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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