Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

This post redeems me. Although I actually made these cupcakes before I made the doomed garlic cupcakes, I still feel like it makes up for my egregious error. Right?

Anyway. Last weekend sometime I thought to myself, I would like some carrot cupcakes now. Isn't that weird? Does anyone else just get these serious cravings?

So I found a good recipe, bought all of the ingredients...and then didn't make them until a week later. So much for instant gratification. Apparently my cravings tend to go away if I ignore them. Who knew?

But a bridal shower on Saturday prompted me to action, so I made these. And they were goooood. The recipe called for raisins and walnuts, which I thought was a little much. I know it's probably a traditional carrot cake recipe, but I just didn't want all of that interrupting the moist, smooth batter, so I left them out. Feel free to add them if that's your sort of thing.

This cream cheese frosting recipe called for an entire box (yes, that's 16 oz.) of confectioner's sugar. Unless you're wanting to send all of your friends into diabetic shock, I'd suggest cutting back on that significantly (you'll see my modified recipe below). I only used about a cup, and it was perfectly sweet. Not too much, not too little, while still letting the cream cheese flavor come through. Because really, that's the real star of this frosting...

Carrot Cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt (I used a bit more...of course)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 large eggs (room temp)

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups grated carrots (about 4 of them)

1/2 cup dark raisins (optional)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line 18 muffin cups with liners

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a small bowl.

3. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, oil and milk on medium speed until light and thick (I did this by hand, and it worked fine)

4. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture, beating until just blended. Stir in the vanilla, carrots, raisins, and walnuts until just blended.

5. Spoon the batter into the liners, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes. Remove them from the pan, and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

(1) 8 oz package cream cheese, at room temp

1/2 stick butter, at room temp

1-2 cups of confectioner's sugar, to taste

2-3 tbsp milk

1. Beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until light and fluffy.

2. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar and the milk, beating well until everything is well incorporated.

3. Add more milk if the consistency is too thick (mine never got too thick at all, and so I only ended up using 2 tbsp milk).

4. Frost your cupcakes.

Note: Keep frosted cupcakes and any remaining frosting in the refrigerator. This will keep the cream cheese frosting safe to consume, plus it just comes in handy when you need a spoonful of a little something cool and sweet. Not that I do that! Of course not.