Carrot Cake Cupcakes are so moist and fluffy and have a not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting on top! Made completely from scratch with lots of grated carrots these cupcakes are so easy to make and perfect for Easter!
We love to make easy desserts from scratch. For spring and Easter, we especially enjoy our Carrot Pineapple Cake, Easy Carrot Cake Recipe, and Easter Sugar Cookies.
These are the ultimate carrot cake cupcakes and a perfect holiday dessert! Simple and moist carrot cupcakes with a not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting that goes so well with the spiced cupcakes. This recipe makes a great addition to your Easter Brunch but also makes a great spring dessert.
Give these Carrot Cake Cupcakes an Easter upgrade by sprinkling the tops with toasted coconut to make little Easter nests and adding little chocolate eggs. A cute addition to every Easter table!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Moist and flavorful cupcakes that are not overly sweet but just right
- Simple ingredients that you have in your pantry
- Lots of fun ways to decorate them for Easter
Ingredient notes
Here is an overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom for quantities.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter so you can adjust the salt yourself. The butter should be softened so it is easy to incorporate with the other ingredients. If you only have salted butter omit the additional salt.
- Sugar – I use a mixture of brown and white sugar.
- Eggs – I recommend using large eggs for these cupcakes. Let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Carrots – You need about 3 carrots for this recipe. Use a grater to grate them finely.
- Vegetable oil – You can use melted coconut oil, avocado oil, or other flavor-neutral oil.
- Almond flour – Almonds give these cupcakes a great flavor and go so well with the carrots. You can use almond flour, almond meal, or finely grind almonds in a food processor.
- Cinnamon – Cinnamon adds a little bit of heat and a lot of flavor.
- Powdered sugar – Make sure to sift the powdered sugar before using it in the frosting. This way the frosting is extra smooth and not gritty.
- Cream cheese – The cream cheese needs to be at room temperature for the best result. Use block cream cheese for this recipe.
How to make this recipe
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found at the bottom of the page on the printable recipe card.
Start with grating the carrots in a food processor or using a grater. Then cream the sugars and the butter together. I use mostly brown sugar in this recipe because it adds flavor and moistness which is essential for a good carrot cake in my opinion.
Add the eggs, grated carrots, and oil. Mix in the dry ingredients, pour the batter into your muffin pan, and bake. When the cupcakes are completely cooled make the frosting.
Expert Tips
- Use a food processor to grate the carrots, then pulse them a few times until they are finely shredded. If you don’t have a food processor you can also use a grater.
- The ground almonds add flavor and moisture! You can make ground almonds in the food processor or use almond flour.
- This recipe can be doubled to make 24 cupcakes. Use the slider in the recipe card to adjust the ingredients.
- The easiest way to get same-sized cupcakes is to use a scoop with a release button to divide the batter into the muffin tin.
- I prefer to use paper liners to prevent the cupcakes from sticking, this also makes clean-up easier. But you can also grease your cupcake tin.
- These cupcakes are done when a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely before decorating them with frosting!
- The frosting recipe will decorate 12 cupcakes if you use as much frosting as seen in the photos. If you plan to pipe more on the cupcakes double the frosting recipe.
- Use brick-style cream cheese for the frosting. Not cream cheese spread.
Recipe FAQs
Carrot Cake Cupcakes need to be baked for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs attached.
My go-to decoration for Carrot Cake Cupcakes is a simple Cream cheese frosting. If you want to pipe roses onto the cupcakes like in the images all you need is a 1M tip. Start in the center, then slowly move your tip in a circle around the center point. So easy!
A cute idea for Easter is to decorate the cupcakes like Easter Nests and top them with little chocolate eggs. Pipe a little nest on top of the carrot cupcake, sprinkle with toasted coconut, and top with little chocolate eggs.
To make mini carrot cake cupcakes use a mini muffin pan and bake them for 10-13 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Grease the pan and fill the muffin cups about two-thirds full. This recipe makes 36 mini cupcakes.
Serve it with
These Easter cupcakes make a great addition to your Easter dinner together with our Easter Bunny Dinner Rolls. Here are a few more ideas for a perfect Holiday dinner or brunch:
- Carrot Salad
- Smoked Turkey
- French Crepes
- Brioche French Toast
- French Toast Casserole
- Honey Glazed Carrots
Storage
These cupcakes should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge because of the cream cheese frosting. Bring the cupcakes to room temperature before serving, or they may be mistaken for stale when they’re actually just cold.
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Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cups brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups grated carrots, about 3 large carrots
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup almond flour, or finely ground almonds
- 1 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with paper liners.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until slightly pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add eggs, finely grated carrots, and vegetable oil. Mix until well combined.
- In another bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Divide the batter between the muffin cups, fill each about ¾ full, and bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the muffin pan several minutes then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
- To make the frosting, beat together softened butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add vanilla extract and cream cheese and beat until blended.
- Frost cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
Notes
- Use a food processor to grate the carrots, then pulse them a few times until they are finely shredded. If you don’t have a food processor you can also use a grater.
- The ground almonds add flavor and moisture! You can make ground almonds in the food processor or use almond flour.
- This recipe can be doubled to make 24 cupcakes. Use the slider in the recipe card to adjust the ingredients.
- The easiest way to get same-sized cupcakes is to use a scoop with a release button to divide the batter into the muffin tin.
- I prefer to use paper liners to prevent the cupcakes from sticking, this also makes clean-up easier. But you can also grease your cupcake tin.
- These cupcakes are done when a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely before decorating them with frosting!
- The frosting recipe will decorate 12 cupcakes if you use as much frosting as seen in the photos. If you plan to pipe more on the cupcakes double the frosting recipe.
- Use brick-style cream cheese for the frosting. Not cream cheese spread.
Jennifer Chewoian says
It was the most delicious thing I’ve ever made and eaten. It’s the perfect snack and I can never regret or go wrong with these cupcakes they’re so awesome I can’t believe how much of a difference there is when compared to any other recipe I’ve used. Yours wins hands down better than any cupcakes I’ve ever had. Thank you so much 🙏 😊 🏆 🥇 🏅 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ I never leave comments for recipes because it didn’t come out right or it just didn’t seem remarkable. These shocked me I felt I’d never had what a carrot cake or cupcake should taste like until these. I’ll never buy a carrot anything again because all others fail in comparison. Thanks again….Jennifer from Los Angeles. :)
Cassandra says
I was wondering if these could be frozen?
caren magill says
These look so darn good. I’m such a sucker for a good carrot cake treat. I think I’m more obsessed with the icing than the actual cake!
Thanks for sharing this. Love your photography!
Victoria says
These cupcakes are delicious and so easy to make! I made them this afternoon with my 3 year old son for an Easter playdate tomorrow. They are light and flavorful. I liked the addition of the ground almonds, which paired perfectly with the marzipan carrots we used for decoration on top. We followed the recipe except for adding some ground ginger and a scoop of greek yogurt to the batter. The frosting was perfect and not too sweet. Thank you :)
Natalie says
Hey there! Can’t wait to try these! This is the first carrot cake recipe I’ve found that uses butter instead of oil ❤️ What could I use if I don’t have ground almonds? Thanks!
Julia says
Hi Natalie, you can use any other ground nuts like hazelnuts or pecans instead of the ground almonds or grind any whole nuts in a food processor :-) Happy Easter!