These warm, spiced carrot cake cupcakes have the perfect moist crumb, and a thick, fluffy cream cheese frosting layered on top. Made gluten free, dairy free, and paleo friendly. I went with a cleaned up classic cream cheese frosting, but have a dairy free option for that as well!

All other cakes are boring when compared to carrot cake. There, I said it. Who’s with me?! The warm spices, the crunch from pecans, extra moisture & flavor from carrots & raisins… they’re just SO good.

And then the cream cheese frosting: why do plain vanilla buttercream when you can have that little bit of tang from cream cheese? I could eat a whole bowl!

The cupcake recipe is perfectly paleo: gluten free, dairy free, no refined sugar. Squeaky clean and allergy friendly, and you’d never know!

I went classic on the frosting and did a thick, rich sweet cream cheese frosting with cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Because you just have to have the real deal sometimes! And it’s all organic & good quality… and the paleo cupcake underneath balances it all out, right?!

If you are strictly dairy free, see the recipe notes below for a great cashew cream cheese frosting recipe that will give you all the carrot cake feels without the dairy issues. (Seriously – it’s still SO good, just less sweet and might not hold up to piping so well)

Make these for Easter, for your mama (my mom loooves carrot cake), for a birthday, for your neighbors, or even for a “I love myself” snack throughout the week. You won’t regret it! Then come back to tell me how much you loved them!

See the “notes” section at the bottom of the recipe below for the frosting piping set I got from Amazon. It was pretty inexpensive and came with everything I needed! And let me tell ya – I’m not a frosting expert! So it was very user friendly.

Tag me in your carrot cake cupcake creations on Instagram @justjessieb – and leave a comment & review below! I would love to hear what you think. Hope you enjoy these as much as we did! They certainly did not last long!

Print Recipe
5 from 16 votes

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Perfectly spiced paleo, gluten free carrot cake cupcakes with a thick, fluffy cream cheese frosting layered on top.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: carrot cake, cupcakes, cream cheese frosting
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Author: Jessie B

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup avocado oil
  • 1/3 cup nut butter cashew or almond works well
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 cup shredded carrot
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with parchment paper cups and set aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with avocado oil until smooth. Stir in the nut butter, honey, shredded carrot, and vanilla. Add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl, and stir until just combined.
  • Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tin, filling each up about 3/4 of the way full. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted to the center of a muffin comes out clean.
  • Let cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow to fully cool before frosting.
  • To make your frosting, begin by softening the cream cheese and butter to room temperature so they mix easily. Add them to a large mixing bowl with vanilla and salt, and mix with a hand mixer on "low" until smooth & creamy. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, and continue to mix until smooth.
  • Frost the cooled cupcakes and store at room temperature for up to 3-4 hours, otherwise transfer to the refrigerator to store. Remove from the fridge and give them a few minutes to come to room temperature before serving.

Notes

  • I used cashew butter in this recipe for the creaminess and mild flavor.  You can substitute almond, peanut, or any creamy nut or seed butter.
  • The frosting recipe listed above will generously frost 12 cupcakes using a piping tip and piping on a thick layer.  If you’re planning to frost by hand using a small knife, you could get away with just half of the frosting recipe.
  • For piping the frosting, I used a set from Amazon that came with piping bags and 4 standard tips.  You can find the exact set HERE.
  • If you’re looking for a dairy free cream cheese frosting, try the one from my oldie-but-goodie “Sweet Potato Spice Cake” which uses cashews as the base and is made in the blender!
Filed   Desserts, Paleo