Although humility is more my style, I’m not going to lie, I make a mean carrot cake. I’m also a tinkerer. It can be hard for me to leave well enough alone. So after years of making the exact same cake, I started replacing some of the white sugar with brown, upping the cinnamon, browning the butter in the frosting, and adding (more than) a splash of vanilla. And thus, I present to you, a slightly more sophisticated version of my Aunt Diane’s Carrot Cake. But truth be told, you won’t go wrong with either.
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Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 24 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Be sure to brown the butter first, before making the cake, so that it's fully cooled (solid, but a soft room temperature) by the time you need it to make the frosting.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cupcakes:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 g)
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp fine-grain salt (like table or sea salt)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed (213 g)
- 1 ½ cups mild-flavored oil (such as vegetable oil)
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups peeled & finely grated carrots (12 oz)
For the Frosting:
- 2 sticks + 2 TB unsalted butter (18 TB, 9 oz)
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp fine-grain salt (like table or sea salt)
- 1 lb powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with baking cups.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together the two sugars and oil. Add the eggs one at a time and continue whisking to emulsify. With a spatula, stir in the flour mixture until a few white streaks remain. Then stir in the grated carrots just until everything is combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the 24 baking cups. Then bake for ~20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Rotate the pans halfway through baking.
- Once completely cooled, frost the cupcakes.
For the Frosting:
- Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Gently swirl the pan every few seconds until the butter starts to smell nutty and brown bits appear on the bottom (~5 minutes). Immediately pour the butter into a heatproof bowl, scraping up all those delicious brown bits, and then let cool to a solid room temperature.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and cooled brown butter on medium speed until completely smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add in the vanilla and salt. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until creamy and smooth.
Notes
- When grating the carrots, I like to use the *small* holes on a box grater.
- A cookie scoop is a great tool for cleanly and evenly dividing the batter among the muffin cups.
- When making the frosting, be sure the cream cheese is at a very soft room temperature. It can otherwise feel impossible to beat out lumps from cold cream cheese.
- I love the look and flavor of garnishing the cupcakes with finely chopped salted pecans.
- You can also use this recipe to bake and frost one 9x13 cake (bake ~40 minutes).
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