Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

4.50 from 6 votes

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

The ultimate carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. These fluffy carrot cupcakes are moist and delicious. Top them with classic cream cheese frosting.

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Hindu

Servings:

Author: Adrianna Adarme

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Dry Mix:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Carrot Cake Wet Mix:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
3/4 cup shaken buttermilk
2 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Pinch kosher salt
3 cups powdered sugar sifted
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

To Make the Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cupcake tins with parchment or paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and ginger. Set the dry mixture aside.
In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment, add the butter, white sugar and brown sugar; beat until nice and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the oil and eggs. Beat until combined.
Alternating between the buttermilk and the dry mix, add them to the butter mixture, until just combined. Lastly, add the carrots and walnuts and mix until thoroughly distributed throughout the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake liners, filling them up about 3/4 of the way. Transfer to the oven to bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow them to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool before adding the frosting.

To Make the Frosting:

Add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of a stand-up mixer (or bowl using an electric mixer); beat until both are smooth, about 1 minutes.
Sift in the powdered sugar and add the vanilla extract, salt and heavy cream. Beat the frosting for about 3 minutes. The fluffiness from the heavy cream really lightens up this frosting so be sure to beat it for the full 3 minutes. If the frosting is too loose, feel free to transfer it to the fridge to chill for about 10 minutes. Then beat it one last time.

To Assemble the Cupcakes:

Add about a teaspoon or two of frosting to each cupcake and smooth out the tops. Feel free to pipe on buttercream flowers, if you like!

Notes

Tips and Tricks:

Grate the carrots. I like grating up the carrot into a small grate. This gives a great texture to the carrots and adds carrot to every single bite of the cake.
Other nut options. I love walnuts in this recipe but feel free to use pecan if you like!
More spices. If you're a lover of very warm spices, you should make my Chai Carrot Cupcakes!

Nutrition