C is for Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (Jennifer)

Hello from the kitchen!

Tonight, I share with you a delicious recipe for Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting that I'm hoping you'll enjoy. It started with some carrots, and some applesauce, and then I threw in some crushed pineapple for good measure (like my colleague, Shannon, did in her Hummingbird Cake). The result? A delightfully moist cupcake (did I mention they are relatively healthy as well??)--yum!




Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Ellie Krieger's book:



Recipe can also be found on the Food Network:

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup natural applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots) *decreased by 1/2 cup because I added the pineapple--see below
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
• 4 ounces 1/3 fat cream cheese (recommended: Neufchatel)
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• *I added about 1/2 cup crushed pineapple

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
Sift together the first 6 ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar and eggs until well combined. Whisk in the applesauce, vanilla and carrots. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in 1/4 cup of the chopped walnuts.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
With an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and lemon zest until smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts. The cupcakes should be stored in the refrigerator.

Review:

These cupcakes hit the spot for a sweet treat, but one that brought on far less guilt than last week's banana bread pudding. It must have been meant to be that I was looking for a cupcake recipe for "C" this week because tonight, when I went to my favorite fro-yo place, Golden Spoon, it just so happened "Cupcake" was the flavor of the month! My Wednesday just ended on a very happy note!

Happy baking!

Jennifer