Easy Carrot Cake Cupcakes
These carrot cake cupcakes are so simple to make. This recipe is forgiving. You can make this with or without the nuts and raisins. We like using granulated and brown sugar in this recipe. If you only want to use one, choose brown sugar since it has the necessary acid to react with the baking soda.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cupall-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoonbaking soda, important to level the teaspoon, see tips
- ¼ teaspoonfine sea salt, see tips
- ¾ teaspoonground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoonground ginger, optional
- ¼ teaspoonground cardamom, optional
- ⅛ teaspoonfreshly grated nutmeg, optional
- ½ cupcanola or other vegetable oil
- ½ cupgranulated sugar
- ½ cuplight or dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoonvanilla extract
- 2 largeeggs, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cupsgrated peeled carrots, 2 to 3 medium carrots
- ¼ cupcoarsely chopped pecans, optional
- ¼ cupraisins, optional
- 4 ouncesfull-fat block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoonsunsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ teaspoonvanilla extract
- fine sea salt
- 1 ½ cupspowdered sugar or confectioners sugar, plus more as needed
- ground cinnamon or ground cardamom, optional
- ¼ cupcoarsely chopped pecans, optional
Directions
- 1
Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- 2
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and the nutmeg until well blended.
- 3
In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugars, and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until combined.
- 4
Switch to a large rubber spatula. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, gently stirring until they disappear and the batter is smooth.
- 5
Stir in the carrots, nuts, and raisins.
- 6
Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups, filling about 3/4 of the way to the top. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes are springy when touched and when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
- 7
Cool cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack and cool them completely before frosting.
Frost cupcakes
- 1
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt with a handheld electric mixer on medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes.
- 2
For the creamiest frosting, sift the powdered sugar or whisk until most large lumps are gone.
- 3
Beat in the powdered sugar, a 1/4 cup at a time, until fluffy. Add an additional 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of powdered sugar for a thicker frosting.
- 4
To make spiced frosting, beat in a pinch of ground cinnamon or cardamom.
- 5
Frost the cooled cupcakes and, if you’d like, top with coarsely chopped pecans.