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Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Soft, spiced carrot cake cupcakes made in one bowl with oil instead of butter. The dry ingredients and both sugars are whisked together first, the oil goes in before the eggs, and fine-grated carrot keeps the crumb moist. Finished with cream cheese frosting once fully cooled.
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Prep Time 15 hours
Cook Time 20 hours
Servings: 12
Course: baking
Cuisine: British
Calories: 370
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Batter Base
  • 1 ¼ cups 157 g all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup 100 g granulated sugar
  • ½ cup 100 g light brown sugar, packed firm enough to hold its shape when tipped out of the cup
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated if you have a whole nutmeg though pre-ground is fine
For the Liquids
  • ¾ cups 180 ml avocado, vegetable, or canola oil any neutral oil works, since none of these compete with the spices
  • 2 large eggs room temperature they blend into the oil more readily than fridge cold eggs
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 Tablespoons milk
To Finish
  • 1 ½ cups 170 g grated carrots measured after grating, on the small or medium holes of a box grater
  • ½ cup 60 g chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
  • 1 batch Cream Cheese Frosting

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven and line the pan. Set the oven to 350F (175C) and line a 12-count muffin pan with paper liners.
  2. Whisk the dry ingredients and sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl if you’re using an electric hand mixer, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Break up any lumps of brown sugar now, because they won’t dissolve later.
  3. Work in the oil, then the eggs. Stir the oil into the dry mixture. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition, and beat until the mixture is well combined and no dry flour remains at the bottom.
  4. Add the vanilla and milk. Stir in the vanilla extract and the milk. The batter should loosen noticeably and turn smooth and pourable.
  5. Fold in the carrots and nuts. Add the grated carrots along with the walnuts or pecans if you’re using them, and stir just until they’re evenly distributed. Stop mixing at that point rather than beating the batter smooth again.
  6. Fill the liners and bake. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners, filling each one ⅔ to ¾ of the way full. Bake at 350F (175C) for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean or with moist crumbs attached.
  7. Cool completely before frosting. Let the cupcakes sit in the baking tin for 5 minutes, then carefully lift them onto a cooling rack and let them cool completely. Decorate with cream cheese frosting only once there’s no warmth left in them.

Notes

A few practical points worth knowing before you bake.
Room temperature eggs incorporate more smoothly into the oil and flour mixture. If yours are cold, sit them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes while you measure the dry ingredients.
The nuts are genuinely optional. Leaving them out changes nothing about the mixing, the fill level, or the bake time.
If you’re grating carrots in a food processor, use the fine shredding disc rather than the standard one, and check the texture before measuring.
The cupcakes need to reach room temperature before frosting, so factor that cooling time into your schedule rather than treating it as a formality.