These carrot cake cupcakes are perfectly spiced while also soft, moist and fluffy and topped with a delicious mascarpone frosting.
Who doesn't love cupcakes? Good thing there are so many options out there - from funfetti cupcakes to apple pie cupcakes.
But this time of year, the king of cupcakes is carrot cake cupcakes. No it doesn't need to be Easter to make these, but it as good of a reason as ever.
These carrot cupcakes are actually adapted from my Easter bunny carrot cake. So what is it about carrot cake? Well it has to be MOIST and have some SPICE.
Under-spiced carrot cake just doesn't have much flavor and who likes a dry cupcake? Good thing is this recipe helps tackle both of those issues.
Oh and you might notice these carrot cupcakes aren't made with a traditional cream cheese frosting. I personally prefer mascarpone, which is Italian cream cheese.
And bonus! You get some vegetables with these cupcakes with is never a bad thing. So get baking!
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Recipe Ingredients
- All-purpose flour - I always go with AP here but you can use whole wheat flour as well.
- Baking powder/baking soda - creates the rise out of the cupcakes.
- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg - need to have that spice.
- Salt - enhances the flavor.
- Eggs - creates structure and stability.
- Granulated sugar/light brown sugar - can use a combo or all of one or the other.
- Vegetable oil - any mild oil flavor will work here.
- Buttermilk - reacts with leavening agents to create rise.
- Vanilla extract - enhances flavors.
- Carrots - freshly shred your carrots.
- Shredded coconut - used sweetened coconut.
- Unsalted butter - thins out the glaze.
- Light corn syrup - can also use honey or maple syrup.
- Mascarpone cheese - replace with cream cheese if you prefer.
- Powdered sugar - sweetens the frosting.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside.
- Beat together the eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until just blended. Fold in the carrots and coconut by hand until just incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into the liners, filling ⅔ of the way full. Bake at 350°F for 20-22 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place cake on cooling rack. While the cupcakes are cooking, make the buttermilk glaze.
- Mix together sugar, buttermilk, butter, light corn syrup and baking soda in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Let the mixture come to a boil and reduce to simmer for about 4-5 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
- Take a toothpick and punch a few holes throughout the cupcakes. Taking a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the cakes.
- Beat the mascarpone cheese and butter together in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt and beat until fluffy, about another 3 minutes.
- Using a piping bag, pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Be creative with your decorations.
Type of Carrots
There are wet shredded carrots and dry shredded carrots. if you want a moist cupcake, you want wet shredded carrots. You can accomplish this by freshly grating them yourself.
If you buy pre-shredded carrots, they are drier and will lead to drier carrot cupcakes.
Variations
There are so many versions of carrot cake cupcakes out there. Good thing is you can customize these to your taste:
- Raisins - adding a few tablespoon of raisins never hurts.
- Pineapple - if you like a little pineapple flavor in your cupcakes, add ½ cup crushed pineapple, but then leave out the ⅓ cup of buttermilk.
- Nuts - mix in ½ cup of chopped pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts.
- Spiced frosting - if you want some spice in your frosting, add about 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg.
Mascarpone vs. Cream Cheese
The biggest difference between the two is the amount of fat. Mascarpone has twice the amount of fat as cream cheese, which gives it a richer flavor.
Cream cheese is firmer and tangier, but you can use them interchangeably.
Key to Light and Fluffy Cupcakes
The key with baking is DO NOT OVERMIX. It’s the death of any baking recipe and with cupcakes, it can lead to something that is dense and just not very appetizing.
So what does not overmixing mean? Well you mix all of your ingredients right until you see the flour disappear.
The other issue can be baking too long. To combat this, you just insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake until it comes out clean.
How Long Do Cupcakes Last?
To maximize the shelf life of cupcakes, place them in a covered airtight container or cover with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
- Cupcakes at room temperature will last 1-2 days
- Cupcakes in the fridge will last 1 week
- Cupcakes in the freezer will last 4 months
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- All refrigerated items should be at room temperature, which helps the batter mix easily and evenly.
- Grate the carrots by hand which creates a moist cupcake.
- You may not realize this but baking powder and baking soda actually expires pretty quickly. Use baking powder that is less than a year old since it has been opened. You can test it by stirring half a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of hot water. It will immediately start to fizz and release carbon dioxide gas if it’s still fresh enough to use. Baking soda should be less than six months old and you can use the same test.
- When adding the batter to the muffin tin, don’t fill more than ⅔ of the way as they do rise.
- Allow the cupcakes to completely cool before adding the frosting, otherwise it will melt.
Other Cupcake Recipes
If you’ve tried these carrot cake cupcakes or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups grated carrots
- ½ cup shredded coconut
Buttermilk glaze
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon buttermilk
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Mascarpone Frosting
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside.
- Beat together the eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until just blended. Fold in the carrots and coconut by hand until just incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into the liners, filling ⅔ of the way full. Bake at 350°F for 20-22 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place cake on cooling rack. While the cupcakes are cooking, make the buttermilk glaze.
Buttermilk Glaze
- Mix together sugar, buttermilk, butter, light corn syrup and baking soda in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Let the mixture come to a boil and reduce to simmer for about 4-5 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
- Take a toothpick and punch a few holes throughout the cupcakes. Taking a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the cakes.
Mascarpone Icing
- Beat the mascarpone cheese and butter together in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt and beat until fluffy, about another 3 minutes.
- Using a piping bag, pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Be creative with your decorations.
Notes
- All refrigerated items should be at room temperature, which helps the batter mix easily and evenly.
- Grate the carrots by hand which creates a moist cupcake.
- You may not realize this but baking powder and baking soda actually expires pretty quickly. Use baking powder that is less than a year old since it has been opened. If you use older baking powder, it won’t be powerful enough to help leaven the cupcakes. You can test it by stirring half a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of hot water. It will immediately start to fizz and release carbon dioxide gas if it’s still fresh enough to use. Baking soda should be less than six months old and you can use the same test.
- When adding the batter to the muffin tin, don’t fill more than ⅔ of the way as they do rise.
- Allow the cupcakes to completely cool before adding the frosting, otherwise it will melt.
Chris says
Look gorgeous!