I love the carrot cake flavor on everything. Sometimes I make a full Vegan Carrot Cake, but when I want something simple, I do either my Carrot Cake Energy Balls, Carrot Cake Overnight Oats, or Vegan Carrot Cake Banana Bread. I wanted an even easier recipe today so I came up with these carrot cake cupcakes. They bring all the flavors of a classic carrot bread in a recipe that is quick and easy to make. Since the classic carrot cake cupcake recipe contains eggs, butter, and milk, it’s not vegan-friendly. Also, most cupcake frosting recipes also contain cream cheese. So let me show you how to make delicious plant-based carrot cake cupcakes.
Ingredients and Substitutions
It’s super easy to make these moist vegan carrot cake cupcakes. All you need are a few pantry ingredients. Let me explain how to select them and the eventual substitution you can make for each.
All-Purpose Flour – you can also use spelt flour or white whole wheat flour. I haven’t tried gluten-free flour. Unrefined Cane Sugar – white sugar or sugar-free erythritol work as well for a sugar-free vegan carrot cake muffin. Brown Sugar – or coconut sugar or golden erythritol. Baking Powder and Baking Soda – to give the cupcakes a soft and airy texture. Carrots – make sure you grate them finely. It delivers even more texture, moisture, and flavor to these vegan carrot cupcakes. Vanilla Extract – for flavor. Cinnamon and Nutmeg – for classic carrot cake flavors. Lemon Juice or apple cider vinegar. You can either use bottled lemon juice or freshly squeezed lemons. Almond Milk or any plant-based milk you like, including soy milk, oat milk. Olive Oil – or vegetable oils like canola oil or nut oil like almond oil and coconut oil. Chopped Pecans or walnuts or sultanas raisins.
How To Make Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Frosting
You can serve this recipe as vegan carrot muffins with no frosting, or to make vegan carrot cupcakes, add one of my two vegan frosting recipes:
Vegan vanilla frosting – this one is made with vegan butter and vanilla. It’s a thick, creamy, and fluffy frosting similar to regular cream cheese frosting without the dairy. It’s easy to pipe to create beautifully presented cupcakes. Vegan coconut frosting – this is an easy frosting, lighter in texture. You don’t need a piping bag to spread this on top of your cupcakes. It’s an easy 2-ingredient vegan frosting recipe, but it requires a little bit of organization because you must place the can of coconut cream in the fridge the day before!
Flavor Add-Ons
You can customize this cupcake recipe by adding some extra ingredients in the batter, like 1/2 cup of:
Unsweetened shredded coconut Finely chopped canned pineapple slices – make sure you pat dry the slices before adding, or they release too much moisture in the batter. Sultanas
Decorating The Cupcakes
First, make sure the carrot cupcakes have completely cooled down. If you add frosting to hot cupcakes, it melts, spreads, and gets absorbed by the cupcake. If you are using vanilla frosting, use a piping bag and pipe on top of the cupcake. If you use the coconut cream frosting, spread with a spoon. Top each cupcake with a sprinkle of chopped nuts and cinnamon.
Storage Instructions
You can store these vegan carrot cake cupcakes in the fridge for up to 4 days in a sealed box. Another option is to freeze the cupcakes and thaw them the day before serving.
More Vegan Carrot Recipes
If you love carrot cake recipes, try some of these other recipes with carrots:
