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Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Karissa Parrish
These carrot cake cupcakes are so soft, moist, and spiced to perfection. Top them off with this heavenly cream cheese frosting and you'll never question whether you love carrot cake ever again!
5 from 7 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 16 minutes
Cooling Time: 10 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 Cupcakes

Equipment

Ingredients:
 
 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ cup vanilla yogurt (or plain), room temperature
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup freshly grated carrots (about 2 medium-sized carrots)

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 8 ounces block-style cream cheese, room temperature
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
  • In a large-sized bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, sugar, yogurt, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until combined.
  • Combine the dry ingredients with the wet and fold together using a silicone spatula. Then gently fold in the grated carrots.
  • Fill the cupcake liners about ⅔ of the way full with batter (about 2 ½ tablespoons of batter) and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer them over to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on high speed until combined and creamy (2-3 minutes).
  • Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat on low speed for about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
  • Frost the cooled cupcakes. I placed the cream cheese frosting in a piping bag and used the Wilton 1M piping tip.
  • Store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Notes:

Measuring Flour: To help ensure you don’t add extra flour, follow these three simple steps: 1) Fluff up the flour using a fork. 2) Spoon the flour into your measuring cup. 3) Scrape a knife across the top of the measuring cup to level out the flour.
Carrots: Do not buy already shredded carrots. You want to freshly grate your own carrots before mixing them into the cake batter. Freshly grated carrots have more moisture than the pre shredded ones.
Frosting: Frost the cupcakes once they have completely cooled. I used a piping bag and the Wilton 1M tip to frost these cupcakes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcakeCalories: 409kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 5gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 308mgPotassium: 147mgFiber: 1gSugar: 55gVitamin A: 2034IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 125mgIron: 1mg
Keyword carrot cake, carrot cake cupcakes, cream cheese frosting
US Customary - Metric
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