This recipe for carrot cake cupcakes is about to become a staple in your home. The minced carrots make them incredibly moist, and the homemade buttercream icing is literally the icing on top! Your friends and family will be asking for the recipe after the first bite (I’ve given it out at BBQs dozen of times!). Enjoy!
Jamie’s grandmother joined us last year for his birthday/Christmas (which fall within two days of each other), and she traveled with her own pans and yellowed hand-written recipe card to whip up the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. I would’ve never previously cited myself as a carrot cake fan before trying Mamaw’s, but she sure converted me into one.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Homemade Buttercream Icing
A few weeks ago I noticed we had a bag of shredded carrots that needed to be eaten, and since Jamie was working way late that night, I told Hadley to pull up her kitchen stool and do a little baking with me for fun. I didn’t want to make Mamaw’s full two-layer cake, so we tried our hand at carrot cake cupcakes. We halved her recipe to make around a dozen carrot cake cupcakes and then whipped up a homemade vanilla buttercream icing to go on top since I didn’t have any cream cheese on hand to make Mamaw’s icing.
The end result was outrageous, and I’ve continued making a dozen here and there for various occasions the last few weeks.
One of my closest girlfriends here in Kansas had her first baby this week (!!), so Hadley and I whipped together a few carrot cake cupcakes to bring her and her husband to enjoy in the hospital since I know carrot cake is her favorite! I snapped a few pictures and off they went.
Side note: I’m typing this post standing up at my kitchen counter because if I sit down Sadie will be all over mama, and I just looked up and stared right at the cupcakes that are left. And now I’m salivating, and it’s 9:51 a.m. and I really don’t need to eat a cupcake. Practicing some major willpower right now!
This is the kind of sweet treat where you do not want to sample the batter. It tastes like a ton of sugar mixed with vegetables. No good.
But lemme tell ya – those chunks of carrots that make the batter taste so gross are the same chunks that end up making this cupcake so incredibly moist and perfect. I don’t understand how carrots do that, but oh my stars… these are so good. And you know what makes these even better? I don’t know how this is possible, but they taste five times better the day after you make them. I know this to be true because it’s now 1:29 p.m. and I gave into my craving and indulged in one after lunch. Yum-o!
A couple suggestions:
1.) I mince carrots in our Ninja blender every time. I get them super fine and then press them into a measuring cup to get the exact amount I need.
2.) It goes without saying that I’m not exceptionally skilled in making cupcakes presentable, but these icing tips are my absolute favorite to use. I stand the a gallon bag up in a tall glass and use a bowl scraper to spoon in the icing. Very easy!
3.) I only used the pecans like sprinkles, but carrot cake typically includes them in the batter or the cake batter, so feel free to add them to that if you’d prefer.
I hope you enjoy these cupcakes! If you give them a try, I’d love to see your pictures! Feel free to send me a DM or tag me on Instagram. 🙂
- CUPCAKES:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1.5 cups finely chopped carrots (we like to use our blender/food processor for this!)
- FROSTING:
- ½ cup (one stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp chopped pecans (optional)
- CUPCAKES:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix all dry ingredients together.
- Add oil and mix.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing between each.
- Add carrots and mix well.
- Grease cupcake pan or insert cupcake liners. This recipe will yield 12 regular-sized cupcakes plus about four minis. Fill each a tad over halfway.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes.
- FROSTING:
- Beat powdered sugar and softened butter together well.
- Add remaining ingredients and beat for 3-4 minutes using an electric mixer.
- Frost cupcakes once cooled.
- Top with finely chopped pecans.
- Enjoy immensely!
Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo
