Mini Carrot Cupcakes with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

Up until recently, I kind of forgot that carrot cake existed.  Ridiculous, I know, but carrot was never a flavor requested by my friends and family whenever I made them cupcakes.

And then my parents decided to buy a 10-pound bag of carrots right before they left for vacation.  I was given 9 1/2 pounds of those carrots.

As a result, I made a bunch of carrot cupcakes, tweaked the recipe, made more cupcakes, and tweaked the recipe again and again.  Hundreds of cupcakes later, I perfected my recipe.  These are the greatest carrot cupcakes I have ever made, and hopefully you'll feel the same way after making them!

Step 1 Ingredients

For the cake:

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), melted
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/8 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

For the frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Comments

[kychyk7]

These are the greatest carrot cupcakes I have ever made, and hopefully you'll feel the same way after making them

[jessyratfink]

These are adorable and I bet they taste just as good as they look. :D