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Hi Bold Bakers!
I wanted to kick off Spring this year with some Big & Bold Carrot Cake Cupcakes that are perfect for Easter, Passover or any Spring celebration. These cupcakes scream Spring, and don’t worry they are as easy to decorate as they are to make.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes are a must for Springtime. This recipe is from Ireland and it’s the best I have ever made in my 13+ years as a professional baker.
I have taken my Best Ever Carrot Cake recipe and modified it into a small batch of cupcakes that yields 4 Big & Bold cupcakes. My cupcake recipes are the perfect size to fit in a toaster oven however they can also be made in a regular oven too. The timing and temperature for your toaster oven will be the same as your regular oven.
Did you see my other crazy cute Small Batch Cupcakes for Spring? Check out my Baby Chick Vanilla Cupcakes, Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes and the full written recipe for Carrot Cake Cupcakes further below.
These cupcakes are so easy to decorate. All you need is a few simple ingredients to get these lovely results.
Since these are small batch cupcakes, they cook perfectly in a toaster oven: fantastic pieces of kitchen equipment that are great for baking!
With a lot of my baking recipes, I like to show that with a small kitchen or limited equipment, you can still bake and get amazing results
I have previously made Small Batch Cupcakes including flavors like Red Velvet, S’mores and Cookie Dough Cupcakes. They are some impressive and delicious flavors you’ll have to try.
Try These Recipes!
Watch The Recipe Video!
Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Small Batch Cupcakes for Spring)
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Cupcakes:
- 1/4 cup (2oz/ 57g) sugar
- 2 tablespoons of egg*
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (2oz/ 57g) flavorless oil (coconut/ sunflower oil)
- 1/3 cup (2oz/ 57g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup (2oz/57g) carrots, grated
- ¼ cup (1oz/28g) raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1/2 cup (4oz/115g) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (1oz/28g) butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (4oz/115g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
To Decorate the Cupcakes:
- Green food dye
- Orange food dye
- 1/2 cup (1 ½oz/43g) coconut, shredded
Instructions
- Whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil until thick.
- Add in flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon and whisk gently until well combined.
- Lastly, add in the grated carrots and raisins and fold in.
- Pour the batter into 4 cupcake liners almost to the top.
- Bake at 350oF (180oC) for 15-17 minutes, or until they are firm in the middle and don’t appear damp. This recipe bakes fast.
- Once baked, take them out of the tin and cool on a baking rack until cold.
- To prepare the Cream Cheese Frosting: In a bowl, using an electric mixer or a hand whisk cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Then slowly add in the powdered sugar and vanilla until it is smooth and creamy. Chill until needed. Color your cream cheese frosting with drops of orange and green food dye until you reach your desired color.
- For the green "grass": Place some shredded/desiccated coconut in a ziplock bag with a drop or two of green food dye. Work the dye into the coconut with your fingers outside of the bag and you will soon see the coconut turn green. Keep going until the coconut is totally green. Add more color if needed.
To Decorate the Cupcakes:
- With a large round nozzle pipe around the surface of your carrot cupcake with the green frosting.
- Scatter the green coconut "grass" on top to completely cover the cream cheese frosting.
- With your orange Cream Cheese Frosting in a piping bag and a large nozzle, pipe straight down into the center of the grass and bring the bag up as you pipe. Put more pressure on the bag when you are done to get a bigger top, just like a carrot.
- In a piping bag with green Cream Cheese Frosting and fitted with a star nozzle pipe the carrot top.
- Once decorated store the cupcakes at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
If you don’t have a small cupcake tray use silicone cupcake liners.
Thank you for developing the small batch recipes. I made mine into three and was the right amount for my dinner guests. have been carrot cake deprived for awhile and these were so very delicious.
Yummy! OliveNation’s vanilla extract made this recipe taste even better as their vanilla extract has more of a vanilla flavor rather than an alcoholic one.
Can this recipe be made using the microwave? Can this be adapted to a microwavable mugcake recipe? Thanks in advance!
I tried this one and it was just soo good!!
Since my cupcake liners were much smaller, I got around 6 small cupcakes….And I added in chopped toasted walnuts too into my batter…They were really good. I will definitely make them again…Thanks, Gemma.
Sending lots of love from Oman<3
Hi Gemma, I want to make an egg-free version of this. Can I replace eggs with buttermilk or condensed milk? I don’t have access to bananas and apple sauce right now due to lockdown. Thanks for any help.
Hi gemma! Can i add shortening in the cream chees frosting to. Make it more stable and able to stand more in a warm temperature? If yes, how much shortening should I add?
Hope for an answer soon ❤️
Hi. Just baked the cupcakes. But i cudnt taste the carrots, cinnamon or vanilla. Which made the egg smell stand out. It was sponge cupcake at best. Here are the few changes I made. *I double the quantity. Made right about 8 cupcakes. *whole wheat for the denser taste but it was soft n sponge like the regular flour *brown sugar instead of the regular white one. *One whole egg. I might try to increase the vanilla, cinnamon.. Maybe carrots too? Do suggest. One off the topic suggest-plz do post more reciepe that use 1cup or less flour. Most baker… Read more »
Hi, Gemma! I’m planning to use this recipe to make muffins. How should I adjust its baking time and temp? Thanks! Big fan here ????
A magical recipe Gemma. Tasted better than at a cafe. Can’t believe I made it and it tasted like that! Thank you thank you.
Nice Recipe Really Amazing. Thanks for sharing