I LOVE carrot cake! I think it might have more to do with the cream cheese frosting than the cake, but I figure carrot cake is one of the more healthy desserts out there! 😉 Thanks, veggies!!! My mom’s Super Easy Carrot Cake takes all the time-consuming peeling and shredding of the carrots out of the equation, leaving a velvety smooth one-bowl cake with amazing spice flavor. Of course, it is also topped with homemade cream cheese frosting! An absolute crowed-pleaser!
Instead of making Super Easy Carrot Cake in a cake pan, I decided to do cupcakes. My husband’s company is hosting a wiener roast, and I need an easy-to-transport and serve dessert that makes enough for a bunch. Tip: When at a picnic, take two containers (or more) of your food. Leave one in the cooler and get one out to serve. That way, the bugs/heat only affects one container and you limit the amount of waste. You can get the other container out when you empty the first one.
My Confession…
I know that I rant and rave about using fresh ingredients that are not processed. However, I really don’t like carrot cake made from fresh carrots. The texture is odd, for me, and if the carrots aren’t finely shredded, I find that ruins the cake. I LOVE that Super Easy Carrot Cake uses baby food carrots. The jars of baby food only include carrots and water–no weird ingredients! So I feel like I’m staying true to my passion for real foods and also making one heck of a moist, delicious dessert.
The fact that all the ingredients are thrown into a mixing bowl, blended, and then placed in muffin papers saves me time and energy! No need to do a ton of dishes, and I had plenty of time to work on a few other projects while waiting for the cupcakes to bake and then cool. (Namely, helping my husband re-side our garage!)
The homemade cream cheese frosting is also a one-bowl wonder! Add everything and beat with a hand mixer. I used a 2D Wilton tip to pipe the frosting on each cupcake, as again, that saves me a TON of time, but it also looks pretty. A sprinkle of chopped pecans on half of the cupcakes, and these little sweets are ready to roll when we are for the company shin-dig.
I hope that you’ll consider trying Super Easy Carrot Cake. Whether in a cake pan or in cupcakes, this recipe is one that I’ll be using for a long time. Thanks, Mom! 🙂
Super Easy (Homemade) Carrot Cake
Notes
This can also be made in a 9x13 cake pan. Just bake for 25 minutes or so.
Ingredients
Cake
- 4 eggs
- 2 c. flour
- 2 c. sugar
- 2 t. baking soda
- 1 t. salt
- 2 t. cinnamon
- 1 1/4 c. oil
- 16 oz. carrot baby food (4--4 oz containers)
Frosting
- 1/2 c. butter, softened
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 T. vanilla
- 4 c. powdered sugar
- 2/3 c. chopped pecans, if desired
Instructions
Cupcakes (or cake)
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
- Place all cake ingredients in a bowl and mix with hand mixer until well combined.
- Scoop into cupcake liners, filling them 1/2 full.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick tests done.
- Cool prior to frosting.
Frosting
- Place butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in large mixing bowl, beating with a hand mixer until completely combined.
- Add powdered sugar 1/2 c. at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Frost cupcakes.
- Sprinkle with chopped pecans, if desired.