Small Batch Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Moist, fluffy and perfectly spiced carrot cake cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- 90 g all purpose flour (¾ c.)
- ¾ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground ginger
- ¼ tsp. ground cloves
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 75 g carrot peeled & shredded (¾ c.)
- 65 g vegetable oil (⅓ c.)
- 100 g light brown sugar (½ c.)
- 1 egg room temperature
- 60 g sour cream room temperature (¼ c.)
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- 56 g unsalted butter room temperature (4 tbsp.)
- 110 g cream cheese room temperature (½ c.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 180 g powdered sugar (1 ½ c.)
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp. salted caramel sauce for garnish, optional
Instructions
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a muffin tin with six parchment liners.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Set aside.
- Wash and peel the carrots. In another small bowl or in a small food processor, grate up the carrots and put them into a medium sized mixing bowl.
- To the carrots, vigorously whisk in the oil, sugar, egg, and sour cream until well combined.
- Add in the flour mixture and use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together just until no flour streaks remain.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the six parchment liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- While the cupcakes are baking, brown the butter. Add the butter to a small saucepan and set it over medium heat. Stir the butter occasionally until it bubbles up, turns amber in color, and develops little brown specks. Set aside at room temperature until you're ready to frost the cupcakes.
- Once the cupcakes have fully cooled to room temperature, make the frosting. With a hand mixer or with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese, brown butter, and salt until light and fluffy (~1 minute)
- Beat in half of the powdered sugar until it's combined, then beat in the other half. Add in the vanilla and beat for an additional minute, until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your piping tip of choice.* To make the little flowers on top I used a round piping bag and make a divot in the center for some salted caramel sauce. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
*The previous version of these had little icing carrots on top, so here's the note on how to make those as well - To make little carrots on the cupcakes, remove ~2 tbsp of frosting and put into one small bowl, and place ~1 tbsp of the frosting into another bowl. Dye the 2 tbsp. orange and the 1 tbsp. green. Put each color into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. Top each cupcake with the cream cheese frosting, then draw the little carrots on top and decorate with more crushed walnuts if desired. Serve and enjoy!
If you want to add nuts, I recommend adding in 56g (1/2 c.) of walnuts or pecans. Gently fold them in after mixing in the dry ingredients.
Frosted cupcakes should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and will keep well for ~5 days.
Affiliate links: Kitchen Scale (my favorite) | Kitchen scale (great starter option) | Food Processor | Cookie Scoops | Oven Thermometer | Piping Bags | Food Dye
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcakeCalories: 580kcalCarbohydrates: 64gProtein: 6gFat: 35gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 11gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 333mgPotassium: 199mgFiber: 2gSugar: 49gVitamin A: 3722IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 111mgIron: 1mg