Carrot Cupcakes

Easter is here! It’s special because of what it truly commemorates—the Resurrection, and all around us signals the restoration of life–spring is here, the days are longer, and all the bright colors start emerging everywhere. I was thinking of what to bake to kick it off and hey, why not something healthy too, and carrot cupcakes came to mind.

This was so much fun to make, and it was actually for a guest post feature on Three Many Cooks! When Maggy asked me if I’d like to guest post on their site, I was super excited. Yes! I’ve been following their blog for a while now, and their creative and yummy recipes are paired with awesome sketches. It’s an honor to be their first guest poster.

These carrot cupcakes are delish–moist, light, flavorful, and I can eat three in one sitting. The carrots soften while baking, and it’s unique flavor and sweetness make this the Easter cupcake of choice. There’s also not an overload of oil, since most of the moisture comes from the carrots. With the addition of walnuts and coconut, the texture is perfect.

 

I use orange and green candy melts to make the carrots on top. Just melt a few disks in a microwaveable bowl, fill a ziplock bag, cut the corner off, and squeeze onto waxed paper. Start with the green top first and then the orange carrot body. Let dry and peel off.

To make the Easter baskets, put the shredded coconut in a ziplock bag with a couple drops of green food coloring, and then shake until evenly colored. Frost the cupcake with a spatula, roll the edges in the green coconut, and then top with robin eggs (mine are seasonal from the grocery store, made by the same company as Whopper) or jelly beans.

And there’s nothing better to top it off with than my favorite cream cheese frosting–I can eat almost anything covered in this stuff. Maybe the frosting doesn’t add to the healthy factor, but you have to indulge every now and then.

Happy Easter! May you enjoy the outdoors, soak up the sunshine, be awed by His beautiful creation, and spread some love and cupcakes.

– Ai

Carrot Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg  
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup shredded coconut

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.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add to bowl of wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in carrots, walnuts, and coconut.

Fill muffin cups until 3/4 full, and bake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 block cream cheese (8oz), at room temperature
1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2-3 cups powdered confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the butter and beat until smooth. Add in vanilla. Add in the sugar 1 cup at a time, until desired sweetness, and beat until smooth.