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    Where Is My Spoon > Sweet Recipes > Muffins and Cupcakes

    Nigella's Carrot Cake Muffins

    Published by: Adina March 28, 2015 · Last modified: October 13, 2021 4 Comments

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    Nigella Lawson's amazing carrot muffins or cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and walnuts.

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    Nigella's carrot cake muffins or cupcakes, the best recipe for carrot cupcakes I've made until now. Really moist and tasty and when eaten without the icing not overly sweet. The walnuts make a little crunchy while the topping makes them creamy and luxurious.

    Carrot Cupcakes

    Tips for baking good muffins

    Although muffins are normally very easy to make, there are always a few steps you want to consider, if you wish them to be perfect.

    There are two kinds of muffins in my opinion. This is probably not a scientific matter, but I feel that there are the soft, cake-like ones, which are usually made with butter, and the moist and slightly denser ones, which are made with oil.

    Me – I love them all Nigella's carrot cake muffins, Sour Cream Muffins – my absolute favorite ones (a basic muffin recipe, if you need one), Cinnamon Apple Muffins, Cherry Muffins... made with butter, oil, yogurt etc... it doesn't matter, I have rarely met one I didn't like.

    However, I noticed that when looking for a new recipe, I tend to choose yet another one made with oil. The thing is that if there is a chance you might screw up a muffin recipe and get some dry, hard-to-swallow ones, you are more likely to do so with a recipe containing butter. Oil (or the addition of yogurt/sour cream etc) helps them stay moist.

    Carrot Cupcakes carrot cupcakes

    Ingredients needed

    Oil:

    • We've already talked about the oil and its benefits when used in baking muffins or cupcakes. The oil helps them stay moist.
    • I used a very mild sort of sunflower oil. Make sure that the oil is rather neutral in taste, otherwise, you will definitely be able to taste it and that is not the flavor you are looking for in a cake.
    • Alternatively, use neutral-tasting canola oil.
    • I've made the mistake of baking a cake with really good, organic sunflower oil once. That is not something I will do again. The cake did have the most wonderful and intense yellow color, but it only tasted of sunflower oil, which was really not nice.
    • I've learned my lesson and now I only buy regular (cheap) canola oil when baking. I keep the really good oil for salads and cooking.

    Carrots:

    • Two medium carrots, which weighed about 150 g/ 5.3 oz together.
    • I grate the carrots with a hand grater, using the finer side of a grater box. I can't be bothered to wash the food processor afterward for just two carrots.
    • However, you can use the grate setting on your food processor for this, just make sure you don't overdo it, the carrots should be just grated and not become juicy. A few pulses will suffice.

    Spices and nuts:

    • Nigella's carrot cake muffins are perfectly spiced with lemon and orange zest (don't skip, they really add a lot to the recipe) and cinnamon, which goes perfectly well with the carrots.
    • The walnuts are just perfect in this carrot cake recipe, adding a touch of crunchiness that complements the creaminess of the cream cheese frosting.

    How to make carrot cupcakes?

    • Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the muffin tin with paper liners.
    • Grate the carrots finely. Chop the walnuts.
    • Mix the sugar and oil with the handheld mixer. Wear an apron if you don't want to ruin your clothes, my t-shirt is full of little oil spots. My daughter's the same. She helped.
    • Add the eggs one at a time and mix shortly, until creamy.
    • Mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and zest.
    • Add to the egg mixture and then fold in the carrots and the chopped walnuts.
    • Spoon the mixture in the prepared muffin tin.
    • Bake for 20 minutes.
    • Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before decorating with the cream cheese frosting.

    How to make the cream cheese frosting?

    • To make the icing beat the cream cheese until smooth, it will take a few seconds.
    • Beat in the icing sugar and add the lime or lemon juice.
    • Decorate the top of the cupcakes using a butter knife.
    • Place half a walnut on top and enjoy.
    nigella carrot cake muffins cupcakes

    About the recipe

    I found the recipe in Nigella Lawson's  How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking, a wonderful book that I bought recently. I read it through already, but this is the first recipe I've made out of it. And it is great (Amazon affiliate link).

    And if you like carrot cake, baking this recipe is a must!

    More cakes with carrots:

    • Eggless Carrot Cake
    • Carrot Muffins with Blueberry Frosting
    • The Best Carrot Coconut Cake
    • Carrot Cookies with Orange Icing
    • Carrot Almond Cake
    seven carrot cupcakes topped with frosting and walnuts on a vintage platter.

    Nigella's Carrot Cake Cupcakes or Muffins

    Nigella'samazing carrot cake cupcakes or muffins with cream cheese frostingand walnuts.
    4.34 from 9 votes
    Print Pin Share GrowSaved! Rate
    Course: Muffins and Cupcakes
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 35 minutes minutes
    Servings: 12
    Calories: 400kcal
    Author: Adina
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    Ingredients 

    • Carrot cake muffins:
    • ½ cup light brown sugar
    • ¾ cup sunflower oil
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
    • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • pinch of salt
    • zest of ½ lemon
    • zest of ½ orange
    • 2 medium carrots total weight about 5.3 oz/150 g
    • ½ cup chopped walnuts
    • Cream cheese frosting:
    • ½ cup cream cheese
    • 1 ⅔ cup icing sugar sifted
    • 1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice
    • 12 walnut halves

    Instructions

    Carrot cake muffins:

    • Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the muffin tin with paper liners.
    • Grate the carrots finely (fine side of a hand grater or just a few pulses in a food processor fitted with grate setting, don't let the carrots become juicy).
    • Chop the walnuts.
    • Combine the sugar and oil with the handheld mixer.
    • Add the eggs one at a time and mix shortly until creamy.
    • Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, lemon, and orange zest. Add to the egg mixture and then fold in the carrots and the chopped walnuts.
    • Spoon the mixture in the prepared muffin tin.
    • Bake for 20 minutes.
    • Cool: Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

    Cream cheese frosting:

    • Beat the cream cheese until smooth, which will take a few seconds.
    • Beat in the sifted icing sugar and add the lime or lemon juice.
    • Spread the frosting on the cupcakes using a butter knife.
    • Top: Place half a walnut on top.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 400kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 142mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 33g
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @adinabeck or tag #WhereIsMySpoon!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Thalia @ butter and brioche says

      March 29, 2015 at 10:36 pm

      I definitely am feeling for a carrot cupcake right now.. these look delicious!

      Reply
    2. Adina says

      March 30, 2015 at 9:55 am

      Thank you, Thalia. They were really really nice.

      Reply
    3. Beth says

      February 06, 2021 at 9:08 am

      This icing is incredibly sickly. I halved the amount of sugar and it was much better!

      Reply
      • Adina says

        February 06, 2021 at 10:12 am

        I am glad it still worked.

        Reply

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