Carrot Cake Cupcakes

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Wonderfully moist and flavorful carrot cake cupcakes filled with crunchy chopped nuts and topped with a smooth and creamy cream cheese frosting.

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Just as my homemade carrot cake recipe had been a very long time coming by the time I posted it, so have these classic carrot cake cupcakes.

Prior to starting my blog, I made custom cakes and cupcakes for people– birthdays, showers, weddings, parties. And since I was still working a full time job outside of the house back then (still a dream I get to do THIS as a full time job these days!), I made a lot of cupcakes for coworkers and lunch events.

Whenever I made that moist carrot cake or these carrot cake cupcakes, people went nuts. And since that cake has been on my blog, it’s been a pretty popular post, so it only seemed right to share the actual carrot cake cupcake recipe as opposed to just a note at the bottom of my favorite carrot cake recipe.

There are a lot of feelings around what should or shouldn’t be in carrot cake cupcakes, and here, you’ll find my personal preference. If this is not the way you like your carrot cake cupcakes, that’s perfectly fine. I know this can get as heated as some political issues.

Save the raisins for the cookies and the pineapples for piña colada bars.

Another hotly debated ingredient in cupcakes is butter vs vegetable oil.

It is true that many times, cupcakes made with butter tend to be drier than cupcakes made with vegetable oil, so I usually prefer it in cupcakes that aren’t meant to have a buttery flavor, such as my vanilla bean cupcakes or my mini cookies and cream cupcakes.

Those cupcakes are all about the buttery flavor, so butter is the go-to there.

Since my carrot cake cupcakes are all about the spice and the carrots (yes, it is about the carrots– we’re getting there), vegetable oil is totally acceptable here.

While using vegetable oil will bring a lot of moisture to the cupcakes, the real moist maker (hello, Ross) here is the carrots, and we’re getting very specific with the carrots in this carrot cupcake recipe.

First of all, we’re using a half of a pound of carrots for one dozen cupcakes. It might seem like a lot, and it is, but these aren’t just sort of carrot cupcakes. These are full blown carrot cupcakes with nuts and the carrots really are the star of the show. The nuts are the secondary star.

This will insure that you have some very small and fine carrot bits that will get themselves into every nook and cranny of your carrot cake cupcakes.

The batter will be very orange, and you might start to question “half a pound” of carrots. It is not a typo. I promise, this is where it gets amazing.

The same idea applies to the nuts– chop them very fine so that they distribute through the cupcakes nicely. There is also no need to toast them prior to putting them into the batter. They will toast all on their own while in the oven.

I first shared this frosting with my red velvet cupcakes, and it has since been on top of many cakes and cupcakes since. It’s very simple and straightforward and that tang and creaminess makes an excellent complement to all that spice and texture.

There is truly a piece of my heart here on my blog with these easy carrot cake cupcakes.

I hope that you will invite this recipe for carrot cupcakes into your kitchen and love it as much as we and so many others have. I am confident enough to say that these are the best carrot cake cupcakes you’ll ever find… And I can’t wait for you to taste them!