Best Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Incredibly moist carrot cake cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting!

These carrot cake muffins are perfect for dessert, afternoon tea, or brunch. I love them with a cup of coffee for a cozy Spring snack.

this Recipe

It wouldn’t be spring without my carrot cake! And these carrot cake cupcakes are one of my favorite spring desserts, inspired by that cake. Incredibly moist, tender carrot cupcakes topped with a decadent cream cheese frosting.

Why I love this recipe

These carrot cake cupcakes are so incredibly delicious– I resist using the word best for most things because, of course, best is subjective. But I really believe these are the best. I shared them with several neighbors and friends as I was making them and they agreed– these are the best carrot cake cupcakes.

They are also naturally vegan cupcakes as written and to make them completely dairy-free, use your favorite vegan substitutes for the cream cheese and butter in the frosting. More details on that, below.

Ingredient Notes

These carrot cake cupcakes are almost fool-proof to make. The process is straight-forwarded enough that even a novice baker can feel like a top chef with these recipe.

That said, there are a few things to consider when it comes to ingredients.

I call for all-purpose flour here and don’t recommend trying to sub in whole wheat flour or other dense flours, like spelt or buckwheat. The tender texture of the muffins needs lighter flour, especially with the heavier grated carrots and walnuts! I have not tried these using a gluten-free flour blend.

The DIY buttermilk, aka mixing together milk and vinegar, is essential to this recipe and you cannot skip it. The acid from the vinegar tenderizes the gluten in the flour, producing a more tender crumb.

I use oat milk here because I rarely have dairy milk in my house and oat milk is better for baking in my opinion because of it’s higher carbohydrate content. That said, other non-dairy or regular cow’s milk will work.

Using oil over butter makes for a more moist cupcake. I prefer a neutral oil, like a vegetable oil or a canola oil, but avocado oil also works too.

I love nuts in my carrot cake and prefer walnuts here, but pecans will also work. I use my mini food processor to quickly blitz the nuts to a fine crumb, but you can also use a knife to finely chop.

I use a box grater to shred the carrots, but you can also use a food processor fitted with a shredding blade. Lastly, don’t skip the orange zest! It adds so much flavor to these carrot cake cupcakes.

How to Make these Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Step 1: Whisk together dry ingredients

Whisk together dry ingredients into a large bowl: flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.

Step 2: Make the buttermilk

Combine the milk and vinegar together and set aside. This is key to creating a DIY buttermilk to help create moist, tender carrot cake cupcakes. After 5 minutes, add the wet ingredients, vanilla, oil, orange zest, to the buttermilk.

Step 3: Combine

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine until the flour is just incorporated, taking care not to overmix. Grate the carrots and finely chop the walnuts. Fold gently into the batter.

Step 4: Bake

Lightly spray two cupcake pans with non-stick spray or line with cupcake liners. Divide the batter into the pan, filling about halfway through. Bake until tender and a toothpick comes out clean.

Step 5: Let cool, then frost

Remove the cupcake pan from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least ten minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Beat together the butter and cream cheese until well combined, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla and whip until combined. Pipe onto the cupcakes and serve.

Expert Tips

I know I’m a broken record on this for all my baked good recipes, but take care not to overmix the batter. Overmixing develops the gluten, resulting in a tough texture rather than a tender crumb.

If you want additional flavor, then you can lightly toast the walnuts before adding them into the cupcakes.

The orange zest adds depth and complexity for these carrot cake cupcakes; I know a tablespoon sounds like a lot but it makes for the best cupcakes!

Lastly, I recommend using a light-colored metal cupcake pan or even a silicone pan. Light colored pans generally bake more evenly than dark pans or glass. If you are using a darker pan, then I recommend reducing the oven temperature by 25 degrees F.

More Cupcake & Muffin Recipes

• Nutella Cupcakes
• Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Pistachio Muffins
• Lemon Olive Oil Muffins

Recipes to Make with Leftover Carrots

• Simple Roasted Carrots
• Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
• Carrot Ginger Soup
• Carrot Cake Banana Bread
• Thai Coconut Carrot Soup

If you make these carrot cake cupcakes, make sure to come back to leave a rating and a comment. Your feedback helps other readers and seeing you make my recipes makes my day!