Easy Carrot Cupcakes
These carrot cupcakes are not only delicious, but surprisingly easy to make from scratch. Whip up a batch and top with cream cheese frosting for a delicious treat that is sure to please!
Carrots Are The New Chocolate. Well, not quite, but we can at least pretend that they are. One undeniable thing about carrots, though, is that they are a healthy vegetable. One carrot alone provides 200% of our daily Vitamin A. Sounds like a good reason to enjoy one of these cupcakes, wouldn’t you agree?
Pull out your 12-cup muffin pan and electric mixer (or glass mixing bowl and whisk!) and let’s get baking!
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups grated carrots
How To Make Carrot Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Set the bowl aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until smooth. Add in the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract and beat again until the ingredients are homogenous, and the eggs are fully incorporated.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk together to make sure there are no clumps of flour.
5. Add the shredded carrots and gently fold them in until they are evenly distributed throughout the cupcake batter.
6. Scoop batter into muffin cups until they are each filled 2/3 of the way full.
7. Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick can be cleanly removed from the center of one.
8. Allow the cupcakes to cool for about 15 minutes before frosting.
These cupcakes will last about five days when stored on the counter in an airtight container. Alternatively, you can store these cupcakes in the freezer for up to two months.
Variations
To add more flavor to these sweet treats, add one cup raisins and/or one cup shredded coconut. If you add more goodies to the batter, you will probably end up with more than 12 cupcakes.
Why is my carrot cake too dense?
Dense carrot cake can be the result of several things; however, in this case, it is most likely because there is too much moisture getting trapped in the batter. Adding shredded carrots also adds an extra dose of moisture that gets released during the baking process. We counteract this by reducing the amount of moisture we add from other ingredients like milk.
How do I grate carrots?
Place a cheese or box grater on top of a cutting board or in a large bowl. Scrape the pointed end of the carrots against the large holes of the cheese grater. Keep an eye on your hands and keep your fingers away from the grater!
These dense carrot cupcakes are like a mashup of a breakfast muffin and carrot cake. If you leave them unfrosted, they could pass for carrot muffins. Top them with buttercream frosting or homemade cream cheese frosting, and they make one tasty veggie dessert.
Carrot Cupcakes
Equipment
- muffin pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups shredded carrots
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set the flour mixture aside.
- Cream sugar and butter together in a large bowl until smooth. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until the ingredients are homogenous and the eggs are fully incorporated.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and whisk until no dry clumps of flour remain.
- Fold shredded carrots into the cupcake batter. Try to make sure that they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Fill prepared muffin tins ⅔ full with cupcake batter.
- Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow cupcakes to cool completely before icing, about 15 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Don’t Forget To Come Back And Let Me Know How Your Carrot Cupcakes Turned Out!
