Soft, fluffy, and moist carrot cake cupcakes! Made completely from scratch with real grated carrots and the option to add nuts or raisins, these cupcakes are always a hit! Make sure to top them off with the absolute best cream cheese frosting.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes will forever be my favorite way to get my daily serving of vegetables. Give me a cupcake and a zucchini muffin for each hand and I’ve got the bottom of the food pyramid covered.
Alright, maybe carrot cake cupcakes aren’t the best way to get your daily vegetables, but it’s definitely the tastiest, especially when topped off with a very generous swirl of cream cheese frosting. They’re soft, moist, and cheerfully fluffy, these cupcakes taste like springtime and sunny weather (which I could really, really use right now!).
These carrot cake cupcakes are a modified version of my favorite carrot cake. The recipe is almost identical to the cake portion except for a bit more liquid in the batter — the original is perfect for cake but I found it to be too dense in the small space of a cupcake liner and added some milk for a bit of levity.
I use all oil in this recipe (no butter) for the moistest (sorry if you hate that word, if you have a better substitute I’m happy to hear it!) cupcakes, and thanks to the spices you’re not missing anything in terms of flavor, I promise! I found that butter just didn’t give these cupcakes the texture that they really needed.
I have a few tips on how to make your own carrot cake cupcakes turn out perfectly, so let’s get into that!
Tips for Making Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- I recommend using the grate setting on your food processor to prepare your carrots, and then briefly pulsing them in your food processor for fine shreds of carrot. I feel like just grating them leaves carrot pieces that are too big, but don’t overdo it when you pulse or you’ll have carrot juice and it will impart way too much carrot flavor into your cupcakes!
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a hand grater to grate your carrots.
- While I didn’t use them for my carrot cake cupcakes, you can add walnuts, pecans, or raisins (why, though!) to this recipe, if you’d like. This batter can hold about ½-1 cup of add-ins.
- This recipe can be doubled to make 24 cupcakes.
Enjoy! The full printable recipe is just below the video, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you enjoy watching these videos!!
How Do You Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (157 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar packed
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¾ cups (180 ml) avocado, vegetable, or canola oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ cups (170 g) grated carrots
- ½ cup (60 g) chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
- 1 batch Cream Cheese Frosting
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a 12-count muffin pans with paper liners.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer), whisk together flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.1 ¼ cups (157 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar packed, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- Stir in oil. Add eggs, one at a time, pausing to scrape down sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat until well-combined.¾ cups (180 ml) avocado, vegetable, or canola oil, 2 large eggs
- Stir in vanilla extract and milk.1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 Tablespoons milk
- Add carrots and nuts (if using). and stir until combined.1 ½ cups (170 g) grated carrots, ½ cup (60 g) chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
- Evenly divide batter into cupcake liners, filling each ⅔-¾ of the way full. Transfer to oven and bake on 350F (175C) for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Allow to cool in the baking tin for 5 minutes before carefully removing to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating with cream cheese frosting*.1 batch Cream Cheese Frosting
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Lisa
First time making these today. My family loved them! I toasted the pecans and added toasted pecans to the frosting as well. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you for the great recipes!!!
Michelle
These are excellent! I made them for my daughter’s wedding shower and everyone loved them. I want to use this recipe for an Easter gathering, but to save time I’d prefer making a 9×13 cake. Recommendations on time or anything else?
Sam
Hi Michelle! I would recommend using my carrot cake recipe instead. Others have reported a 50 minute bake time, but I haven’t tried it so keep an eye on it. 🙂
Emily
I’m excited to try this recipe for Easter! Would using regular vegetable oil instead of canola oil be okay?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sure! We hope you love them, Emily 😊
Becca
I substituted gluten free flour and these came out perfectly. Awesome recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Great to know! Thanks for your review, Becca–we appreciate it! 😊
Jessica Mac
Moist and fluffy. Also goes well with salted caramel icing.
Erin B.
These are gorgeous and so good. I have to store these cupcakes (unfrosted) overnight. Should I put them on the counter in Saran Wrap or in the fridge?
Sam
Hi Erin! As long as they are covered so they don’t dry out I would recommend leaving them on the counter. 🙂
Erin B.
Thank you!
Ann Hoppe
I will be making these cupcakes this weekend. What do you think about adding crushed pineapple to the batter and skipping the milk? I have a carrot cake recipe with crushed pineapple and it makes it really moist!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Ann! Others have added crushed pineapple with success, but we haven’t tried it ourselves. If you do, let us know how they turn out for you! 🙂
LL
The amount of batter the recipe makes overflows the muffin cups and burns on the cupcake pan.
Sam
Hmm, it shouldn’t.
Betsy
Mine overflowed too but didn’t burn. Maybe I put in too much carrot! I gently pressed the shredded carrot into the measuring cup. I’ll try to disguise them with frosting and a couple of jelly beans for Easter.
They are really tasty. I ate the worst looking one!
Tina
Can you add raisins? If so, how many and should I adjust any other ingredients?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Tina! Yes you can. This batter can hold about ½-1 cup of add-ins, so be sure to keep that in mind if you plan to add anything else (pecans, walnuts, etc).
Kelly
This is my go-to recipe and everyone is always obsessed with them!!! Thank you ❤
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy to hear that, Kelly! Thanks so much for your review ❤
Hillary
Hands down the best carrot cake cupcakes I’ve ever had!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them so much, Hillary! Thanks for your review ❤
Bee
I have made and recommended this recipe so many times!u it’s so easy and a no fail. These do no flop! The only carrot cupcake recipe you’ll ever need!
Sam
Thank you so much, Bee! I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Najia
Good to know. So many of my carrot cupcakes sink in the middle, no matter how less or more I add. I can’t wait to try these, thanks.
Elizabeth
I have three questions!
1. I have left over cream cheese frosting, how long will it last in the fridge? It’s in a piping bag in a plastic bag so it’s sealed well.
2.Should I lightly pat my shredded carrots to get rid of the excess water? Mine were wet and I was nervous of ruining the cupcakes.
3. Is there any way to make the cupcakes a little less sweeter? Can I use 1/3 cup of both white and brown sugar? Will the texture of the cake be different? If I take out some sugar should I add in more flour?
Sam
Hi Elizabeth! The frosting will last about 4 days in the refrigerator. The carrots don’t need to be patted dry unless they are dripping wet. I normally have them dried before I grate them so I’m not adding a ton of extra water. I haven’t tried reducing the sugars, but I think you could reduce each to 1/3 without any other alterations. 🙂
Kathy
Delicious! I will be making a double batch soon. I’m not a frosting lover but your frosting recipe is so good.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them so much, Kathy! 😊
Peb
So delicious!! Thank you!
Lis
Is the batter supposed to be a little thick ? Just made them now, and the batter is quite thick…
Sam
The batter isn’t going to be runny. It’s a little bit thick. I do have a video in the post where you may be able to kind of see the consistency, but it’s a much older video so not really the easiest to see. I hope they turned out for you.