These past couple of days have realllyyy felt like fall. As in, rain has not stopped pouring for more than a few minutes, leaves are all over the ground, school is in serious high-stress mode, and all I want to do is bake with pumpkin, cinnamon, and apples. Good thing, because today’s recipe covers 2 of those ingredients!
I’m seriously an addict for all things fall-scented, and have been constantly burning a candle this fall. I’m a major candle addict, and have one burning pretty much always in my room. There’s just something so comforting about walking into a room that smells delicious!
Which leads us right into cupcakes…because having your house smell like baked goods is always a major plus.
Straight up, the hardest thing about these cupcakes is grating the carrots. If you have to do it by hand, I’m with you, and while it’s not the most fun task in the world, it’s pretty quick and painless. If you have a food processor, you can have that pesky task done in about 15 seconds.
After the carrots are grated? It’s literally dump, mix, bake. I love recipes that don’t require a whole bunch of fussing around, and just come together quickly and simply and most importantly, taste absolutely delicious.
These cupcakes are light, and full of fall flavor. They are bursting with pumpkin and carrot and all of the spices. And paired with a silky, sweet, cinnamon-y cream cheese frosting? It’s amazing!
If you’re a fan of carrot cake, then you’ll absolutely adore these! They got a huge thumbs up from all my friends. Of course, the adorable pumpkin on top are entirely not necessary, but they’re a fun seasonal touch that’ll make these even more perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any other fall event!
You can make these little baby cupcakes like I did, or make them regular size. This recipe can also be doubled to make a great bundt cake! It’s seriously delish, so easy, and sure to impress. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (4.25 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup grated carrots For the frosting
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- For the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a mini or regular sized cupcake pan with cupcake liners; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, oil, pumpkin and eggs. Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in carrots, taking care not to over mix. Fill the liners up about 2/3 of the way full. Bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes for mini cupcakes or 16-18 minutes for regular sized cupcakes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
- Cool cupcakes completely. Frost with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. For the frosting
- Using an electric mixer, whip the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat until completely combined. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, add the vanilla extract and cinnamon and beat until completely smooth. Frost cupcakes as desired!
