Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I had never tried carrot cake until 2 months ago. At a local vegetarian restaurant, they have cakes the size of a toddler. Not really, but they are pretty big. I got a slice of death by chocolate because...well...I am me. And death by chocolate is my alley. Not even up or down my alley. It actually IS my alley. Anyway, I took a bite of someone else's carrot cake and I have been obsessed with making carrot cake ever since.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (duh!)
from Annie's Eats
makes 2 dozen

• 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 lb carrots, peeled
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups canola oil
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 Tb butter, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Chopped pecans or carrot curls, if desired

Please note that the amounts in my pictures are 1/2 a recipe. Definitely didn't need 24 cupcakes sitting around! ;)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt; whisk together and set aside. In a food processor fitted with a shredding disk, shred the carrots (about 3 cups). Add the carrots to the bowl with the dry ingredients and set aside.

Wipe out the bowl of the food processor and fit with the metal blade. Process the sugars and eggs until frothy and well combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil in a steady stream through the feed tube. Continue to process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 more seconds. 

Transfer to mixing bowl with carrots and dry ingredients. Stir together until well incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Scoop evenly into prepared cupcake liners.

Bake for about 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (This took only 20 minutes for me, so be sure to check early.) Let cool in the pan at least 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, simply beat together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Add to a piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Garnish with chopped pecans or carrot curls, if desired. 

I thought there needed to be more carrots. Maybe because I'm crazy about veggies. :) But when you bite into a carrot cake cupcake, you expect CARROT, with a sweetness of course. I didn't get that with the amount of carrots in the recipe. Other than that, the recipe was perfect. Moist, with excellent texture. The brown sugar really caramelized the tops, if you can't tell from the pictures, which was divine.

Nutritional Information (1 frosted cupcake): 322 calories, 17.7g fat (3.3g sat), 40g carbs, 1g fiber, 2.5g protein

For those of you who thought these had veggies in them so therefore, they're up for grabs...well, they are still cupcakes. And should be treated like any other treat. :)