe I ever made!! moist and delicious!!