Perfect dessert in your subsequent summer season potluck: Carrot cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting

No one needs to overlook dessert on a vacation, so make it a great one! Here, we take these summer season carrots and switch them into a reasonably conventional dessert: carrot cake.

But greater than a easy carrot cake, this one turns into extremely shareable and extremely packable cupcakes, with a creamy, tangy, chocolatey frosting, made with milk chocolate, bitter cream and cream cheese. Perfect for any summer season potluck or July 4th gathering.

The shredded carrots flip from crunchy to tremendous delicate within the baking, including moisture and offering construction to the cupcakes. Don’t use pre-grated carrots, which might be laborious and dry.

The cupcakes are additionally flavorful and moist because of some crushed pineapple (in juice, please, not syrup) and melted butter. If you could have time, mince contemporary pineapple as an alternative of utilizing canned. Chop it properly so it totally blends into the batter.

The raisins and nuts are non-compulsory; test together with your visitors to see if they’ve any nut allergic reactions. If you skip each of these objects, you may get solely 10 or 11 cupcakes from the recipe.

Mixing the shredded carrots, raisins and nuts with the dry elements coats them and permits them to mix into the moist elements evenly. It additionally prevents them from sinking to the underside of the cupcakes throughout baking.

Spray the cupcake liners with nonstick cooking spray in order that they peel off the cupcakes simply. If you need to make your cupcakes look tremendous festive, choose up some cute purple, white and blue themed cupcake liners.

Carrot cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting

Makes 12 cupcakes

For the cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon floor cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup finely shredded carrots
1/3 cup raisins (non-compulsory)
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (non-compulsory)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled
2 massive eggs
1/2 cup crushed pineapple in juice (not syrup), drained, or well-chopped contemporary pineapple

For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:

6 ounces milk chocolate chips or chopped milk chocolate
1/2 cup bitter cream
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners, and spray them with nonstick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, stir collectively the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Add the carrots and raisins and/or nuts, if utilizing, and stir to mix properly. In one other massive bowl, stir collectively the sugar, butter, eggs and pineapple till properly blended. Add the flour in three batches, stirring after every addition simply till mixed.

3. Scoop the batter into the muffin liners, filling every a beneficiant three-quarters full. Bake till a toothpick or picket skewer inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clear, about 25 minutes. Cool within the muffin pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then take away the muffins from the pans and end cooling on the wire racks.

4. While the cupcakes bake, make the frosting: Place a small saucepan inside a bigger saucepan and add water to the bigger pan so it comes up about ½ inch across the sides of the smaller pan. Add the chocolate chips to the small pan and warmth over medium-high warmth, whisking sometimes, till the water is gently simmering and the chips are melted. Stir the bitter cream and cream cheese into the chocolate, and proceed whisking till the combination is easy and blended. Whisk within the vanilla. Allow to chill to room temperature (the frosting will thicken because it cools).

5. When the cupcakes have utterly cooled, frost with the cooled frosting.

Katie Workman writes usually about meals for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks targeted on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at http://www.themom100.com/about-katie-workman. She might be reached at Katie@themom100.com.

Get extra recipes and dinner concepts from The Washington Times meals part.