If you are a Carrot Cake lover then you will Love these Carrot Cake Cupcakes With Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. The cupcake is moist and tender and loaded with warm spices and great carrot flavor. The frosting is a combination of both tangy cream cheese and nutty brown butter to create the most delicious smooth and creamy topping that is sure to tantalize your taste buds.
Every year when Spring rolls around, I get a certain yearning for Carrot Cake. You know the moist and tender cake that has warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves and bursting with carrot flavor. Then topped with a silky cream cheese frosting. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. The thing is, I don’t always want to make a whole cake. That is when a cupcake is the perfect option. It still has all the great flavors that a whole cake has but without all the fuss. Not to mention a cupcake is just more fun.
Why You Will Love These Cupcakes
- Flavor: If you love Carrot Cake, then you will love these cupcakes. They have all the great flavors like the warm spices, carrots and that tangy cream cheese frosting with the addition of brown butter for a rich nutty flavor.
- Ease: I always find that making a cupcake is much easier than making a whole cake. The best part is that they cook much quicker so you will be able to eat them sooner.
- Texture: Super moist and tender cupcakes topped with a silky cream cheese frosting and some maple glazed walnuts for the added crunch.
Other Spring Desserts
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Tips For Making These Cupcakes
- Brown Butter: Start this recipe by browning your butter first. The brown butter needs to cool completely and come back to a soft but solid state before you can combine it with the cream cheese to form that silky frosting. By browning the butter first, you are giving yourself plenty of time for this process. If you need to speed things up, you can place the browned butter in the refrigerator to solidify. Just bring it to room temperature before combining with the other ingredients.
- Cooling: As with any cupcake or cake that has frosting, make sure it is completely cooled before frosting. If the cupcake or cake is not completely cooled, your frosting will melt.
- Cupcake Liners: Anytime I make cupcakes or muffins, I make sure I line my baking tray with paper liners. This ensures that they will not stick and makes clean up much easier.
- Frosting: When making frosting, you always want your butter and or cream cheese at room temperature, this way they blend smoothly creating a silky texture.
What Is Needed To Make These Cupcakes
Equipment:
- Box Grater: This is the perfect tool for getting a fine shred for your carrots.
- Mixing Bowls: Having mixing bowls in a variety of sizes is helpful when preparing a recipe. I prefer to use glass mixing bowls because glass does not react to any ingredients and they are easy to clean.
- Rubber Spatula: I find that a rubber spatula is ideal for mixing ingredients.
- Medium Ice Cream Scoop: The perfect way to scoop out your batter, allowing you to fill your cupcake tray evenly every time.
- Cupcake Baking Tray: I like to use a sturdy baking tray. Even though I use Paper Liners, I like to use a non stick tray for the occasional batter that might get on the tray.
Ingredients:
- Flour: A good All Purpose Flour works best.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: These are your leavening agents. They will give your cupcakes rise and produce a soft and fluffy texture.
- Salt: Used to enhance all the flavors.
- Spices: A combination of spices like Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger and Cloves add a bit of warmth to these cupcakes.
- Sugar: There are three different types of sugar used in this recipe. Brown Sugar, Granulated Sugar and Powdered Sugar, all of which bring sweetness and each giving texture to the cupcake.
- Eggs: These are the binders in the recipe, giving the cupcakes structure.
- Oil: I like to use Avocado Oil when baking for its neutral flavor and health benefits.
- Buttermilk: This will add a ton of moisture and texture to your cupcakes. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make some by adding 1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Vanilla Extract: I always opt for a Pure Vanilla Extract due to its intense vanilla flavor.
- Carrots: You will want to use fresh carrots that have been peeled and shredded on the smallest setting on a box grater.
- Butter: The butter in this recipe is browned then cooled completely or until brought back to a soft but solid state. Now you don’t have to brown the butter but doing so brings a ton of rich nutty flavor. It’s well worth the extra step.
- Cream Cheese: Full or 1/3 less fat works best≥. Just make sure you bring it to room temperature before combining it with the other ingredients.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Will help form a smooth and silky frosting.
- Walnuts: For topping. ( optional )
Carrot Cake Cupcakes With Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy15
servings30
minutes15
minutesThese Carrot Cake Cupcakes With Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting are a super moist, tender, fluffy cupcake loaded with warm flavors then topped with a rich and nutty brown butter cream cheese frosting, giving each bite the perfect combination of flavors and textures.
Ingredients
- For The Cupcake
2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Avocado Oil
3/4 Cup buttermilk
1 1/2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Cups shredded carrots
- For The Frosting
1 Cup unsalted butter browned then brought back to a soft but solid state.
8oz. Cream cheese softened.
3 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- For The Maple Glazed Walnuts
1/2 Cup walnuts
1/4 Cup pure maple syrup
Directions
- Place 1 Cup of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow butter to melt and become foamy, stirring occasionally. Cook until liquid becomes golden and brown bits start to form at the bottom of the pan. This process should take 5 to 8 minutes. Pour butter ( brown bits and all ), into a glass measuring cup and let cool completely and return to a solid by soft state.
- To prepare the walnuts, place the maple syrup and the walnuts in a large frying pan over medium heat, stir to coat. Cook until the syrup has been absorbed. Pour out walnuts onto a piece of parchment paper, spreading them out. Allow walnuts to cool completely and dry.
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Line a cupcake tray with paper liners and set to the side.
- Meanwhile, to make the cupcakes, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and salt until combined. Set to the side.
- To a separate large mixing bowl, mix together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, oil, buttermilk and pure vanilla extract until combined. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. fold in the shredded carrots.
- Fill the prepared cupcake tray to 3/4 full. Place in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
- For the frosting, beat the cooled brown butter and the softened cream cheese together until combined. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and heavy cream and beat until smooth and creamy. Place frosting in a large piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe a small amount of frosting on top of each cupcake. Top each cupcake with a maple glazed walnut and serve.
- Enjoy.
