With Easter just around the corner, I thought it’d be fun to share a Carrot Cake Cupcake with cream cheese frosting recipe with you, as well as some adorable white chocolate bunnies you can make for toppers.
You’ll find these Carrot Cake Cupcakes pretty easy to make, and you can feel free to add in nuts, coconut, or raisins if you like… I just left them on the simple side because that’s how my family likes them.
The cream cheese frosting is my go-to recipe. It’s silky smooth and creamy, with just a touch of tang and the perfect balance of sweetness. You can use it on so many things!
You can decorate these with just a few chopped pecans, or if you are feeling extra crafty, try making the white chocolate bunnies. Or even better, have your kiddos help too. Here’s a printable template you can trace.
I love these Carrot Cake Cupcakes because they taste as good as they look! The white chocolate bunnies are a fun addition, and you can make them ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to serve them at your Easter celebration.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
I love these Carrot Cake Cupcakes because they taste as good as they look!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 22 mins
- Total Time: 52 mins
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup finely grated carrots
For the Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- 1/4 cup butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
For the Bunnies:
- 1 cup white chocolate melting wafers, melted (I used Ghirardelli Melting Wafers)
- 12 white chocolate melting wafers, not melted
- 12 white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place 12 paper liners into each well of your standard size cupcake baking pan. Spray each cupcake liner with nonstick baking spray.
- Measure out the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce, oil, vanilla extract, and carrots.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together. Do not over mix, just stir until everything is incorporated into the batter.
- It is helpful to use a large scoop (like an ice cream scoop) to evenly distribute the batter into each well. They will be nearly full. This will help give your cupcakes a nice puffy dome.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
- With an electric mixer, whisk softened cream cheese with butter, vanilla and salt. Gradually add powdered sugar on low speed until incorporated, then increase speed until frosting is smooth and creamy.
- Scoop the frosting into a piping bag with a large round tip, and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
For the Bunnies
- Melt the white chocolate wafers slowly over a double boiler. Be careful not to let any moisture get into the white chocolate because it will seize up. When the white chocolate wafers have melted, remove the bowl from the double boiler, and allow it to cool at room temperature for about 3-5 minutes. Pour the white chocolate into a piping bag or small plastic bag with the corner removed and a very small round piping tip attached. Place the provided printable template on a baking sheet and cover it with parchment paper. Trace the bunnies on the template, as shown in the video, using the 12 white chocolate wafers for the bunny’s body and the 12 white chocolate chips as the bunny’s tail. Freeze the white chocolate bunnies for 5 minutes to set, and then carefully remove them from the parchment paper and place on top of the frosted cupcakes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake (bunny topping not included)
- Calories: 524
- Sugar: 63g
- Sodium: 314mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 7.4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 13.1g
- Trans Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 79g
- Fiber: 1.3g
- Protein: 4.5g
- Cholesterol: 60mg
The bunnies are so fun and so adorable! The cupcakes look scrumptious too! Happy Easter Julie!
Wonderful recipe.I like this and I think this is very delicious.
I am going to make this recipe for my family and husband
Thanks for sharing
Thank you so much! I hope you all enjoy them!
Can I make this as a cake instead of cupcakes?
I’m sure you could, but I’m not sure how the baking time would need to be adjusted as I haven’t tested it that way yet.
I love your recipes and the video demonstrations. My family loved this lemon pie and it was so easy.
I do notice that you use Ziplocs for your piping bags. I wonder, since you use so many of them, if you could use a washable, reusable piping bag in order keep less plastic from our landfills and from making their way into our beautiful oceans. It also saves money and is a good example for others to use less plastic.
Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge of baking with us.
Carrot cake is my husbands favorite. These would be great for Easter.