Pumpkin Carrot Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
These Pumpkin Carrot Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting are a sweet fall flavored twist on your favorite veggie cake! They’re super moist and tender thanks to the pumpkin and carrot, and the cinnamon makes the cream cheese frosting taste even more delicious.
These past couple of days have realllyyy felt like fall. As in, rain has not stopped pouring for more than a few minutes, leaves are all over the ground, school is in serious high-stress mode, and all I want to do is bake with pumpkin, cinnamon, and apples. Good thing, because today’s recipe covers 2 of those ingredients!
I’m seriously an addict for all things fall-scented, and have been constantly burning a candle this fall. I’m a major candle addict, and have one burning pretty much always in my room. There’s just something so comforting about walking into a room that smells delicious!
Which leads us right into cupcakes…because having your house smell like baked goods is always a major plus.
Straight up, the hardest thing about these cupcakes is grating the carrots. If you have to do it by hand, I’m with you, and while it’s not the most fun task in the world, it’s pretty quick and painless. If you have a food processor, you can have that pesky task done in about 15 seconds.
After the carrots are grated? It’s literally dump, mix, bake. I love recipes that don’t require a whole bunch of fussing around, and just come together quickly and simply and most importantly, taste absolutely delicious.
These cupcakes are light, and full of fall flavor. They are bursting with pumpkin and carrot and all of the spices. And paired with a silky, sweet, cinnamon-y cream cheese frosting? It’s amazing!
If you’re a fan of carrot cake, then you’ll absolutely adore these! They got a huge thumbs up from all my friends. Of course, the adorable pumpkin on top are entirely not necessary, but they’re a fun seasonal touch that’ll make these even more perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any other fall event!
You can make these little baby cupcakes like I did, or make them regular size. This recipe can also be doubled to make a great bundt cake! It’s seriously delish, so easy, and sure to impress. Enjoy!
PrintPumpkin Carrot Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup 4.25 oz all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup grated carrots
For the frosting
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a mini or regular sized cupcake pan with cupcake liners; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, oil, pumpkin and eggs. Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in carrots, taking care not to over mix. Fill the liners up about 2/3 of the way full. Bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes for mini cupcakes or 16-18 minutes for regular sized cupcakes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
- Cool cupcakes completely. Frost with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
For the frosting
- Using an electric mixer, whip the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat until completely combined. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, add the vanilla extract and cinnamon and beat until completely smooth. Frost cupcakes as desired!
What a great twist on the normal carrot cake! I love the idea of adding pumpkin to it, to “fall” it up.
It has definitely turned fall over night with all this rain! UGH.
But, these cupcakes will get me through it, that I can say with great confidence. I adore carrot cake and have never tried adding pumpkin. You rock my taste buds. Pinned!
I love the sound of these cupcakes. Carrot and pumpkin together! Delicious! Pinning!
could these be any cuter?! and girrrl I love me some carrot cake, but cinnamon cream cheese frosting on top? genius!! pinned :)
I love these! So adorable too. I love cinnamon and cream cheese together. Add pumpkin and I’m done!!! Thanks for this. I love your blog :)
These are just adorable, Rachel! I love the swirls of frosting and that cute candy pumpkin on top ;)
Mmmm – looks like fall perfection :)
Nothing beats the smell of baking in the house or awesome scented Fall Candles! These cupcakes look delicious! I can’t believe I’ve never baked anything with a carrot-pumpkin combo before! I definitively need to try – Pinned!
Combining pumpkin and carrot into a cupcake is a great idea. And these are seriously adorable cupcakes! I love the frosting and the little pumpkins, so cute!
What a great idea to combine carrot cake with pumpkin!! And I’ve made cinnamon cream cheese frosting before–that stuff is GOOD. It finally feels like fall in the South and I should make these to celebrate. :)
These look seriously amazing! I love all things fall, and especially the fact that I can bake without worrying about heating up the house and soak in all of that beautiful smell! Pinned :)
These cupcakes are gorgeous girl! I love the pumpkin and carrot combo and they sound amazing with the cinnamon cream cheese frosting! I love that they are mini too – so so cute! Pinning :)
Thank you Kelly! I love minis too – but it makes them dangerously easy to eat!
You are SUCH a talented cupcake decorator!! These are just stunning! Also loving the flavor combos :) Pinned!
Thank you lovely lady!!! Decorating has never been my strong suit, but I’m trying! :D
That cinnamon cream cheese frosting looks great and nothing says Fall like a carrot cake.
These look incredible – vegetable oil works so well in carrot cake recipes, doesn’t it?! I also love your new picture on the right hand side! x
Thanks so much! I do love how moist carrot cake turns out with vegetable oil! That picture was getting pretty old so I decided it was time for a little change :)
Ahhhh!! These are so cute!! Perf for this time of year! Oh my gosh, now I want one!!
look at these little cuties! :) they look amazing Rachel! Pinning!
These are GORGEOUS! I also love the combination of pumpkin and carrot, and a perfect frosting to top them off with! Pinned!
These are SO adorable!!!!
Even after nearly 20 years of living in Australia, when the end of October comes, it’s supposed to be cold, not summer. I love your little cupcakes! Perfect for the season.
Thank you so much Maureen!!
These cupcakes are seriously amazing!!! I am in love with the flavor combo.
Ohhh!! these are SO adorable! you are SUCH a talented baker!!!
Finally-a recipe that doesn’t use so much oil.
I can’t wait to make these. My official start of Fall baking. Thanks for posting, :-))
Do you know how the cream cheese frosting holds up outside the fridge? They will need to sit out for a little bit since it is a wedding.
Hi Nicole, it should be able to hold up for a few hours as long as it’s not too warm out and they’re not sitting in the sun.
Can you use a gluten free flour here?
I haven’t tested this one gluten-free since this is a much older recipe of mine – I would try a 1:1 AP baking flour sub!