Carrot Cake Cupcakes

These carrot cake cupcakes are so simple to whip up! I’ve topped these cupcakes off with a giant dollop of cream cheese frosting and a pecan. Simple, sweet, and gorgeous. These are the best!

Alright, friends.

The rabbit is coming.

You know, the dude that hops around popping (or pooping?!) out little colorful eggs full of chocolate.

Of course, neither one of them actually hunt for eggs any more – they think they’re too grown for that nonsense – but they love getting their Easter baskets from mom and dad, just the same.

Anyway, let’s talk about the most perfect Easter dessert – carrot cake. Obvi.

Traditional carrot cake is fine, but we like to live a little! Enter these carrot cake cupcakes with a giiiiiiant stack of frosting on top.

(Not into cupcakes? Try my carrot cake bars!)

How to:

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To make this carrot cake cupcake recipe, you’re going to mix together some good stuff – sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and oil!

You’ll also stir in some flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Standard stuff. There really isn’t anything tricky or unusual about this recipe.

Once all of that is beat together, it’s time to stir in the crushed pineapple and grated carrots. You could also add chopped pecans to your batter, if you like.

We’re not big fans of nuts inside cake, so we just popped a pecan on the frosted cupcake. Perfection!

Tips & Tricks:

Use canned pineapple! It’s easier than trying to pulverize fresh pineapple yourself and it tastes just as good once it’s baked into the cake.

Shredding your own carrots will make a cake that’s less chunky/hearty. Using the pre-shredded carrots is fine, but your cake will have more texture.

Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out a perfectly sized portion of cake batter every time.

This recipe is baked in a standard sized muffin tin. To make mini cupcakes, adjust the bake time accordingly.

Cream cheese frosting:

The cream cheese frosting is super tasty, too. I just whipped together one of the a little butter with some cream cheese and powdered sugar.

This is a classic, rich, tangy cream cheese frosting that pairs perfectly with the carrot cake.

It will need to be refrigerated after mixing, so plan to store your cupcakes in the fridge.

You can certainly use a piping bag to pipe this frosting on your cooled cupcakes, but we just use a cookie scoop and plop it right on top. It’s a fun look and it’s beyond easy!

Experiment and see what size cookie scoop you like best – small, medium, or large. It’ll just depend on how much frosting you like. 😉

These make the perfect Easter treat! Hope you’ll give them a try!

More Easter recipes:

• Easter Blondies
• Pineapple Pretzel Salad
• Crockpot Spiral Ham
• Easter Cookies
• Tie-Dyed Easter Eggs

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Recipe

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These carrot cake cupcakes with pineapple and pecans are perfect for your Easter dessert!

3.71 from 17 votes

Print Pin

Prep20 minutes minutes

Cook15 minutes minutes

Total1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Serves 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cake

• ▢ 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 cup brown sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 4 large eggs
• ▢ 2 1/2 cups peeled and grated carrots
• ▢ 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

For the cream cheese frosting

• ▢ 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• ▢ 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• ▢ 2 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 24 pecan halves

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin wells with paper liners. 
• Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to a small bowl and stir to combine.
• Add the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla to a mixing bowl and beat well to combine. 
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
• Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. 
• Add the grated carrots and pineapple to the mixing bowl and stir to incorporate. 
• Spoon batter into paper liners 2/3 of the way full. 
• Bake for 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
• Cool 30 minutes.
• To prepare the frosting, beat together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla until well combined.
• Pipe, spread, or scoop the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and top with a pecan. 

Tips & Notes:

Use a large cookie scoop to place the cupcake batter into the muffin wells. It's the perfect amount every time.

Use a medium or small cookie scoop to scoop frosting onto cupcakes, depending on how much frosting you prefer. 

Store cupcakes in the refrigerator. 

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 342kcal (17%)| Carbohydrates: 41g (14%)| Protein: 3g (6%)| Fat: 19g (29%)| Saturated Fat: 10g (63%)| Cholesterol: 78mg (26%)| Sodium: 245mg (11%)| Potassium: 128mg (4%)| Fiber: 1g (4%)| Sugar: 31g (34%)| Vitamin A: 2845IU (57%)| Vitamin C: 3mg (4%)| Calcium: 39mg (4%)| Iron: 0.9mg (5%)

Author: Karly Campbell

Course:Dessert

Cuisine:American

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This post was originally published in March 2018. It was updated in March 2020.