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Easy Homemade Mini-Carrot Cupcakes
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4.75 from 4 votes

Easy Homemade Mini-Carrot Cupcakes

Easy Homemade Mini-Carrot Cupcakes are incredibly easy to make. They are moist and filled with toasted pecans and pineapple. The cream cheese frosting takes these tasty morsels over the top.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time18 minutes
Total Time33 minutes
Course: Cakes, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 30 Mini-Carrot Cupcakes
Calories: 89kcal

Equipment

  • Electric Mixer

Ingredients

Mini-Carrot Cupcakes

  • ¼ cup (2 ounces, 57grams, ½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (See Tip 1)
  • ½ cup (3.5 ounces, 99 grams) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (1.88 ounces, 53 grams) light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • ¼ cup (2 ounces, 57 grams) milk
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 cup (5 ounces, 142 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ½ of 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained with excess juice squeezed out (See Tip 2)
  • 1 ½ cups (6 ounces, 170 grams) carrots, peeled and grated with small grater blade
  • ½ cup (2 ounces, 57 grams) toasted pecans (See Tip 3)

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • ¼ cup (2 ounces, 57 grams, ½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature (See Tip 4)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 cups (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar

Instructions

Mini-Carrot Cupcakes

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a mini-muffin pan with non-stick liners or grease the wells of the mini-muffin pan to prevent sticking. (See Tip 5)
  • In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil. Add the eggs and milk; continue beating. Add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and lemon juice. Beat until all ingredients are well incorporated.
  • Add the flour; beat on low just until flour is incorporated. Add the grated carrots, pineapple and pecans. Stir just until combined.
  • Fill the wells of the mini-muffin pan ¾ full (See Tip 6). Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 16 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in mini-muffin pan; remove cupcakes to wire rack to cool completely.
  • Frost with cream cheese frosting using a 1M star tip. If desired decorate with royal icing carrots or orange sprinkling sugar.
  • Yield: 30 mini-cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • In a medium bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract. Then gradually add the confectioners' sugar; beat until mixture is smooth and creamy. (See Tip 7)

Notes

  1. You can use any neutral tasting vegetable oil here. I wouldn't however use olive oil because it's not a neutral tasting oil.
  2. If you can't find an 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple, measure out 4 ounces or a half a cup from the can. Then drain the crushed pineapple and squeeze out the excess liquid. You'll end up with about ¼ cup of the drained/squeezed pineapple.
  3. To toast pecans, place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 8 minutes. Watch carefully to ensure that the pecans don't burn.
  4. I used Neufchatel or low-fat cream cheese for the frosting. Feel free to use full fat cream cheese if you desire.
  5. The first time that I made these mini-carrot cupcakes, I used regular cupcake liners. That was a major mistake - the cake stuck horribly to the cupcake liner. Therefore, if you're going to use cupcake liners, make sure that they are either non-stick or lightly sprayed with non-stick spray. Alternatively, skip the liners all together and just grease the mini-muffin pan before adding the batter.
  6. I used a 1 ½-inch ice cream scoop to portion out the batter.
  7. If the frosting is too thick, add a small amount of milk (about 1 teaspoon), beating until the frosting is smooth and creamy. If the frosting is too thin, add additional confectioners' sugar until the desired consistency is achieved.

Nutrition

Calories: 89kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 102mg | Potassium: 52mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1023IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg