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.
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
- ⅛ 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)
Tips/Notes
- You can use any neutral tasting vegetable oil here. I wouldn't however use olive oil because it's not a neutral tasting oil.
- 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.
- 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.
- I used Neufchatel or low-fat cream cheese for the frosting. Feel free to use full fat cream cheese if you desire.
- 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.
- I used a 1 ½-inch ice cream scoop to portion out the batter.
- 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: 89kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 1gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 102mgPotassium: 52mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 1023IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg
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