Carrot cake muffins with cream cheese buttercream

A softly spiced, fluffy sponge studded with juicy sultanas, crunchy walnuts and freshly grated carrot. Topped with a deliciously sweet, tangy and velvety smooth cream cheese frosting - these are the ultimate carrot cake muffins.

Time to make (muffins) : 30 minutes

Time to make (buttercream) : 15 minutes

Makes : 12 muffins

Ingredients

Muffins

160g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

140g light brown sugar

60g caster sugar

120ml vegetable oil

2 eggs

60g natural yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

100g walnuts, roughly chopped*

60g sultanas or raisins

120g (about 1 large) carrot, freshly grated*

Cream cheese buttercream

110g butter, softened*

110g full fat cream cheese

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or paste

1/4 tsp salt

250g icing sugar, sieved

Method

Muffins

1. Pre-heat a fan oven to 180ºC and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper liners.

2. Use a box grater to grate your carrot(s) and set to one side.

3. Chop your walnuts roughly using a sharp knife and set to one side.

4. In a large mixing bowl, add in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, ground cinnamon and ginger. Mix with a spoon to combine.

5. In a seperate bowl add in the sugars, vegetable oil, eggs, yogurt and vanilla extract. Whisk together until smooth. Pour this into your dry ingredients bowl and fold through until there are just a few flour streaks. Add in the sultanas, chopped nuts and freshly grated carrot. Fold through the batter until just combined.

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin liners, filling them about 2/3 full.

7. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes until the sponge is golden and springs back to touch.

8. Once cool enough to touch, remove muffins from the tin and place onto a cooling rack to completely cool before decorating.
   

Cream cheese buttercream

1. In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand-held whisk or a standing mixer with paddle attachment, beat the softened butter on a medium - high speed until light, pale and fluffy.

2. Add in the cream cheese, salt and vanilla and beat again until smooth and even in colour.

3. Gradually add in the sieved icing sugar, a few tbsp’s at a time until it’s all mixed through, scraping down the sides to make sure it’s all incorporated. Your buttercream should be thick but spreadable. Add more sieved icing sugar if you need it to be thicker or milk (1 tsp at a time) if you need to loosen it up.

4. Spoon and smooth the buttercream onto your cooled cupcakes or fill a piping bag with a decorative nozzle on and pipe it on for a more aesthetic finish.

5. Crumble over some extra chopped walnuts and decorate with mini carrots, chocolate mini eggs or whatever you like for an Easter twist.

Nutritional information:

(per muffin, with buttercream)

449 cals

24g fat, 54g carbs, 6g protein

Useful links

• I used the 1M frosting tip for a classic ‘swirl’

Good to know:

• You could use pecans over walnuts if you prefer, or skip them out entirely.

• It’s very important to use freshly grated carrots here, not pre-grated ones bought from a store, which tend to be dry and too big for the muffin sponges. Freshly grated really helps create a moist sponge and adds so much more flavour. 

• Use ‘real’ butter (bought it blocks), not the spreadable or margarine kind as this doesn’t “set” well in buttercream. It doesn’t matter whether it’s salted or unsalted.

• Use full-fat cream cheese as this will again “set” better in the buttercream. 
  

• To make this recipe gluten-free, use GF flour.

• The sponge can be made dairy-free by using a DF yogurt alternative.

Storage

• Store iced cupcakes at room temperature or (if you live in a warm climate) in the fridge for up to 5 days. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving as buttercream is best eaten at room temperature.

• You can freeze un-iced muffins by wrapping them tightly in cling film and storing in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

• You can freeze buttercream separately in an airtight container or tub for up to 3 months. Allow it to come to room temperature, then beat until smooth before using.