Carrot Cake Cupcakes

The hubby wished for carrot cake for his birthday and he’s been reminding as he afraid that I would forget about his request.   So yesterday (Nov. 17th ) was his birthday and his wish was granted with these Carrot Cake Cupcakes with the Cream Cheese Frosting.

At first, I was telling him that I would do a “healthier” version using whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, and low-fat cream cheese.   And his reaction to my idea was “Ughhh!” and “Nooo!” to the low-fat cream cheese. “I want a real thing, please.”   He convinced. Well, how could I say no since it’s his birthday, right?

I got the original recipe of carrot cake from myrecipes.com But I’ve modified and added something else in to the recipe for my liking and just to satisfy my curiosity of “why not add this or reduce that” kind of thing!

The cupcakes turned out pretty moist and tasted yummy-licious and the cream cheese frosting was the hubby favorite.   Well, his crazy about carrot cake is only the cream cheese frosting.   As he claimed, "it isn’t a carrot cake if there is no cream cheese frosting, lots of it and not just splash of thin layer."    For me, I just gave him the frosting and I happily only ate the cupcake!

What you need: make 20 cupcakes

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups grated carrot
2 large eggs
3 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup crushed or puree pineapple – fresh or can

How to:

- Preheat the oven to 350’F. Line the muffin liners into a muffin pan and set aside. 

- in a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, chopped walnut, and mix well with a whisk. Set aside. 

- In another medium bowl, beat together eggs, canola oil, and milk until it’s creamy. 

- Add the grated carrot, coconut flaked, pineapple puree, and egg mixture into the dry ingredients bowl and stir to mix well. 

- Fill the mixture into each muffin liners about 3/4 cup full and bake for 26-30 minutes or until the toothpick insert comes out clean. - Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Cream cheese Frosting:

8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

6 tbsp salted or unsalted butter, softened in room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

- Beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract with a hand electric mixture with a medium speed until it’s creamy

- Add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time and beat until smooth.

- Start to frost your cupcakes as whatever you wish.  

***Topping - optional

chopped toasted walnuts

or 
Candied carrot

Enjoy!

J