Fluffy, moist, and perfectly spiced these Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Brown Butter Frosting are just the recipe to make for an Easter dessert. The flavorful browned butter cream cheese frosting is incredible!
Moist and flavorful, carrot cake is one of my favorite desserts. Or Carrot Muffins for breakfast. Paired with a tangy cream cheese frosting and I am all over it! These carrot cupcakes have all the tasty attributes of a good carrot cake but are individual and easy to serve.
The extra step of browning the salted butter in the cream cheese frosting adds a nutty caramel-like flavor that pairs well with the spices in the cupcakes. My Billionaire's Shortbread Bars and Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Scones also feature brown butter.
If you are looking for more delightful and easy Easter desserts, be sure to check out my Mini Egg Cheesecakes in a Jar or my Banana Cream Pie with a Cinnamon Graham Crust! Try this flavorful Carrot Spice Bread or Currant Hot Cross Buns with Icing for brunch.
Jump to:
⭐️ Why You Need to Make This Recipe
- Fluffy & Moist - These cupcakes have a pleasant light crumb but the shredded carrot adds tons of moisture, like in my Carrot Spice Bread.
- Flavorful - From the spices in the cupcakes to the nutty and tangy browned butter cream cheese frosting, these cupcakes are not lacking in flavor or personality.
- Perfect for Easter! Cupcakes are so easy to serve at big dinners and these carrot cake cupcakes are perfectly festive for Easter.
🧈 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to make these spiced carrot cupcakes with browned butter cream cheese frosting.
- Oil - Any neutral-flavored liquid cooking oil works well in this recipe to make a super moist cupcake.
- Shredded Carrots - Plenty of shredded carrots make for a tender texture.
- Spices - A blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice makes these cupcakes super flavorful.
- Brown Butter - You will brown ½ cup of salted butter to incorporate into the cream cheese frosting.
See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients with measurements.
📃 Instructions
Step 1: Whisk together the eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and oil.
Step 2: Add the shredded carrots and sour cream and mix until combined.
Step 3: Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the combined wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Do not overmix! Distribute evenly between 18 cupcake liners in pans. Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the pan after 10 minutes of cooling and let cool fully on a wire rack.
Step 5: Heat the ½ cup of butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until a deep brown color. Transfer to a bowl and let cool until cool to the touch yet not solidified.
Step 6: Cream the softened cream cheese on high speed for 1 minute. Add the liquid cooled browned butter.
Step 7: Mix on high speed until fluffy before adding the powdered sugar.
Step 8: Mix on low speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated before turning the mixer up to high speed and beating for 2 minutes.
Step 9: Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip. I used a Wilton 1M open star tip for the pictured cupcakes.
Step 10: Pipe a swirl of frosting onto each fully-cooled cupcake.
💡 Top Tip
It is extremely important that the cupcakes are completely cooled before topping with the frosting. If the cupcakes are still warm, the frosting will melt and slide off of the cupcakes.
❓ Recipe FAQs
Cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting should be refrigerated to store.
Carrot cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting can last stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days but are best eaten within the first 2 days.
If you want a plain cream cheese frosting, simply omit the browning steps and add softened butter to the cream cheese to make the frosting.
In a pinch, plain yogurt would work in place of sour cream. Yogurt is less rich and fatty than sour cream so the texture may be slightly less moist.
🧁 More Cupcake Recipes
Looking for other yummy cupcake recipes? Try these ones next:
If you tried these Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and write a little note telling me how it went in the comments below. Thank you!!
📖 Recipe
Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Brown Butter Frosting
Equipment
- 12-count muffin tin(s)
- cupcake liners
- mixing bowls
- measuring cups & spoons
- whisk
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup oil *
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 ½ cups shredded carrots
- ½ cup sour cream *
For the Frosting:
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
Instructions
To make the Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and prepare two muffin tins with 18 cupcake liners.
- Whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, and oil in a large bowl. Add the shredded carrots and sour cream and stir until fully mixed.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices until all are incorporated. Add to the bowl of wet ingredients and mix just until no streaks of flour remain.
- Evenly distribute the batter between all 18 liners, filling each cup to the top with batter. Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool fully before frosting them.
To make the Frosting:
- Heat the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Continue cooking until the butter is a deep brown color. Remove from the heat and transfer to another bowl to cool down until cool to the touch yet not solidified.
- Cream the softened cream cheese on high speed for 1 minute. Add the liquid cooled browned butter and cream until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low until incorporated before increasing the mixer to high and beating for 2 minutes until fluffy.
- Frost the cooled cupcakes using a piping bag fitted with your desired piping tip (I used a Wilton 1M open star tip). Enjoy!
Notes
- Any neutral-flavored liquid cooking oil works well such as avocado or vegetable oil.
- In a pinch, plain yogurt would work in place of sour cream. Yogurt is less rich and fatty than sour cream so the texture may be slightly less moist.
Nicola North
Another amazing recipe! Thank you 🙂 I made them for friends over the Easter weekend and they all agreed that they were delicious - especially the browned butter icing!! My husband loved them so much I’ve had to make more today!