Maple Frosted Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Looking for a healthy, tasty, and easy dessert that is both kid and adult friendly? These light and fluffy carrot cake cupcakes with a sweet maple frosting are the perfect thing to make! They are gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free, and so delicious. Plus, they’re packed full of nutrients and a great way to get your kids to eat their veggies!

How many cupcakes does this recipe make?

This recipe will make about 10-12 cupcakes! If you prefer to have carrot cake over carrot cake cupcakes, simply bake the batter in an 8-inch cake pan instead of in cupcake tins! You may have to adjust the baking time slightly if you do this. Be sure to line the cake pan with parchment paper or grease well with cooking spray.

What ingredients do I need to make these carrot cake cupcakes?

You’ll need just a couple of simple ingredients to make these cupcakes. They are:

• oat flour (I use homemade)
• almond flour (optional)
• flax eggs or regular eggs
• salt
• baking powder
• cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
• water or dairy free milk
• pure maple syrup or honey
• pure vanilla extract
• olive oil
• shredded carrots
• cashew butter (or other nut/seed butter of choice)

What if I don’t have oat flour?

No oat flour? No problem! You can easily make your own at home. To make homemade oat flour simply blend gluten free quick, old fashioned, or rolled oats in a high speed blender (or process them in a food processor). Check out this video if you want to see how I make my own oat flour!

I don’t want to use cashew butter!

If you don’t want to use cashew butter or you don’t have it on hand, you can use a different nut or seed butter for the frosting. Some other options include coconut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or sesame seed butter (tahini). I prefer cashew butter in this recipe but you can substitute it with another nut/seed butter if preferred!

Do I have to use almond flour?

No, you don’t! If you prefer not to use almond flour in this recipe, simply replace the 1/2 cup almond flour with 1/2 oat flour. I prefer the cupcakes with almond flour added since it give them a fluffier, lighter consistency. But they are delicious either way!

How do I store these cupcakes?

You can store these cupcakes at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Looking for more cake and cupcake recipes?

Try some of my others below!

• Decadent Double Chocolate Cupcakes
• Chai Latte Cupcakes
• Coffee Cake with Streusel Crumb Topping
• Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel Crumb Topping
• Double Chocolate Layered Cake

Recipe to make these carrot cake cupcakes? The full recipe is below!

5 from 1 vote

Maple Frosted Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Servings 10

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour (I use homemade)
• 1/2 cup almond flour (optional, or 1/2 cup more oat flour)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg (or allspice)
• 3/4 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 flax eggs or regular eggs
• 1/3 cup water or dairy free milk
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or honey)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cups shredded carrots (about 3 large carrots)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the Frosting

• 1/3 cup cashew butter
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup (or honey)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

• Add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together. Next, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients one at a time then mix the batter together until fully combined. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F and line 10-12 muffin tins with cupcake liners. This recipe will make 10 large cupcakes or 12 medium sized cupcakes. Spray the liners gently with cooking spray (you can omit the cupcake liners if preferred and just spray the muffin tins).
• Evenly distribute the cupcake batter between the muffin tins then place the cupcakes in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. After baking, remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the stovetop.
• Once the cupcakes have cooled, prepared the frosting: add each of the frosting ingredients to a small bowl and mix together until smooth and creamy. Lightly frost each cupcake with the frosting. Feel free to top the cupcakes with sprinkles or roll the tops in shredded coconut flakes or crushed walnuts!
• Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Video

Notes

If you prefer not to use almond flour in this recipe, simply replace the 1/2 cup almond flour with 1/2 oat flour. I prefer the cupcakes with almond flour added since it give them a fluffier, lighter consistency. But they are delicious either way!

Course: Dessert

Diet: Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Nut Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Vegan

Keyword: Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Homemade Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Maple Carrot Cake Cupcakes