Tag Archives: Carrot

Loaded Carrot Cupcakes

Let’s be honest, carrot cake is some pretty damn good stuff. These cupcakes don’t come from the most traditional carrot cake batter mix, but they’re loaded with goodness. That’s why I’m calling them Loaded Carrot Cupcakes.

I added shredded carrots, crushed pineapple, pecans, walnuts and coconut to the batter to really load them up with a variety of ingredients. The batter is pretty minimal so it’s these ingredients that form the majority of these cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 TBSP ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs


Carrot Cupcake Batter

• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin or cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and center. Form a hollow center then add oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
3. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in carrots, pecans, walnuts, pineapple and shredded coconut.


Carrot Cupcakes in the Oven

4. Pour batter into cupcake liners until each is about 1/2 full (optimist!). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cupcakes will rise while baking then settle some once removed.

This recipe should yield roughly two dozen cupcakes. I whipped up a cream cheese frosting for mine and garnished with some of the remaining shredded coconut.

The pineapple ensures the cupcakes remain moist and the nuts give the cupcakes a nice crunch. I wasn’t sure how these would turn out given my lack of success with baking, but they turned out delicious and (dare I say it) I was proud of the effort.