Easter Yums for Little Tums – A Healthier Carrot Cupcake Recipe

Re-posting our healthier carrot cake cupcake recipe for Easter. Anyone hosting a kid’s table this year?  These cute little carrot cupcakes are a fun twist on a classic Easter dessert. They always brings a smile to little ones.

Our healthier carrot cupcake recipe…is a naked cupcake. A happier, super-fun muffin.

In all honesty, this carrot cupcake recipe is a favorite of ours, so you just might see it make a repeat appearance at our table this time each year! We originally developed the recipe for a cookbook for kids. When we were working on the recipe it was ~2011, and the cupcake craze was full-blown everywhere.

I’d developed what we thought was a good carrot cake recipe. The crumb was tender, there was interesting “carrot cake” texture, the color was great, and my kiddo couldn’t stop eating the mini cakes I continued to pull from the oven.

But how to decorate the little cakes? Creativity stalled out. A good dollop of cream cheese frosting is the standard adornment for a carrot cake (and you know we’re fans of frosting.) But, for this recipe the goal was a healthier alternative. There had to be something. A plain carrot cake cupcake? Um, that’s a MUFFIN.

What makes these Healthier Carrot Cupcakes work?

The pumpkin puree imparts that pretty orange color and keeps the cake moist without the addition of extra fat. A 50/50 blend of whole wheat and all-purpose flours helps keep the cake tender, but is sturdy enough to suspend all those delicious mixins. The “base” batter recipe is great. But the best part? You can really give this recipe a personal touch. My kids like nuts, but if yours don’t like them you can leave them out! Not a coconut fan? Omit. Same goes for the cranberries – use raisins if you want, or remove them altogether.

Two cups of veggies and ice cream cones? Come on. That’s not a combination you see every day. 🙂

What are your favorite recipes to serve for Easter?

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Naked Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Servings 24 approx

Author Mary

Ingredients

• 24 Small, ice cream sugar cones Sugar cones work better than the waffle style
• 3/4 c. Pumpkin puree
• 1/4 c. Vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 c. Granulated sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 c. All purpose flour
• 1 c. Whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
• 2 c. Grated raw carrots
• 1 8 oz can Shredded pineapple Drained
• 1/2 c. Shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 c. Dried cranberries
• 1 c. Chopped nuts Walnuts or Pecans
• 24 Sprigs Fresh mint

Instructions

1. Prepare cones. To help cones stand upright while baking, fashion a stand out of empty coffee cups covered with aluminum foil. Poke a hole into each foil-covered coffee cup and stick the cone in (point first). Place all coffee cups (with upright, empty cones) on a baking sheet.

2. Preheat oven to 350F.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine pumpkin, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix to combine, scraping sides of bowl as needed.

4. Sift together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture in Step 3 and mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. Add carrots, pineapple, coconut, dried cranberries and nuts to the cupcake batter. Being careful not to over-mix, fold these ingredients into the batter by hand until just combined. 

6. Fill cones with batter, leaving about 1/4 inch of space to the top edge – cupcakes will rise!

7. Bake cones for 20-25 minutes, or until tops spring back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.

8. When cool, garnish each cupcake with a sprig of fresh mint. 

Recipe Notes

To make traditional cupcakes, omit the steps which call for cone preparation/filling. Instead, line a standard cupcake pan with cupcake liners and bake at 350F for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.