Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Flavorful carrot cake made into a family favorite cupcake topped with homemade cream cheese frosting.
Equipment
- 24 paper cupcake liners
- 2 12-cup muffin tins
Ingredients
Cupcake Ingredients:
- 2 cups grated carrots (5-6 medium sized)
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole pecans divided
- 1 cup applesauce
- 3 tbsp molasses
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1⅓ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line (2) 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
- Finely chop ¾ cup of the pecans. Reserve the remaining ¼ cup of whole pecans for garnish; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and vegetable oil. Add the brown sugar, white sugar, molasses, applesauce, and vanilla extract, and continue whisking until combined.
- In a second mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir to combine.
- Gradually add small amounts of the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk to combine. Repeat until all the dry ingredients have been mixed into the batter, then stir in the chopped pecans.
- Add the grated carrots and fold into the mixture thoroughly.
- Fill each cupcake liner with the batter until approximately ¾ full - do not overfill. Place the muffin pans into the pre-heated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer the cupcakes to wire racks to cool completely.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting by beating together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and salt. Slowly add the powdered sugar a little at a time until thoroughly combined into the frosting. Set aside.
- Once cupcakes are completely cool, frost with the cream cheese frosting and garnish with the remaining whole pecans, if desired.