Carrot Cupcakes With Molasses Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
If you love carrot cake, then these carrot cupcakes with molasses cream cheese frosting will be quite a treat. The cake is moist and the cinnamon and nutmeg spices are just perfect for autumn. The molasses in the frosting adds a caramel flavor element.
This recipe makes just enough frosting for 12 cupcakes. If extra frosting is your thing, then double the ingredients for the frosting.
Carrot Cupcakes With Molasses Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup packed brown sugar light or dark - your preference
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups peeled and shredded carrots 4 large carrots or 8 small ones
- ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
- --------- For the icing ---------
- ½ cup 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- ½ stick ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened (not melted)
- 1 Tablespoon unsulfured molasses
- 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F and line a twelve ½-cup capacity muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to distribute all ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla and stir to blend together well.
- With a wooden spoon, beat in about ¼ of the flour mixture with the wet mixture; repeat until all flour has been just combined with the wet ingredients. Don't over-mix or the cupcakes will be tough.
- Stir in the carrots and coconut until just combined.
- Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full with batter.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 18 - 22 minutes. Start testing with a toothpick at 18 minutes. When the toothpick comes out relatively clean, the muffins are done.
- Let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn them out onto a rack to cool completely before frosting. You may have to use a thin, sharp knife to loosen the edges of the muffin tops a bit.
- When the cupcakes are completely cool, combine the cream cheese, butter, molasses and powdered sugar in a bowl and beat until fluffy.
- Spread icing on cupcakes with a butter knife or a small offset spatula.
Adapted from a recipe found in “The Best of Gourmet 1996”.
If you need a muffin pan, here’s one on amazon.com that gets great reviews. Don’t forget the paper liners (3″ size for standard muffin pan) – here’s a (near) lifetime supply.