Does anyone else obsess over The Voice as much as I do?!! I look forward to it every single Monday..and now its going to be on Monday and Tuesday nights…score!! There is some serious tough competition though this season! I can’t even decide who to vote for!! Last season, from the day we heard him on the blind auditions, we called it, we knew Javier would take the whole thing home…this season though, people have seriously stepped up!! Its insane!! Any fello Voice watchers?! What do you think..who do you think is going to at least be in the top three?! It’s going to be clooooose!
I made these cupcakes for my fiances mom, when they came to visit us last week…carrot cake is her fav! They turned out even better than I had hoped! I’m seriously considering making these for Easter this weekend…even though we’re still not sure what we’re doing on Sunday..we have three families between the two of us, that we are constantly being pulled between, its impossible to make everyone happy..we try, but we fail, to no avail. (That rhymed..hehe :P)What do you do when everyone wants to see youu?!
Oh! OK, so these fabulous cupcakes! They are moist, perfectly lightly sweet, so flavorful with just the right amount of spice, and I tried to lighten them up as much as you can lighten up cupcakes..using whole wheat flour and unsweetened applesauce. These babies are heavenly! They lasted over a week in an airtight container, and didn’t even become slightly dry..THAT is amazing! 🙂
I was so happy with how these turned out, they’re delicious! This will forever be my go-to carrot cake! And just in time for Easter! What a perfect, festive, Easter Treat! 🙂
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cups white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 cups grated carrots
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3.5 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 Tablespoon maple butter
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Fill muffin pan with liners.
- In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, apple sauce, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.
- Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, mixing until just combined.
- Fold in the carrots and pecans.
- Using a large ice cream scooper to keep them even sized, scoop the batter into the muffin tins.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. When you remove them from the oven, allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
- To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and maple butter. (You can substitute maple syrup if you can't find maple butter.)
- Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Pipe or spread on cupcakes once they are completely cooled.
Notes
Adapted From: All Recipes
