I was hoping to make this one this weekend, but we really really didn't need any more sweets in the house. And then there was the incident yesterday morning of (briefly, but scarily) losing the little girl at the zoo...by the time I got home, I was not exactly in a baking frame of mind. But peer pressure is a wonderful thing, and my Twitter friends assured me that baking was exactly what I needed to feel better.
So I made a batch of carrot cake mini-cupcakes. This really was a super easy recipe: mix flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; then combine the dry ingredients with melted butter, brown sugar, and safflower oil. Add grated carrots and chopped pecans, fill the muffin cups, and bake!
I made 1/2 batch of the recipe which perfectly filled the 24 cups in my mini muffin tin. I baked them for 26 minutes, which ended up being too long. I think I'll try 22-24 minutes next time. I made 1/3 of the cream cheese frosting recipe; next time, I'll make 1/2. I didn't have quite enough for all of the cupcakes, and the frosting was very yummy.
Even slightly overdone, the cupcakes were not at all dry and were really tasty. Hubby and I both brought plates to work today, and they met with rave reviews. And both of our plates had a few missing cupcakes because the kiddos spotted them this morning; both kids loved them (although they did ask us to take the nuts out).
I have a fancy-schmancy carrot cake that is very rich (and very time-consuming); this one might not replace that one for fancy occasions. But this is definitely the best easiest carrot cake recipe!
(No carrot cake cupcakes survived for a daylight photo op; check out Kayte's blog for pictures of how pretty this cake can be! )
Awww...you are sweet...my photo was just so so...I love all that frosting on yours...that's why I eat carrot cake...and I think these cupcakes are a great idea b/c I could have squirted some lemon in my frosting and eaten mine with lemon cream cheese frosting, yes, indeed! A little hard to do that with a whole cake. This recipe rivals my best one actually...we thought it was very good. Happy that V&A enjoyed them, too.
ReplyDeleteLol. =) My girls are the same way--they complain anytime I put nuts in anything. I can't say I was much better at their ages; it wasn't until I was an adult that I appreciated nuts at all. Glad to hear that everyone enjoyed the cupcakes.
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