Carrot Cupcakes
Read my review of this recipe.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 extra-large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound)
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pound confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots, raisins, and walnuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.
Line muffin pans with paper liners. Scoop the batter into muffin cups until each is 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook for a further 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.
For the frosting, cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.
When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously and serve.
Makes 24 cupcakes.
Nutrition:
Substitutions:
I changed the recipe quite a bit: 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce, 2/3 cup oil, 1 1/2 cup white flour, 1/2 cup wheat flour, and only 1/4 pound (1 stick) of butter in the frosting. I think the changes would have been perfect (except I would only use 1 1/2 cups sugar total next time), except the baking time is way off. I would say bake them at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes. The recipe makes a lot of frosting - it could easily be cut down, probably even in half.
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten.