Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These homemade carrot cupcakes are topped with the most delicious cream cheese frosting made from scratch. It takes just 10 minutes to make the cupcakes and another 10 for the frosting, plus you don't need a mixer!

I just cannot get enough of carrot cake! If you also love carrot cake, then check out my carrot bundt cake or my pistachio carrot cake!

I decorated my cupcakes with some fun Easter sprinkles and mini eggs, but I also think they would be beautiful topped with crushed nuts or maybe edible flowers - perfect for Spring!

Tell me about this recipe!

• These cupcakes are so easy to make. You don't need a mixer, just a bowl and a whisk.
• Freshly grated carrots are mixed with sugar, oil, eggs and lots of warm spices.
• I folded in crushed walnuts but you can substitute any nut.
• The cupcakes are topped with the most delicious cream cheese frosting.

Ingredient Notes

• Flour: I use all purpose flour for these cupcakes.
• Oil: use a neutral oil like vegetable or sunflower oil. This is what makes the cupcake so moist!
• Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger but feel free to use the spices that you like in carrot cake!
• Cream Cheese: use the cream cheese that you can find in packets, not in tubs. If you're based in Europe and your cream cheese only comes in tubs, then just pat it down with a paper towel to get rid of excess moisture.
• Heavy Cream: the secret to my cream cheese frosting? Whipped cream! I whip up heavy cream until you have soft peaks, this makes the cream cheese frosting more stable.

How to make this recipe

Step 1: In a medium bowl, whisk together your sugar, oil, eggs, spices, vanilla extract, baking soda and salt together. Whisk until it's smooth and you have a few bubbles.

Step 2: Fold in your flour until it is smooth and you have no pockets of flour in the batter.

Step 3: Fold in the grated carrots and your crushed walnuts.

Step 4: Pour the batter into your cupcake cases and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes.

Step 5: In a chilled mixing bowl, whisk the heavy cream with the salt, sugar and vanilla extract on medium-low speed for 2 minutes. You want the sugar to completely dissolve.

Step 6: Increase the speed to high and whisk for 2 minutes. It should look like Greek yogurt. Turn the mixing speed to low and add in the cream cheese, a tablespoon at a time. Turn off the mixer to scrape down the bowl, then turn the speed to high and whip for 5 minutes.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• I recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. It makes a huge difference to your baking and is the most accurate way to bake!
• Make sure all of the ingredients for the cupcakes are at room temperature before you start baking.
• Use freshly grated carrots instead of the pre-made shredded carrots. Freshly grated carrots will make your cake much more moist!
• For the frosting, keep the cream cheese cold. Usually with frosting you would need the ingredients to be room temperature, but with this cream cheese frosting it is best to keep the cream cheese cold.

Frequently Asked Questions

Try these Spring recipes next!

Have you made this recipe? Make sure to tag me on Instagram @alpineella and leave a review below if you have! If you want more baking ideas, you can follow me on Pinterest.

Recipe