I saw my first urban rabbit munching on a fresh dandelion today, a sure sign of spring! Last year, the big hit in our backyard garden was rainbow carrots. I can’t wait to get planting them again this year! Until then, I’ll just do some rainbow carrot creations in the kitchen.
Without any frosting, these carrot cupcakes are otherwise known as “Morning Glory” muffins in the Midwest. But add some cream cheese frosting and you have Carrot Cupcakes, and the combination is wonderful.
The cute carrots are just shaped Starburst candies with some chocolate cookie crumb dirt (or you could use some crushed Oreos). A few seconds in the microwave makes the Starburst candies easier to shape. Happy Spring!
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Carrot Cupcakes
- Yield: 18 1x
Description
If you have a food processor that can grate…now would be the time to use it!
Ingredients
- 2 cups grated carrots
- 1 apple, cored and grated
- 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
- 1/2 cup golden raisins (or regular)
- 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup oil
- 1/4 cup dairy-free milk thickened with 1 t. cider vinegar
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Mix the shredded carrots, the fruits, raisins, sugar, oil and dairy-free milk in a medium bowl.
- Measure the flour, soda, cinnamon and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
- Dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together carefully, until just blended.
- Scoop the batter into paper-lined muffin tins, about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set on top and they start to smell good.
- Remove from muffin pan and cool on a rack before frosting.
- Makes about 18.
Notes
I used Silk Coconut Milk as my milk substitute in this recipe. See my post on dairy-free milk alternatives if you need ideas.
Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup dairy-free cream cheese, Tofutti or other.
- 1/4 cup dairy-free margarine, softened
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 2–2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1–2 T. dairy-free milk to get the right thickness.
Instructions
- Cream the cream cheese and margarine together with a mixer.
- Add the vanilla and powdered sugar.
- At this point, I just mess around with adding a little dairy-free milk and/or powdered sugar to get the right fluffy consistency.
Notes
This makes enough to frost generously with a knife, if you’re planning to pipe on piles of frosting, you might want to double the batch.
These look divine! Your carrots are amazing. I may try to make the cupcakes gluten/soy free as well. I'll let you know how they turn out.
Your cupcakes looks so good, wishing I could reach in and have one 😉
Love the carrots!
A while back when I was venting about snake oil for food allergies, you left a comment about "muscle testing." This chiropractor needs to go to jail:
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/man-died-an-hour-after-being-treated-for-peanut-allergy-1719832.html
yum! I am so glad that I happened upon your blog it is such a challenge to bake without eggs and dairy!
I am looking forward to trying this and some of your other recipes! Those thin mints are calling my name something fierce!
What beautiful cupcakes! I love the carrots on top!
Great looking cupcakes. I want to try these this weekend. Your daughter didn't have any reaction to the coconut? Thanks.
No coconut problems here, our allergist says that coconut is not related to nuts and that coconut allergies are relatively rare. Coconut oil is in soy formula, which she tolerated fine…so I didn't worry about trying regular coconut. She doesn't like the stringy-chewy texture very much, so I chop it up more finely with a food processor when baking.
After a few trials and (delicious) errors, I have converted this to a gluten/soy free muffin recipe. No frosting on my muffins, but they are super delicious without it. Thanks for the inspiration — I LOVE these muffins!
Gluten/soy-free recipe here: Eagle Loft Kitchen