Delicious and easy to make, this carrot cake cupcake recipe has been adapted to make mini cupcakes. Your favorite sweet treat can now be made into the small bite version so many people love these days.
Where we got the recipe:
A while back we were asked to review a cookbook exclusively on cupcakes and we fell in love!
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The Deliciously Easy Cupcake Cookbook by Jesseca Hallows is full of tips, beautiful photos and great recipes ranging from the basics to fun grown up flavors. We couldn't resist picking one to make into mini cupcakes, but choosing was the hard part. After lots of deliberation (and Sara voting) Carrot Cake Cupcakes won out.
We knew that making these mini carrot cake cupcakes with applesauce would keep them nice and moist.
Converting the Recipe to Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes:
We used the exact ingredient list from the book, and only changed the cooking time.
Figure on getting approximately three times the number of mini cupcakes as the recipes says you will get full sized. For instance, Jesseca's recipe for these carrot cake cupcakes says it will yield 24, but in the mini version you should get 72.
That sounds like a lot, but you could easily halve the recipe, which would be 12 full size cupcakes or 36 minis. Keep in mind these babies are about two bites, making them perfect for those who enjoy something sweet, but want to keep it small. Our Key Lime Cupcake mini's are specifically developed to be a small batch - just right for a gathering of 8-12.
For a full size cupcake you'll want to make one of our top recipes - Orange Cupcakes have a hint of orange flavor in the cake and more in the yummy frosting!
Making your carrot cake cupcakes pretty is so easy
The ones you see above were baked in plain white mini muffin cups and then later set in orange ones. We love this variety pack of baking cups from Montopack. It has lots of fun colors.
If you haven't tried piping icing before it's easier than you think. Just use disposable bags like these and whatever tip you choose. I used the Wilton 1-M tip. Check Youtube for tons of easy tutorials.
Sprinkles are the crowning touch. Again, we love a variety pack and the ones we used came from ChocoMaker Celebration Mix.
How to make candied carrot shavings
Just for fun we decided to try this and that's what you see in addition to the sprinkles on these cupcakes.
- Make a sugar and water mixture in a small sauce pan with a one to one ratio.
- Grate about 2-3 Tablespoons of carrots and stir them in.
- Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
- Spread grated carrots on parchment paper and bake at 300 for about 10-12 minutes.
- After cooling, break the chunks apart into small individual pieces.
Tips for making the best carrot cake cupcakes:
- Use a cookie scoop to get even amounts of batter into each muffin cup. They need to be about ⅔-3/4 full.
- Watch them carefully in the oven. Since mini cupcakes are so small they will cook quickly and can go from done to overdone in no time.
- Let your carrot cake cupcakes cool in the muffin tin only about 3-4 minutes and then remove them and place on a rack.
- Grate your own carrots. The pre-grated ones at the store are a bit too thick for mini cupcakes.
Frosting for Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Cream Cheese Frosting is traditional on carrot cake and we used our own tried and true recipe, though there is one in the cookbook (The Deliciously Easy Cupcake Cookbook).
For a fun change our Brown Sugar Frosting with Cinnamon would be awesome too!
To offer a boozy rendition of mini desserts your guests will love Mudslide Pudding Shots and Key Lime Pie Pudding Shots.
📖 Recipe
Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups shredded carrots
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter room temperture
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4-4-½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line 72 mini muffin tins with paper liners. (easiest to make 36 at a time)
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.
- Add the eggs, oil applesauce, sugars and vanilla. Whisk until smooth
- Fold in the carrots.
- Evenly divide the batter among the lined cups filling each cup ⅔-3/4 full.
- Bake on the middle oven rack for 10-12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool 4-5 minutes in pan before removing and placing on a wire rack to complete cooling.
- Frost cupcakes when completely cool.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Combine cream cheese and butter with mixer at medium speed 2-3 minutes.
- Add vanilla and 4 cups powdered sugar mixing until well combined.
- Add additional sugar 2 Tablespoons at the time, if needed to reach desired consistency.
Notes
If you make this or any of our recipes we'd love for you to leave us a comment and star rating. If you're into sharing your creations, snap a photo and tag us when you post it to Facebook or Instagram.
Tammy says
These look so delightful and pretty and I love the candied carrot shavings! Brilliant idea and one I will definitely be doing next time I make carrot cake 😀
Pam says
Thanks, Tammy! They were fun to make.
Toni says
I love how easy this is to make!! My family loved it!
Pam says
thanks, Toni!
Katie says
Made this for the family and it was a hit!
Pam says
That's awesome. Thanks, Katie!
Pamela says
These are so cute! Perfect for preschool Easter treats!
Pam says
Great idea!
Jayne says
I love the idea of these cupcakes. Carrot cake is so good! But, at our house an entire cake does not get used. These are perfect.
Pam says
We love mini cupcakes. Thanks, Jayne!
Nina says
Recipe sounds wonderful and making now but I don’t see how much Nutmeg to add.
Thanks
Pam says
So sorry for the omission Nina. It's 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg. The recipe has been corrected.
Carolyn Meng says
HELP! Mine sunk in the middle...could it be that I needed to adjust for high altitude? I live near Denver, Colo. at 5,300 ft.
Pam says
Oh, gosh Carolyn! I'm so sorry that happened. Neither of us have ever lived at high altitudes, but a quick search shows that anything above 2,500 ft. could affect baking. It looks like lots of good information out there if you want to search yourself and try again. Good luck!
Christina Kross says
How do these hold up freezing and any tips for defrosting unrelated mini cupcakes? Interested to try the carrot shavings. Thank you.
Christina Kross says
Unrelated = unfrosted
Pam says
They should be fine. Even unfrosted I would freeze them uncovered and then cover tightly. To defrost take them out of whatever they're wrapped in so the cake doesn't stick to the cover/wrapping.