Carrot Cake Cupcakes Recipe with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
These Soft, fluffy, and moist carrot cake cupcakes are just delicious and easy to make! Made completely from scratch with real grated carrots
Instead of presenting a ‘carrot cake’ in the form of a cake, we are going to do it in a ‘cupcake’ format, another way to enjoy this deliciously sweet, which is delighting more and more people.
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Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
These carrot cake cupcakes are a small bite version of the classic carrot cake so successful on social media. A classic American cake that has been wining people’s hearts for years
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Despite having real carrots, it does not taste like it, but it gives it the moisture that goes great with the texture of the dough and the frosting.
The recipe is very simple, we also do not need to lighten the dough much since we are going to put frosting on top. By the way, speaking of the frosting, in this case, although I know Cream Cheese frosting is the one to go, I decided to make one with butter instead of cream cheese and I am delighted with the result.
I love carrot cakes. I use to buy them at work until one day I came across a recipe that changed my life LOL. It was an old photocopy my mom had for years and when I saw it I just couldnโt help it, I had to scan that recipe and make it at home.
Itโs pretty easy to make and it tastes so good! Dana gave me the idea of making these cupcakes and invited me to make a variation of her buttercream frosting from her Vampire kiss Cupcakes. I definitely did it. Hope you like it!
How to make carrot cake cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream
Ingredients:
Carrot Cake:
- Vegetable oil (canola oil) โ instead of butter because I find using flavorless oil let’s all those delicious spice flavors shine.
- Large eggs at room temperature.
- Carrots {grated} โ because, well otherwise wouldn’t be carrot cake. I recommend fresh carrots all the way.
- White sugar
- Light Brown Sugar – for more flavor and moisture
- Flour โ just regular flour, not self-rising
- Baking powder โ This leavening agent helps cupcakes rise in the oven keeping them light and fluffy.
- Baking soda
- Ground Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Vanilla extract โ Enhances the flavor and aroma of cupcakes.
- Pinch of salt โ balances the flavors and makes the flavors really shine
Frosting
- Unsalted butter โ softened at room temperature
- Confectioners’ sugar โ also known as pwdered sugar or icing sugar.
- Vanilla extract โ Enhances the flavor and aroma of cupcakes.
- Ground Cinnamon
Tools:
- Electric mixer or stand mixer.
- A blender
- Rubber or silicon spatula
- Piping bag and tip
Directions:
Carrot Cake cupcake Batter
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
- Prepare a muffin pan lined with cupcake liners.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolk.
- Mix in a blender wet ingredients โ the oil, the finely grated carrot, and yolks, also both sugars.
- In a large bowl beat the egg whites {with a whisk, electric mixer or a stand mixer} until hard peaks are formed.
- Without stopping, bring speed to low speed and pour the carrot mixture slowly in and keep mixing very slowly.
- Add the dry ingredients โ flour with the baking powder, baking soda, a pinch of salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
- Mix for about 2 minutes.
- Incorporate the thicker grated carrot with a spatula.
- Itโs ready.
- Now pour the batter evenly for 12 cupcakes and bake for 30-40 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the center.
- Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, and carefully take them out of the cupcake tin and place them on a wire rack.
- Wait until they are completely cool to add the frosting or it will melt away.
Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
- In a medium bowl, with a stand mixer and a whisk attachment, whip the butter for 5 minutes over medium-high speed.
- Scrap the bowl at least one time during those 5 minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar little by little on slow speed and add the cinnamon and the vanilla scraping the bowl once.
- Whip it again at medium-high speed for 2 more minutes. The mixture should be light and fluffy.
- Decorate the cupcakes with a piping bag as you like.
- You can use fresh carrot sticks or chopped walnuts as a garnish.
- Serve and enjoy!
Baking Tips
- Donโt skip on quality. Always use good quality flour, butter, chocolate chips, and so on. Most of the time, the cheapest ingredients don’t bring the best results.
- I recommend using fresh carrots for this recipe. Store-bought carrot shreds are dry and tough, and that will translate into your carrot cake cupcakes. Grab whole carrots, a peeler, and a grater, and grate away!
- You can use a food processor for the carrots if you don’t want to grate the by hand, but I recommend using the grate setting and briefly pulsing them until you get the desired pieces. Just be careful not overdoing this, otherwise, you will get carrot juice.
- Measure the flour correctly. When you add too much flour, it will result in heavy cupcakes. The easiest way to measure correctly is to use a knife to level the flour in the cup and ensure you have just enough. Never tap the flower down in the cup as this will result in more flour than you need.
- Donโt overmix the cupcake batter. The more the batter is mixed, the more air bubbles get crushed in the process and we depend on air bubbles to help the batter rise in the oven so the cupcakes are tender and fluffy. Overmixed batter produces dense chocolate chip cupcakes with a coarse crumb.
- Don’t overbake them. Keep a close eye on the cupcakes and take them out as soon as they are ready to prevent drying and browning around the edges. They are ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You can open the oven to insert the toothpick once 3/4 of the time has passed.
- You can add walnuts or pecans to this recipe if youโd like. This batter can hold about ยฝ-1 cup of add-ins. If you are a fan of raisins you can add some too.
Soring & Freezing Instructions:
Plain cupcakes (no frosting) can be made ahead 1 day in advance, covered, and stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Frosting can also be made 1 day in advance, covered, and stored in the refrigerator.
Frosted cupcakes can keep at room temperature for a couple of hours (4 hours if coming out of the fridge) and should be stored in the refrigerator after that.
If the frosting is stiff after refrigerating, beat it with your mixer for about a minute to help loosen it up.
Frosted or unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 months. But always thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use any kind of nuts, I love pecans or walnuts. The cake will still work as long as you don’t add more than ยฝ-1 cup of add-ins.
Yes, Absolutely! The batter is the same for carrot cakes and cupcakes. Divide the batter into 2 greased and floured cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean, or bake in a 13ร9 pan for 40-45 minutes.
Use both the fine and thick holes on the box grater. This will create finely grated carrots that allow being incorporated into the batter easily and adds moisture and tons of carrot flavor while at the same time leaving some larger chunks in the batter.
Yes, you can, this recipe will make about 36 mini cupcakes. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350หF.
It is best to use the frosting immediately after making it. If you wish to make it ahead of time, you can store it in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. For best results, let it sit at room temperature for ten minutes, then mix quickly to loosen it. Afterwards, place in piping bag and pipe.
More Cupcake Recipes to Try
If you like this carrot cake cupcakes recipe, you might also love these other Cupcake recipes too
๐ฅฃ Recipe
Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
Equipment
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- Blender
- Whisks and spatulas
Ingredients
Carrot cake:
- ยฝ cup of vegetable oil.
- 4 eggs. at room temperature.
- 3 medium carrots {grated}
- 1 Cup White Sugar
- 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
- 2 ยฝ cups of All- purpose flour
- 1 tbsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp of cinnamon.
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Frosting
- 1 cup of unsalted butter at room temperature.
- 2 ยฝ cups of powdered sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract.
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
Instructions
CARROT CAKE CUPCAKE BATTER
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
- Prepare a muffin pan lined with cupcake liners.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolk.
- Mix in a blender wet ingredients โ the oil, the finely grated carrot, and yolks, also both sugars.
- In a large bowl beat the egg whites {with a whisk, electric mixer or a stand mixer} until hard peaks are formed.
- Without stopping, bring speed to low speed and pour the carrot mixture slowly in and keep mixing very slowly.
- Add the dry ingredients โ flour with the baking powder, baking soda, a pinch of salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
- Mix for about 2 minutes.
- Incorporate the thicker grated carrot with a spatula.
- Itโs ready.
- Now pour the batter evenly for 12 cupcakes and bake for 30-40 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the center.
- Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, and carefully take them out of the cupcake tin and place them on a wire rack.
- Wait until they are completely cool to add the frosting or it will melt away.
CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
- In a medium bowl, with a stand mixer and a whisk attachment, whip the butter for 5 minutes over medium-high speed.
- Scrap the bowl at least one time during those 5 minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar little by little on slow speed and add the cinnamon and the vanilla scraping the bowl once.
- Whip it again at medium-high speed for 2 more minutes. The mixture should be light and fluffy.
- Decorate the cupcakes with a piping bag as you like.
- You can use fresh carrot sticks or chopped walnuts as a garnish.
- Serve and enjoy!
Yummmmy isn’t it??? What do you think??? Have you made carrot cake cupcakes before???
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Til’ next time…
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