Turn Grandma’s Favorite Easter Dessert Into Light And Fluffy Cupcakes

These carrot cake cupcakes are perfectly spiced, with grated carrot and chunks of walnuts in the batter for tons of texture and crunch. Top the moist and flavorful cupcakes with fluffy cream cheese frosting or a creamy glaze as you prefer; either sweet topping perfectly complements the cupcakes’ warm spices.

Learn how to make carrot cake cupcakes, and serve these for Easter. Everyone will be thrilled for this petite take on the classic holiday dessert.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes Ingredients

To make carrot cake cupcakes, you’ll need:

• All-purpose flour: The perfect flour for a light, fluffy texture that stands up well to the frosting and walnuts.
• Ground cinnamon: A warming spice that balances nicely the sweetness of the carrots and sugar.
• Baking powder: Helps the cupcakes rise into fluffy cupcakes.
• Kosher salt: A bit of salt balances the sweetness.
• Allspice and ginger: These complex spices make this cake more than one dimension of flavor.
• Dark brown sugar: In addition to sweetness, dark brown sugar adds some rich caramel flavors.
• Vegetable oil: In cakes, vegetable oil adds incredible moisture.
• Sour cream: Helps activate the baking powder for the light and fluffy cupcakes and adds even more moisture.
• Vanilla extract: Warm notes of vanilla rounds out the flavors of the cupcakes.
• Eggs: Holds the batter together
• Carrots: Can’t have carrot cake without carrots. We prefer to shred them just before adding to the batter; the pre-shredded carrots can be dry and tough.
• Walnuts: The classic nut for carrot cake, it adds crunch and great texture.

You’ll also need a few simple ingredients for your choice of topping. For our , you’ll need butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Or for our , you’ll need vanilla extract, heavy cream, and powdered sugar.

How To Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes

This is a fairly simple cupcake recipe, which makes it great for busy holidays. Here’s a brief outline of the process; the full recipe is further below:

• Prepare the muffin pan. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners or parchment paper cups.
• Combine the dry ingredients. In a bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, allspice, and ginger.
• Combine the wet ingredients. In another bowl, mix the brown sugar, oil, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs.
• Make batter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring just until combined. Then add the carrots and walnuts, folding to mix the ingredients well. But don’t overmix. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups.
• Bake cupcakes. Bake until the cupcakes are golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Then let cool completely.
• Make frosting or glaze. Pick your preferred topping, and add it to the cupcakes once cooled. Garnish with walnuts if desired.

Why Is Carrot Cake So Moist?

The vegetable oil and sour cream add moisture to the batter in these carrot cake cupcakes. Oil remains a liquid at room temperature, while butter solidifies leaving the cake moist even after it has cooled down. 

Plus, shredding carrots versus, say, slicing or chopping them releases more moisture, which is beneficial for this style of baking. Similar to the approach in an , this recipe counts on the moisture from the carrots to lighten the batter. (Therefore, you’ll notice the batter going into the pan is much thicker than a traditional cupcake batter.)

How To Store Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Store carrot cake cupcakes at room temperature, without frosting, for up to three days before frosting them.

Frosting can be made up to three days in advance and stored in the fridge before topping cupcakes. You can also freeze any excess frosting in a ziploc bag and thaw it in the fridge.

Recipe Tips for Carrot Cake Cupcakes

The Southern Living Test Kitchen provided this advice for making sure your carrot cake cupcakes are the best possible:

• Carrots can be grated the night before preparation and stored in an airtight container with a damp paper towel over top in the fridge for up to two days.
• If you’re using cream cheese frosting, put it in the fridge to help it stiffen up before spreading or piping. 

Carrot Cake Cupcake Substitutions

We have a few variations for carrot cake cupcakes that can help you make them a bit more your own:

• If you prefer—and for an even more Southern statement—swap out the walnuts for pecans.
• Make or buy , chop them up, and use them in the batter and also as a garnish.
• If you don’t like cream cheese icing or creamy glaze, opt for a traditional instead.

More Great Cupcake Recipes

If you love cupcakes for their individual-sized sweetness, here are a few other favorites:

Editorial contributions by Alesandra Dubin.