Carrot cupcakes have always been something that we have avoided like the plague in our household. Even a vegan carrot cupcake always had the threat of chopped nuts hidden inside. Carrot cupcakes were something that my daughter always just assumed was off-limits, until today. I made Vegan Carrot Cupcakes with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting that are completely nut-free! My daughter was so happy when she came home to try them. We’ve been eating them every night for about a week now! And the cream cheese frosting is absolutely to die for! The whole cupcake is simply *chef’s kiss*.
In the cupcake itself, we used applesauce as an egg replacement and coconut oil as the butter replacement. As for the frosting, we used Earth Balance Vegan Butter (which comes in vegan and soy-free versions) as the butter substitute. For the dairy-free cream cheese, we used Tofutti Whipped Dairy-Free Cream Cheese. This cream cheese is vegan, however, it is NOT soy-free, so please use soy-free cream cheese if you are allergic to soy.
To decorate the cupcakes, you can go totally wild and decorate them however you want to! Or you could sprinkle them with cinnamon on top, which is what I did. This made the cupcakes a little more sophisticated-looking, but feel free to use rainbow sprinkles or chocolate sprinkles or whatever your heart desires!
This Vegan Carrot Cake with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting is absolutely extraordinary! It is not overly sweet, and it has such a wonderful pop of flavor from the spices. If you like the spices in these cupcakes, I can guarantee you will like this Vegan Apple Gingerbread Cake. And if you’re looking for a cake recipe totally different, try our Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting! As always, I hope you enjoyed it and I’ll see you next week!
Vegan Carrot Cake with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cake Recipe:
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- ½ c granulated sugar
- ½ c light brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- ⅓ c coconut oil, melted
- ½ c applesauce
- 1 c water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ c carrots, finely chopped or grated
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ½ c dairy-free margarine, softened
- ¾ c dairy-free cream cheese
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 c powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F and line muffin pans with paper liners.
- Place carrots in a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped. In a bowl of a stand mixer add flour, both sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt and mix together.
- Add in the vinegar, coconut oil, applesauce, water and vanilla and mix well. Stir in carrots. Divide the batter into the cupcake liners filling 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cupcakes cool while you make the cream cheese frosting.
- Using a mixer, cream together the non-dairy margarine, cream cheese, salt and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Chill before using. Decorate cupcakes.
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