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.
Nicole
This recipe is delicious! Best carrot cake I have ever had! And the icing was delicious too! I made these for my daughter’s birthday and everyone loved them! Thank you for a great recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy they were such a hit, Nicole! Thanks for the review 🩷
Gen
How is this rated so high? I’ve never baked anything with a recipe that tells me to add the sugar to the flour mix vs the wet ingredients – Only two muffins had a nice dome, otherwise they are all deflated/flat and they just look terrible 🙁
Sam
Hi Gen! I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the cupcakes, have you tried them yet?
This method that I use for combining the ingredients is essentially the reverse creaming method. It is intentional and I use it specifically in order to get a flavorful, tender cupcake.
As you can see in the photos and in the video, these cupcakes are not supposed to have really tall domes (however, they should NOT be deflated, sunken, or funky looking). While the recipe could have been easily modified by me for tall domes (just add more flour/cornstarch), you would lose the moist texture and you would also lose out on flavor. I intentionally nix the tall tops in favor of flavor and texture (and as you’ve seen from the reviews, this works super well for most people). A more flat cupcake is more ideal for frosting (in my opinion) and these are meant to be covered with cream cheese frosting.
Something else I did want to note, though, was that you mention that two of your cupcakes have domes and the others are all deflated and flat, that’s a little bit concerning to me and indicates that perhaps the batter was not well mixed and the ingredients not well distributed, which would cause this uneven baking (if the batter is well-combined, all cupcakes would be baking the same, so my money is on this being your issue). I would make sure you frequently scrape the bottom of your bowl and mix until your batter is completely uniform; with my method of combining the ingredients it is difficult to accidentally over-mix as is possible with traditional creaming methods that it seems you are more familiar with.
I really hope this helps, and I hope you’re still able to enjoy the cupcakes!
Laura
Well, to your point, Sam, I tried doing it the old fashion way, creaming the sugar and oil, and you’re right! Your way is way better. I LOVE this recipe AND so does everyone I make them for. 🙂
Geneviève
They tasted really great! And yes, I was concerned about over mixing for sure! I appreciate the detailed explanation to the comment that I should have waited to post until I wasn’t annoyed anymore! I had been craving carrot cake for weeks and was disappointed that (I thought) they hadn’t turned out. But the flavour really was incredible, and we had more space for frosting, so it all worked out in the end 🙂
Jen
Can the cupcakes be frozen and then thawed and frosted?
Sam
I haven’t personally done it, but you shouldn’t have any issues doing so. 🙂
Jennifer Metzger
Made this recipe today and they are delicious. Going to use this recipe from now on
Elizabeth Harris
I’ve made both your carrot cake, and carrot cake cupcakes. Really love them both. If I were making a 6 inch cake, would I use the cake or cupcakes recipe? thanks
Sam
Hi Elizabeth! I would use the cake recipe. The bake time will certainly be shorter and you will be able to fill at least 3 pans with the batter. 🙂
Marci Olko
I halved their carrot cake recipe which incorporates butter, because you can’t go without butter in your cupcakes. It adds the the flavor and richness I crave!
Kalen Capellan
Can this be made into a regular cake versus cupcakes?
Sam
Hi Kalen! I actually have a carrot cake I would recommend using instead of making this into a cake. 🙂
Karla
Just made these and they have lovely high domes. I added walnuts and followed the recipe as written. nicely balanced flavor and moist.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you enjoyed them, Karla! Thanks for the review 🩷
Hosanna James
Very Nice it was very easy to make and tasted delicious!
KB
My first time making carrot cake. My grandma just told me this was the best cupcake she’s ever had. My new go to recipe and it was super easy. Thank you!
Denise O
Very delicious and moist cupcake. This recipe will definitely be my go to for carrot cake cupcakes.
Oscar
Hi! I’m reading you from Spain. We do have more olive oil or sunflower oil available here. Which one you think could be better instead of the ones you suggested?
Thanks 🙏🏼
Sam
Hi Oscar! I would use sunflower oil. 🙂
Lisa
Hi, can I use almond milk instead of regular milk? Thanks in advance!
Sam
Hi Lisa! I have not tried using almond milk so I can’t say for sure how it would work. You don’t need a lot so I don’t think you will have any issues, but if you do try it, please let me know how it goes. 🙂
Ann I.
I was on a mission to make my husband a homemade carrot cake for his birthday. So of course I looked here, since you have other recipes I’ve tried in the past. Well, I came across this recipe, which was better since he is a bigger fan of cupcakes vs cake.
THANK YOU!! It was so good that he not only ate more than one, but asked me to make them again. This is now my family’s favorite carrot cake recipe. Also, the nurses at work say thank you too (I took some to work as well). They are so good that we didn’t even eat them with frosting.
Sam
You’re welcome, Ann! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! Thank you for trusting my recipes. 🙂
Aunt Tam
My family just loves these cupcakes. The cupcakes are so good! With or without the cream cheese icing their to die for!
Druetta F Russell
Can you add pineapple?
Sam
Hi Druetta! I haven’t personally tried adding pineapple, but others have done so with success. 🙂
Ash
The cake tastes great. I ended up not putting any nuts and decreasing the amount of cinnamon. It was perfect. One thing that I will do next time, though, is halve the sugar down. Because the cake is SWEEEETT. Like, really sweet.
Bruce
For Tammy,
I make a lot of mini cupcakes, and a recipe for 12 regular cupcakes usually makes about 48 minis.
Dana Hermann
How long did you bake the mini cupcakes?
Bruce
I’ve never made this recipe as minis, but in general, I think I bake minis about 14 minutes, same temperature.
Janine K Clark
hi, what is the baking temp and time if i do mini cupcakes? thanks! Janine
Sam
Hi Janine! I haven’t personally done them as minis, but the temperature would remain the same. I would guess a good bake time would be somewhere around 11-14 minutes. 🙂
Laura
This is the best carrot cake cupcake recipe! I have made it a dozen or so times and the recipe comes out perfectly. My only edit is to double the cinnamon, use salted butter, and add a sprinkle of cayenne. Thanks for sharing this incredible recipe!
Cheryl
Laura, did you use butter instead of oil? I usually use butter instead of oil in all my baking. I’m also going to make them with Gluten Free Flour.
Laura
Hi Cheryl, I can see where the confusion lies; sorry for not being clear. I use oil for the cake batter. I use salted butter for the frosting. I recently made brown butter cream cheese frosting and it was excellent. Good luck with your batch; it’s a GREAT recipe!