Small Batch Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

These small batch carrot cake cupcakes with brown butter cream cheese frosting are perfectly spiced, moist, and easy to make. They're the perfect dessert for a small Easter celebration - or any time a carrot cake craving strikes!

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• Why You'll Love This Recipe
• Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
• Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
• Recipe Tips
• Recipe FAQs
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Remember in the 2000's when we were all obsessed with cupcakes before the trendy dessert seemed to run its course? With the rise in popularity of small batch baking over the past year, it seems like the right time for cupcakes to make a comeback. They are, after all, just perfectly-portioned mini cakes.

So here you have it... the best Easter dessert - carrot cake - turned into the most delicious cupcakes!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

These cupcakes are adapted from my all-time favorite carrot cake recipe, so they're delightfully moist, packed with fresh carrots and a hint of cinnamon, and have just a bit of crunchy pecans.

The brown butter cream cheese frosting takes these cupcakes from classic to showstopper. Of course you could stick to basic cream cheese frosting if you prefer, but the nutty flavor that the browned butter adds to this frosting is truly delightful.

This recipe is a must-have for Easter, but I gladly eat these cupcakes all year round!

This small batch recipe makes seven cupcakes. With just the right ratio of ingredients for perfectly moist cupcakes and being careful to fill the liners just ⅔ of the way, that's where we netted out. If a bakers' dozen includes 13 baked goods instead of 12, then this is a bakers' half dozen. Trust me, you'll be fighting over who gets to eat that "bonus" cupcake!

Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

Cinnamon - Cinnamon perfectly complements the other flavors in these cupcakes. For optimal flavor, be sure to use ground cinnamon that's been open for no more than a year and is not expired, as ground spices lose their flavor over time. You can adjust the amount of cinnamon to suit your tastes or even add a bit of other ground spices, like nutmeg, if you wish.

Vegetable Oil - Vegetable oil adds moisture and fat to these cupcakes. Oil helps to create cake with a delicate crumb, and does not lead to dense batter the way butter can. If you don't have vegetable oil on hand your can substitute another neutral oil, like canola oil.

Grated Carrot - Grated carrots are of course key to carrot cake. Use freshly grated carrots for the best flavor and texture. Never use pre-shredded carrots for baking, since they lack the moisture and flavor needed for truly delicious cake. I prefer to finely shred carrots for carrot cake, since this will give you visible but not chunky pieces of carrot in your cake. Check out my post all about how to grate carrots for carrot cake for even more information!

Chopped Pecans - Finely chopped pecans add delicious flavor and a hint of crunch to these cupcakes. You can substitute walnuts if you prefer. If you want to leave out the nuts altogether, check out the FAQ section below for how to adapt this recipe to create nut-free cupcakes.

Cream Cheese - Be sure to use room temperature block cream cheese for making the frosting. Whipped or spreadable cream cheese is too soft for making frosting, and trying to whip cold cream cheese will result in lumpy frosting. I prefer to use full fat block cream cheese for baking, but you can substitute light (⅓ less fat) block cream cheese if you prefer; just know that your frosting will be slightly softer.

Browned Butter - Browned butter is the secret ingredient that makes this cream cheese frosting extra special. Brown butter adds a rich, toasted, nutty flavor that complements these cupcakes beautifully. You'll need to brown the butter and then bring it back to room temperature, either by letting it sit at room temperature or by briefly re-chilling in the fridge just until solid but still a bit soft. Of course if you prefer to stick to classic cream cheese frosting for these cupcakes you can simply use room temperature butter in place of the room temperature brown butter.

Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions

1. Make the carrot cake batter. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine vegetable oil and sugar and whisk to combine.
3. Add half of the flour mixture to the oil mixture and stir to combine. Then add about half of the whisked egg, whisking to combine. Add the remaining flour mixture and stir before adding the remaining egg and whisking just until blended.

4. Add grated carrots and pecans and stir until blended.
5. Spoon batter into the prepared pan, filling each of the seven wells ⅔ full (about 2 ½ Tbsp. or 55 grams of batter per cupcake).
6. Bake the cupcakes for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs (but no raw batter). The tops of the cupcakes will be just slightly domed, and they will flatten (but shouldn't sink down) as they cool. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing.

7. Make the brown butter cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer), beat cream cheese and room temperature browned butter on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add vanilla and salt and beat to combine.
8. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add confectioners’ sugar until all the sugar is added. Then beat on high speed until the mixture is well combined and creamy.
9. Frost the cupcakes. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, they're ready for frosting. Fit a piping bag with a large piping tip (I used Wilton 8B) and pipe a large swirl of frosting onto each cupcake. Or, if you prefer, use an offset spatula to spread frosting onto each cupcake.

Recipe Tips

This recipe makes enough cream cheese frosting for generously piping onto the cupcakes. If you're planning to simply spread frosting onto the cupcakes, you can reduce the amount of frosting by as much as half.

Carrot cake cupcakes should be stored in the fridge, especially once they're frosted with cream cheese frosting. The cupcakes will be fine at room temperature for a couple of hours, and leftover cupcakes can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. However, these cupcakes will taste best at room temperature, so let refrigerated cupcakes sit on the counter for 30 to 60 minutes before serving.

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