Moist Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting

cream cheese

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: mascarpone

Greek yogurt reduces calories while maintaining creaminess.

chopped walnuts

🥗Healthier: sunflower seeds

💰Cheaper: pecans

Sunflower seeds are nut-free and lower in calories.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 and 1/3 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of allspice, and 1/4 teaspoon of cloves (optional) to the dry ingredients and whisk until well combined.

Add 2/3 cup of light olive oil and 3 large room temperature eggs to the bowl.

Then add 1/2 cup of plain applesauce and whisk until all the liquid ingredients are well combined.

Grate 2 medium-large carrots finely using the small holes of a box grater until you have 1 and 1/2 cups of grated carrot and add to the batter.

Add 1 cup of chopped pecans (or walnuts) and 1/2 cup of golden raisins to the batter, then fold all ingredients together just until combined.

Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and divide the batter evenly between 18 cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes rest in the pans for 3 to 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the cream cheese frosting by mixing in a bowl until fluffy and easy to pipe.

To decorate, use gel food coloring to tint some frosting for piping decorative carrots on top of the cupcakes.

Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 2A tip with orange frosting for the carrots and another bag with an Ateco 32 tip for the green leaves.

Pipe frosting onto the cooled cupcakes in a circular motion, starting from the center or outside, to create a rose-like appearance.

To make the carrot decoration, squeeze frosting into the center and release to create a tip, then pipe green stems on top.

Optionally, sprinkle chopped pecans over the top for decoration.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Allergens