It’s almost Easter, which means bring on all the carrot cake recipes! We make carrot cake year round because it’s my husband’s dessert of choice. But for Easter, it’s a necessity. These cupcakes will feed a crowd and the best part of carrot cake anything is it’s best to make a day ahead so the flavors can really meld together. I made half the batch with toasted pecans and coconut flakes in the frosting. Moist carrot cake with cream cheese topping? Don’t mind if I do! 😉
*this recipe makes about 18 cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2/3 cups butter, at room temperature
1 (8oz.) container sour cream, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup grated carrot (about 2 large carrots)
Frosting:
1 (8oz.) brick of full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick of butter softened to room temp.
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. coconut extract (optional)
1/8 tsp. salt
*1 cup chopped pecans, optional
*1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, optional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners (you’ll only need 18)
Cupcake batter:
Mix together your flour, sugar, baking soda, salt & cinnamon
In another bowl, beat with an electric mixer your, butter, sour cream & eggs
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, once mixed together stir in the grated carrots
Pour batter into cupcake liners only 3/4 the way full, these puff up alot!
Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean
Cool completely before frosting
To make the frosting:
In a bowl beat the butter and cream cheese on high until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla (& coconut extract if using) and salt. Beat on low to gently combine and then beat on high for a minute or two.
Now you can frost your cooled cupcakes! If you want to add pecans and/or coconut flakes to any of the frosting ( I do half with, half without) now’s the time. Frost any cupcakes with the plain frosting and set aside the remainder. Toast the pecans/coconut in a clean and dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly for a few minutes. Once they start to toast up, remove to a bowl to cool. Stir into leftover frosting and frost remaining cupcakes.
(if you’re only doing half of the cupcakes with pecans/coconut you can decrease the amount of each to 1/2 cup)
We like to enjoy our carrot cake chilled, so you can refrigerate prior to serving if you wish!
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
