Carrot Cake Cupcakes

These Carrot Cake Cupcakes are moist, fluffy, and topped with silky frosting. Toasted walnuts add crunch, and cinnamon brings warm flavor to every bite.

These carrot cake cupcakes will be the most moist and tender cake you’ve ever had! Filled with toasted walnuts for a little crunch and a well balanced carrot cinnamon flavor. Then, they are topped with a traditional tangy and sweet cream cheese buttercream for the ultimate cupcake!

My husband loves carrot cake so much I made his groom’s cake in the shape of a tennis racket using the best carrot cake recipe. If you’re looking for a slightly easier cake, you can make my easy carrot cake recipe, or if you want to impress, you can make this stunning carrot cake roll. If you’re still in your carrot cake era, I mean now is the time, then make these carrot cake scones as well.

Professional Tips for Making

• Know the limits of the buttercream when choosing a piping tip. A simple round tip is best, or a dollop and spread technique is always welcome. Everyone knows the cupcake is just a cream cheese frosting delivery mechanism. This frosting will not hold the lines or swirls of a star tip like Swiss Meringue buttercream, American buttercream, or even this ermine frosting recipe. 
• Weight your ingredients if you have a scale. Scaling the ingredients is 1000x more accurate and at least 234x easier. I converted this recipe to volumetric measurements, but I suggest you dust off that scale in the back of your cupboard and weigh your ingredients. 
• Use a food processor if you have it. I learned from Beat Bobby Flay that the shredding attachment on that food processor saves so much time! The carrots will be slightly larger, but you could give them a quick chop if you want them smaller.

Ingredients & Substitutions

For the cake:

• All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has the perfect amount of gluten to hold the cupcake together. You could substitute pastry flour, but I would not use cake flour. There won’t be enough gluten, and the cake will fall apart. 
• Baking powder: Double acting baking powder reacts instantly when mixed with an acid and then again when heated. It creates a more even rise than baking soda alone and beautifully baked crumb.
• Ground cinnamon: These carrot cupcakes have the perfect hint of cinnamon. You can add ground ginger and nutmeg
• Kosher salt
• Eggs: Whole eggs allow you to emulsify all that oil into the batter, resulting in a moist, not greasy, cupcake.
• Granulated sugar: Granulated sugar is here for flavor but it also aids in the carrot cake’s leavening, moisture, texture, and stability. 
• Light brown sugar: Light brown sugar adds sweetness and a little moisture. This will keep the cake softer while adding a light molasses flavor. 
• Vegetable oil: Vegetable oil makes this cake exceptionally moist. I emulsify it into the eggs to make the batter extra moist and not greasy. Be sure to choose a neutral oil like canola oil because there is enough in this cake that you will taste it, so save the olive oil for lemon olive oil cake. 
• Carrots: I use freshly peeled, grated, and squeezed carrots for carrot cake. I also use horse carrots if I can find them. They are bigger, juicier, and more flavorful than the skinny ones in the bags! If your grocery store has loose carrots, chances are they are horse carrots. 
• Walnuts: Walnuts are optional, but if you use them, check and ensure they aren’t stale. Walnuts can impart an off-tasting flavor if not fresh. 

For the buttercream: 

• Cream cheese: I use original Philadelphia Cream Cheese for all my frostings and buttercreams. I also use full fat, though reduced fat can be substituted. Just ensure that it is not whipped. Whipped will make the buttercream too soft and won’t hold its shape.
• Unsalted butter: In frostings and buttercreams, the butter is there for stability. It will firm up when cold. 
• Powdered sugar: Confectioner’s sugar is used in American buttercreams because it is ground finely into a powder. This allows it to create a smooth, silky buttercream without having to be heated. 
• Lemon juice
• Vanilla extract

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations

• Change the mix in. Everyone out there has their favorite mix-in when it comes to carrot cake: I love adding raisins. You can also try pineapple, bananas, or pecans. If you love the ideas of all those, try my hummingbird cake next. 
• Change the frosting. Now, I’m not saying you should stray away from cream cheese buttercream because what is carrot cake without it? But you could use my bourbon cream cheese frosting for the best red velvet cake recipe or add maple syrup, coconut milk, or brandy to the buttercream instead of the lemon juice and vanilla extract. 
• Play around with the spices. Try using some of my favorite spice mixes like apple pie spice or this pumpkin spice recipe. For more fun spices, you can use this speculoos spice mix recipe or use the chai spice from these chai sugar cookies.
• Make with coconut! You can make this cake with coconut oil and sub the walnuts for toasted shredded coconut flakes!

How to Make this Carrot Cake Cupcake Recipe 

Use these instructions to make these moist carrot cake cupcakes! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Prepare the Carrot Cake:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°F convection (with the fan) or 350°F conventional (no fan). Line 12 cupcake pans with cupcake liners. 

Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. 

Step 3: In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth. Slowly whisk in the oil to emulsify. They should be pale and voluminous.

Placing the bowl on a slightly damp towel helps hold it in place while you whisk because it’s kind of a 2 hand operation. 

Step 4: Whisk in the granulated sugar and light brown sugar until smooth.

Step 5: Fold in the flour mixture. When the dry ingredients are almost completely incorporated, then stir the carrots and chopped walnuts (if using). Fold in to distribute evenly. 

Step 6: Divide between the prepared muffin cups and bake in the preheated oven for 10-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with only a few clinging crumbs. No amount of oil, sugar, or carrots can save you from over-baking. Dryness is inevitable. 

Step 7: Allow to cool in pans for 2 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Prepare the cream cheese buttercream: 

Step 8: While the cupcakes cool, prepare the buttercream. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar until smooth. 

The butter and cream cheese should both be at room temperature. If they are straight from the fridge, you need to cream each separately until they become light and fluffy. Then you can mix them together. Otherwise you will have lumps of butter in your frosting that will never come out. 

Step 9: Add lemon juice and extract. Mix well. 

Chilling briefly before frosting helps thicken the buttercream and will make piping or frosting easier. 

Step 10: Place a large round piping tip (such as the Ateco 808 or 809) in a piping bag with the tip cut off. Fill with chilled buttercream (refresh in the stand mixer if it gets too stiff) and pipe a generous swirl onto the top of each cooled cupcake. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional cupcake recipe. Next, check out our delicious strawberry cupcakes or these decadent chocolate cupcakes!