Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes – these are everyone’s favorite desserts.  They’re moist, full of warm spice flavor, and topped with big mounds of luscious cream cheese icing.  These cupcakes make a lovely springtime dessert for bake sales, potlucks, or Easter.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

Wooden board with several Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes with swirls of cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of gingersnap cookie crumbs.

If you read this blog, you know my affection for mini or personal desserts.  There is something so satisfying about having your very own dessert that you don’t have to share…unless you really want to.  But for me, that never happens. If you can bake a cake, you can make these delectable cupcakes and your family will be very impressed.

Why Are These The Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes?

I try not to label too many recipes as ‘the best’ or ‘the greatest’ anything.  It’s a lot of pressure to develop a recipe that lives up to that moniker, let alone something called “the ultimate”.

Having said that, these cupcakes live up to and deserve being called “ultimate”.  Let me explain why.

  • The cupcakes are ridiculously moist.  The recipe uses both granulated and brown sugar.  The brown sugar helps retain moisture in the cake.  Oil and Greek yogurt add to the moisture, as do the pineapple and carrot.  All in all, this is one seriously moist cupcake.
  • There’s so much warm, spicy flavor from adding ginger, nutmeg, AND cinnamon to the batter.  It’s hard to go wrong with those spices.
  • Grated carrot, crushed pineapple, raisins, and toasted walnuts help boost the flavor AND the nutrition content, but let’s not pretend eating a cupcake is a great way to get a serving of veggies.  They’re a dessert…a treat and should be savored as such.
  • The cupcakes are topped with a silky smooth, fluffy cream cheese frosting that’s mounded high on to of the cupcake and compliments the flavor of the cupcake so well.
  • These little babies are easy to make, take very little time, and are sure to bring you requests for the recipe.

Wooden board with several Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes with swirls of cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of gingersnap cookie crumbs.

Ingredients Needed

For the cupcakes:

  • Granulated and brown sugar
  • Vegetable oil
  • Plain, full-fat Greek yogurt – the fat in the yogurt helps to keep the cupcakes moist.
  • Vanilla
  • Extra-large eggs
  • All-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
  • Cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg
  • Carrots
  • Canned, crushed pineapple
  • Raisins – any type will work
  • Walnuts – toasted to more flavor and chopped

For the frosting you will need:

  • Cream cheese
  • Butter
  • Powdered sugar
  • Vanilla

Steps To Make This Recipe

  • Cream together both sugars, oil, yogurt, vanilla, and eggs.
  • Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
  • Fold the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture.
  • Fold in the carrots, pineapple, and walnuts.
  • Scoop the batter into muffin pans and bake.
  • Make the frosting while the cupcakes bake by creaming together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth and fluffy.
  • Allow the cupcakes to cool and then frost them.
  • Sprinkle the tops of the cupcakes with crushed gingersnaps.

Wooden board with several Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes with swirls of cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of gingersnap cookie crumbs.

If you like this recipe, here are a few more personal dessert recipes to try:

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Wooden board with several Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes with swirls of cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of gingersnap cookie crumbs.

Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes


  • Author: Millie Brinkley
  • Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
  • Yield: Makes 22-24 cupcakes 1x

Description

Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes – these are everyone’s favorite desserts.  They’re moist, full of warm spice flavor, and topped with big mounds of luscious cream cheese icing.  These cupcakes make a lovely springtime dessert for bake sales, potlucks, or Easter.


Ingredients

Scale

For the cupcakes:

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 cups vegetable oil
  • ⅓ cup full-fat Greek yogurt or sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 extra-large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 3 cups grated carrots (about 1 pound)
  • ½ cup crushed pineapple, drained
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

For the frosting:

  • 2 (8-ounce) bricks cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 5 cups powdered sugar

For garnish:

  • 12 gingersnaps, crushed into a fine powder (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners or spray generously with baking spray.  You will have approximately 22-24 cupcakes. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together both sugars, oil, yogurt, and vanilla until well combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture.

Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the grated carrots, pineapple, raisins, walnuts, and the remaining flour mixture.  Mix until just combined.  Don’t overmix the batter or your cupcakes will be tough.

Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into the cups until each is ¾ full.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.  

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Remove the pans from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting.

Cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth.

Add the powdered sugar and mix on low until fully incorporated and the frosting is light and fluffy.

To ice the cupcakes:  spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large tip or spoon the frosting into a ziplock bag and snip off a small bit of the corner.

Pipe the frosting in a circular pattern onto the cupcakes.

Sprinkle each cupcake with the gingersnap crumbs.

  • Prep Time: 40 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Category: Desserts
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: Ultimate Carrot Cake Cupcakes, dessert recipes, cupcake recipes, carrot cake, cream cheese frosting, Easter desserts, spring desserts, spring dessert recipe

Please follow and like us:
Yum