Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Impress your family with these vegan carrot cake cupcakes that are sweet, moist, and bakery-beautiful! They're egg-free and milk-free with an easy vegan cream cheese frosting. Kid-friendly, great for a special occasion or any time of year! Want carrot cake muffins? Just leave off the icing!
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Calories: 272kcal
Ingredients
For The Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1¼ cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups grated carrots
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
For The Vegan Icing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the vegetable oil and sugar until well combined. Add the applesauce and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the oil mixture and mix until smooth.
- Fold in the grated carrots and chopped walnuts.
- Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full of batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- To make the icing, beat together the vegan butter, vegan cream cheese, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combined.
- When the cupcakes are cooled completely, pipe the icing on top and garnish with grated carrots, shredded coconut, and walnuts.
Notes
- To avoid overmixing: Overmixed batter equals tough cupcakes, and nobody wants that. So just mix until combined and smooth. Don't over-beat or fluff.
- To easily make these vegan cupcakes gluten-free: I suggest using a gluten-free baking flour that is pre-mixed to be a 1-to-1 substitute for all-purpose wheat flour.
- To prevent sticking: Spray your muffin liners with a vegan cooking spray.
- To test out different flours: I usually just use whole wheat pastry or white whole wheat flour. If you're strict about using only cake flour for baking (or I even know some people who swear by spelt flour for muffins), just play with your applesauce ratio. If it's too liquidy, add more flour. Likewise if it's too thick, add more applesauce.
- Try adding in different mix-ins - raisins would taste great!
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer (without the icing added) for 3 months.
- Make these into muffins just by removing the icing and serving right out of the oven!
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 272kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 232mg | Potassium: 136mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 2857IU