Sunday, February 3, 2013

Carrot cake cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting




These cupcakes taste delicious and last longer than making an entire cake. This recipe serves 12 but can easily be doubled. 


Ingredients for cupcakes 

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons orange juice- about one orange 
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots- I used a peeler and then chopped into tiny pieces. 
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Ingredients for frosting

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a bowl, combine sugar, vegetable oil, orange juice, vanilla extract, and eggs.
Stir in baking powder, baking soda, allspice, and salt. Add flour to the mixture and mix. Stir in carrots, walnuts, and coconut. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. This takes around 25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting. While cupcakes are baking, combine all icing ingredients. Mix ingredients together using a mixer. I used my kitchen aid but a hand held mixer would do the trick as well. Frost cupcakes. Enjoy!