Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Scrumptious yet easy vegan carrot cake cupcakes with lots of beautiful spices, walnut pieces and the dreamiest dairy-free cream cheese frosting. Just like your corner bakery!
The cupcake portion can be made refined sugar-free and gluten-free. Alternatively, check out my vegan carrot muffins, vegan carrot cake or vegan carrot cake loaf.
These delightful treats are just like your traditional carrot cake but in cupcake form! They are moist, tender and are so nostalgic.
Perfect as a vegan Easter dessert in April, easy Spring recipe or for any celebrations throughout the year. This is my favorite carrot cake recipe and I bet they’ll become yours too!
Ingredients to make vegan carrot cupcakes
These cupcakes use only everyday pantry staples which you probably already have! You’ll need:
Notes about the ingredients
All-purpose plain flour, which can be substituted with whole wheat or spelt flour for healthier vegan carrot cake cupcakes. You can also make these cupcakes gluten-free. Check out the notes of the recipe card below.
Brown or coconut sugar (instead of regular cane sugar) for depth of flavor.
Dairy-free milk. I’d recommend using a full-bodied milk such as soy milk, oat milk or almond milk.
Grated carrot (coarse or fine). For ease, I used a food processor to grate my carrots but a hand-held grater will work too!
Any light-tasting oil such as sunflower, avocado or light olive oil. You may use melted coconut oil but it tends to solidify when cold which might make the cupcakes feel dry.
Optional add-ins include chopped walnuts and raisins
Even though these are eggless carrot cake muffins, we don’t need any egg replacers such as flax eggs!
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to make vegan carrot cake cupcakes
The carrot cake cupcakes come together in just ONE BOWL! You don’t have to whip any aquafaba or mix separate ingredients in different bowls.
So, simply add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix. Add the wet ingredients then mix again!
The batter should be quite thick and shaggy (like image 4 below). When we bake the cupcakes, the carrots will leak their natural juices so a thick batter is perfect!
When you spoon your batter into your cupcake liners, I’d recommend using an ice cream scoop. This allows you to get evenly sized cupcakes and it’s SO much easier and less messy than using spoons!
The batter fills each cupcake mold about 3/4 of the way. This is just enough for you to have decent-sized cupcakes but not enough for the cupcakes to overflow.
How to make vegan cream cheese frosting
First, it’s important to use room-temperature cream cheese and vegan block butter! Mixing cold ingredients makes it difficult to create a smooth lump-free frosting.
To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and vegan butter. The aim is to remove any lumps!
Then add your powdered sugar and mix through. I’d recommend using a spatula or electric hand beaters rather than a stand mixer. It’s important to not overmix cream cheese frosting as it can make it too runny or it will split!
Tips for making a stable dairy-free cream cheese frosting
Cream cheese frosting is notoriously soft. However, I have a few tricks to make cream cheese frosting firmer and a pipeable consistency that won’t just melt within 5 minutes:
- Make sure you use a vegan block butter that is firm when chilled. Vegan spreadable margarine is too soft for cream cheese frosting.
- Add 3 tablespoons of melted vegetable shortening or refined coconut oil. I’d recommend adding this with the butter and cream cheese and then whipping the mixture before adding the sugar.
- Add more powdered sugar for a firmer frosting.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch (corn flour) to the frosting. This absorbs any additional liquid (from the cream cheese and butter) and makes it more firm.
For more tips, check out Sally’s Baking Addiction post for (non-vegan) cream cheese frosting.
Other ways to decorate carrot cake cupcakes
Dare I say, I actually LOVE these vegan carrot cupcakes without frosting.
If you don’t have cream cheese, you can frost the cupcakes with vegan buttercream OR coconut whipping cream.
Alternatively, skip the frosting and sprinkle the unbaked batter with walnuts to make vegan carrot cake muffins!
Expert tips and customizing these cupcakes
I’d recommend substituting plain flour for whole wheat flour or spelt flour. This will make heavier muffin-like cupcakes but they’ll still be delicious!
Regarding the sweetener, my top recommendation is coconut sugar. I do not recommend using liquid sweeteners such as maple syrup as this will weigh down the cake
I haven’t tried substituting the oil with applesauce or something similar, though it may work.
Yes, I’d recommend substituting the all-purpose plain flour with 50% gluten-free all-purpose and 50% almond flour by weight (check out the notes of the recipe card for the exact quantities).
Alternatively, you can use a high-quality gluten-free flour such as Bob Red Mill’s 1:1 flour.
Try substituting the dairy-free milk for orange juice to make orange carrot muffins or cupcakes!
More vegan carrot cake recipes
Follow Rainbow Nourishments on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive all of our latest recipes!
Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (280g) all-purpose plain flour, (note 1 for gluten-free)
- 1 cup (200g) packed light brown sugar, or coconut sugar
- ½ cup (60g) walnuts, chopped roughly (optional, note 2 for raisins)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of salt, optional
Wet ingredients
- ~2 cups (200g) finely or coarsely grated carrot, (around 2-3 medium carrots)
- ¾ cup (190mL) dairy-free milk
- ¼ cup (65mL) neutral flavored oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, regular vinegar or lemon juice, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
To decorate (optional, note 3)
- 220g (8 oz) vegan cream cheese, room temperature (1 tub)
- ¾ cup (170g) vegan butter, room temperature
- 3-4 cups (300-400g) powdered sugar / icing sugar, to taste
- ¼ cup (30g) walnuts, chopped roughly
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a cupcake pan with liners.
To make the cupcakes:
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix until combined or until there are no more big lumps except the walnuts. Add all the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Divide the batter amongst your cupcake tray.
- Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer can be inserted into one and it comes out clean. The cupcakes will still be moist from the carrot.
- Cool the cupcakes in the tray for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack. If you can't help yourself and eat the cupcakes at this point (no judgement), they will be very moist. However, when they cool, they will be perfect!
To make the frosting:
- Add the vegan cream cheese and butter to a bowl. Whisk or beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and there are no lumps. Add the sugar and mix until just combined. If you overmix the frosting, it will become loose and may not hold up. Add more powdered sugar for a firmer frosting (note 4).
- When the cupcakes have completely cooled, use a piping bag, knife or spoon to top the cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped walnuts.
- Serve immediately. Leftover frosting cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Allow them to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- To make these gluten-free, use 150g almond flour and 140g cup gluten-free all-purpose flour OR a good 1:1 gluten-free flour such as King Arthur. All brands of gluten-free flour absorb differently so you may need to add an extra dash of dairy-free milk.
- If you’d like to add raisins instead, I’d recommend adding 1/4 – 1/2 cup to taste. If you’d like to add raisins in addition to the walnuts, I’d recommend adding only 1/4 cup.
- This can be substituted with buttercream, coconut whipped cream or omitted to make healthy vegan carrot muffins.
- More powdered sugar will create a firmer frosting whereas less sugar will create a softer frosting. If your frosting is a little too soft for piping, I’d recommend chilling it until it’s a little firmer. Also, see the post above for extra tips on creating a firmer frosting.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Can these cupcakes be frozen if frosted? Thank you!
Hi Anna! Yes, they can be frozen, though we recommend freezing the cupcakes and frosting separately in airtight containers. When you’re ready to enjoy them, defrost both in the fridge overnight or leave at room temperature for 1–2 hours. The frosting texture might change slightly after thawing, but once it comes to room temperature, a quick whip will bring it back to life. It’ll still taste delicious! Hope that helps 😊
I was craving carrot cake and this recipe did not disappoint! I didn’t make the frosting as I needed a specific buttercream for flowers. I doubled the recipe since it said this makes 12. I did have to add more non dairy milk when doubled. I just poured enough so the batter was wet. I got about 46 cupcakes, so I think this recipe as is, may make close to 24. The extra cupcakes turned out to be great practice for flowers and will go to work with my husband. Definitely adding this to my favorites file!
Thanks so much for the lovely feedback, we’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe and that it’s being added to the favourites file! The extra yield might be from a combination of the added liquid and possibly a smaller muffin pan? We’re glad you could use them for extra practice for flowers though and I’m sure your husband and co-workers were delighted!
These cupcakes were amazing! So moist and the flavour was perfect. I will definitely be using this recipe again in the future. Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Hi Kristina, aw that’s wonderful and it’s great that you enjoyed their texture and flavour! Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂
The Carrot cupcakes came out perfect! They are delicious. The Frosting is light and creamy
Hi Lizette, I’m so glad you enjoyed both the cupcakes and frosting! Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂
Checked and double checked the ingredients and quantities, yet these came out glutinous and overly firm. Is something missing? Even while mixing, it was very stiff batter, unlike any usual cupcake batter.
Hi Julia, this cupcake recipe is meant to produce a thicker batter as the carrots leak alot of liquid when baking. It sounds like you accidentally overmixed your batter – unfortunately overmixing cake batter strengthens its gluten and can make cupcakes chewy and tough. The batter can also be thicker if you used measuring cups and packed too much flour into them. I recommend using grams and room temperature milk for the best results. Hope that helps!
Too wet and burned before they had cooked.
Hi! I’m sorry this happened to your cupcakes. Unfortunately this can happen if your oven runs a bit hot. This will bake the cupcakes too quickly so they burn on the outside and the inside doesn’t have time to bake.
Great cupcakes! They taste just perfect! Thank you for sharing it!
Hi Karine, I’m so glad that you enjoyed these cupcakes! Thanks for letting me know 🙂