These are the best carrot cake cupcakes with a swirl of cream cheese frosting on top! Grab your stars of a usual baking line-up, like flour, sugar, and butter, plus a few extras, like carrots and cream cheese, and get baking!
The Best Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
These carrot cake cupcakes? THE BEST.
Featured comment
These are the most delicious carrot cupcakes!! I keep getting requests for them! Outstanding and so moist!!! Bought a new kitchenaid grater attachment just to make these.
Michelle L Albergo
Though carrot cake can, AND SHOULD, be celebrated at all times of the year, it feels especially wonderful in the spring for some reason. The tender crumb, the super moist (sorry if you need us to be sorry 😬) texture, the hints of cinnamon spice. Also we’d be lying if we said we weren’t in it for the cream cheese frosting. Cuz we are. Always. With any occasion. If there’s smooth swoopy cream cheese frosting involved, we’re there.
And these little cupcakes are the best. Just the best. The perfect little bringable treat for all the spring things. Easter brunch? Yup. Mother’s Day? You bet. Those plants that you were sure you killed last year are starting to bloom again? GO GRAB YOURSELF A CARROT CAKE CUPCAKE, FRIEND! You earned it.
In This Post: Everything You Need For Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Watch How to Make These Cupcakes
- Ingredients for Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Let’s Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Variations on These Cupcakes
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting: Frequently Asked Questions
Prefer To Watch Instead Of Read?
Ingredients You’Ll Need For These Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Pretty standard baking lineup for these guys, so hopefully your pantry is already mostly holding the keys to the kingdom, but here’s what you’ll need:
- flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt
- cinnamon
- grated carrots
- oil (any neutral-tasting kind will do)
- eggs
- cream cheese
- butter
- powdered sugar
- vanilla
We love a relatively short ingredient list, especially when we’re talking cake AND frosting so this recipe is a real winner. Carrot cake nirvana is almost yours!
Let’s Make Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
You’ve got your ingredients and your love of cupcakes at the ready, so let’s get carrot caking, shall we? Here’s how you do it:
- Batter. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then combine the grated carrots and the oil and slowly add the dry mixture until incorporated. In go your beaten eggs and stir just a few times. Seriously! The less stirring the better.
- Bake. Grease a muffin tin or use paper liners and then scoop the batter, filling about ⅔ of the way up. Bake for about 13 mins but ovens can vary a bunch so keep an eye until they are golden brown and have springy tops. Allow the cupcakes to cool.
- Frost. And now for the reason we’re here. Blend all ingredients except powdered sugar and then slowly add that in, keepin’ things real smooth. Now, you could just frost butter knife-style, but if you wanna get fancy, transfer it to a plastic bag or similar tool for piping the frosting in even little swirls on top.
Then, hooray! It’s carrot cake cupcake time! Spread them out on the party table. Stack ‘em up on those cutesie cupcake towers. Plop one down on the plate of your kiddo just to celebrate any old Wednesday.
Variations On These Incredible Cupcakes
Whether you’re making these for a party or shower or brunch or dessert, you can doll ‘em up anyway you like! Are you a raisin person? Don’t be shy! Some juicy plump golden raisins would be great in here. (Or regular too, of course. We see you, nature’s candy!) Maybe you want to chop up some walnuts and toss them in the batter or sprinkle them on top of those frosting coils.
Some of you like to get wild and put pineapple and coconut in your carrot cake. Go get it, friends! Do you really love frosting? Listen, double that batch then with reckless abandon.
However you do it, just make sure you cupcake. Because, CUPCAKES. Always A+.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes: FAQs
What kind of flour do you recommend for these cupcakes?
All-purpose flour is perfect here.
Can I add nuts on top?
That’s a great idea! Chopped walnuts would be delicious!
What type of oil is best here?
A neutral-tasting oil works best in this case, something like canola oil.
Do I need to use muffin liners?
Baking directly in the muffin tin without the liners is my favorite way to bake these, but it’s harder to get the perfect light brown color on the sides because they often get too dark brown. The ones pictured here turned out perfectly, but if you’re unsure, just use paper liners.
The Best Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
Description
These are the best carrot cake cupcakes with a swirl of cream cheese frosting on top! Grab your stars of a usual baking line-up, like flour, sugar, and butter, plus a few extras, like carrots and cream cheese, and get baking!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the cupcakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 heaping cups grated carrots
- 2/3 cup neutral oil
- 2 eggs, beaten
For the frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2+ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the grated carrots and the oil. Slowly add the flour mixture, stirring until just mixed. Add the beaten eggs and stir a few times (like 15 or less around the bowl – the fewer the better)!
- Grease a muffin tin or use paper liners. Scoop the batter into a muffin tin, filling each muffin tin about 2/3 of the way up the side. Bake for 13 minutes, check how they’re doing, and add a few minutes if necessary. I find that the baking time varies greatly with oven, so just check for the right golden brown color and springy tops. Allow the cupcakes to cool.
- For the frosting, blend the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Transfer to a plastic bag or similar tool for piping the frosting evenly on the cupcakes.
Equipment
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Notes
If you love cream cheese frosting A LOT, you need to double the frosting. Having a little extra has never been a problem for me. 🙂
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: carrot cake cupcakes, carrot cupcakes, cream cheese frosting, carrot cake dessert
More Carrot Desserts We Love
- Carrot Cake Coffee Cake (you definitely need that honey butter on top – so good!)
- Raw Vegan Carrot Cake Bites (add white chocolate chips, if you want, for a fun twist)
- Healthy Carrot Muffins (wholesome and easy to make)
April 2, 2021
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Baby showers are so fun! At this point in life, it is the only reason I would like to have a baby. I just want the shower part. Selfish. (Probably why I am not having babies yet!)
These cupcakes are perfect. Carrot cake, cream cheese icing… I’ll have 10 thanks!
Ha! Taylor you are too funny. Aaand I totally get you.
My sister also just had a baby! I finding that I am now living my cake creations dream though my little niece.
So cute and they look delicious, who does not like carrot cake?
Happy almost baby day to your sister. It is going to be a fun journey. I love cakes with carrots in them but I have never perfected the cream cheese frosting so this would be good one to try.
For those who don’t like really sweet frosting, I made these with 1/3 the recommended amount of powdered sugar and they were amazing. Usually the frosting ruins cakes and cupcakes for me and the mild frosting I made added a level of creamy, hint-of-savory- to offset the sweetness of the cake.
Wonderful recipe and thanks for sharing.
Great tips, Jacqueline! Thanks!
Yes! Thanks for your comment! I’m French and not used to so much sugar. I actually divided the Sugar of the cupcakes by 2. And for the frosting, I put half of a 1/3 cup instead of 2 cups. And even then the frosting was still too sweet for me 😅 great recipe though! I love them 😍
Thanks for sharing, Lea!
Yes, I half the sugar in all American dessert recipes!!!
Such pretty cupcakes! I made some carrot cake cupcakes about 6 mos ago and it took me like 2 yrs to finally get those puppies where I wanted them and yours are just beautiful! Cream cheese frosting is a must, too 🙂
I made these a million and one times too, I couldn’t get them just right and I was even working off an old recipe! 🙂 but they’re finally there. Carrot cake is da bomb.
Hi there,Lindsay they sound delicious,going to try to make them,just wondering,have you ever,tried,adding,crushed pineapple, or gloden raisins to your carrot cake muffins ?Do you think that sounds good ? Andrea Lynn ☺
Degrees Celcius or fahrenheit?
pinning this because I have been looking for the perfect carrot cake cupcakes and I know your recipe will be delicious, as usual 🙂
These look perfect! Cream cheese frosting is the best of all frostings, isn’t it?! Delicious! And sounds like such a fun shower – you are a great sister!
I was thinking the same thing! I love cream cheese frosting and carrot cake was always my favorite cake for my birthdays growing up! I am definitely going to make these for an upcoming meeting happening at a Coffee Emporium in Cincinnati with lots of new friends I met online. Thank you, Lindsay! And congrats on being an Aunt!
Hope you like them, James!
I don’t know if it’s just my oven but these took wayyyy longer than 13 minutes
Yes!!!!!! Same! In oven going on 25 minutes so far!
Yup took about 25 mins on 350!
Me too. 25 mins to cook and once baked these were very greasy. I measured exactly. I’m thinking not enough dry ingredients-to-wet ratio?
Same thing happened to me. Followed directions exactly. Very greasy and not cooked enough at 13 mins.
Same here! I keep adding 5 minutes and up to 20 minutes now. I hope they’re not greasy. I am bringing them to a memorial reception tomorrow ☹️
Congrats! My brother and his wife had their son a year ago so I have definitely enjoyed having a little one to celebrate. Last weekend, they had their 1st birthday and I helped by making the party favors for all the kids: animal sunglasses, animal face masks, and inflatable animal beach balls. Everyone loved them!
How fun Quyen! Too cute.
These look amazing. Can’t wait to try making them over the holidays!
I’m kind of loving no cupcake liners for these! So much prettier and rustic, plus no picking up cupcake wrappers left all over your house when the party is over. Can’t wait to try these!
Exactly. Thanks Natalie!
Carrot cake is one of my favorite, so seeing them in cupcake form is making me hungry!
Sorry to say but my perfect carrot cake has to include pineapple and nuts…. raisins are negotiable… but they sure look yummy!
Agreed! And coconut.
Best oil? In your opinion…
I just had carrot cake today…I’ve declared it my official favourite dessert of the year! These look so delicious. Congratulations on the baby coming into your family!
That’s so sweet of you to host a baby shower for your sister! And to bake amazing cupcakes. With how much you enjoy spoiling people with delicious food, your little nephew is going to think you’re the greatest auntie in the world! I can’t wait to see your photos from the party; I’m sure everything turned out even prettier than the inspiration board!
these sound and look amazing. what kind of oil do you use? vegetable oil?
You could probably use any kind of oil,but canola oil ,would be good,also crushed pineapple, & raisins would really be delicious ❣ 😁
This recipe looks very similar to my all time favorite carrot cake recipe. And you know what I like to do to turn it up a notch? I add a little lemon zest to the cream cheese frosting and then sprinkle some toasted coconut on top. Is it just me or is everything in life better with coconut??
Great idea Adrienne!
These look fantastic! congrats to your sister!
My favorite dessert ever and I DO like lots of cream cheese frosting!
yuuuuummmmmm
I love, love carrot cake anything. And love cream cheese everything. Match made for each other, perfect match. And congrats on being a new auntie soon 🙂
Thanks Amy! I’m pretty exciteeed.
Carrot cake is the perfect thing for baby showers. I do not know why, but it just is. And these are gorgeous!!
Your cupcakes are so pretty! Carrot cakes is one of my favorite “american” (hope its American) cake.
You are indeed a very brave woman! You seem to have taken the entire move in stride though, and have a baby shower under your belt to prove it!
These cupcakes look delicious! Looks like you used a mini muffin pan — perfect size! I think I will make these this weekend and freeze them. They will be great to serve during the holidays!
Hi
The cupcakes look awesome! By 2 eggs beaten, u mean just beaten until yolks n whites r combined or beaten till it becomes frothy?
Thx
Yes, until yolks and whites are combined.
What flour do you use for these? Self raising or plain
Just all-purpose flour!
What kind of oil? Canola or vegetable
i just used olive oil
Just made these…and am now devouring them. Amazing. Adding to my recipe book. I attempted to make the frosting look pretty like yours, but sadly in the end I resorted to blobs of frosting. Still good though!
These look delicious! I agree with you when it comes to cream cheese frosting, the more the merrier!