A few years ago, my brother and I both happened to visit our parents on Valentine’s Day weekend. As a family that loves spending time together and typically avoids crowds, we decided to celebrate at the house with a low-key (yet nice!) homemade dinner instead of attempting to make restaurant reservations at one of the packed places in town.
Just like usual, Dad offered to cook for all of us, and he prepared perfectly seasoned grilled chicken, fresh salads with seasonal greens, and sides of roasted vegetables. To round out the meal, he also cut thick slices of our favorite sourdough bread. Simple yet incredibly delicious!
To finish our Valentine’s Day dinner, Mom bought two different desserts at the store: dark chocolate covered strawberries, especially for my brother (he’s allergic to eggs!), and a two-layer carrot cake covered in sweet cream cheese frosting. My mom knows me so well…
I’m really picky about chocolate cake, and most store-bought chocolate cakes taste much too sweet with an almost bland and watered-down chocolate flavor for me. Yet I always love carrot cakes, even ones prepared by grocery store bakeries, with their supremely moist, somewhat dense texture and extra cozy spices!
So at the end of the evening, once the pots and pans sat soaking in the sink and our dinner plates were tucked away in the dishwasher, we cut into the cake and served the sweet treats onto clean dessert plates. I eagerly slid my fork into my slice of cake…
But when I swallowed, surprise flashed across my face. This particular bakery prepared their carrot cake much differently than any other… It almost tasted as light and airy as angel food cake — with only a few visible specks of orange carrots. Definitely not the extremely moist, borderline dense, generously spiced, and completely vegetable-laden carrot cake I was expecting!
When I spotted chocolate covered strawberries in the grocery store’s refrigerated dessert section sitting right next to slices of chocolate, red velvet, and carrot cake just before Valentine’s Day this year, the memories from that particular holiday spent at my parents’ house cake floating back… Which definitely left me craving carrot cake. So back at home, I baked a batch of these Healthy Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes to satisfy my sweet tooth!
Unlike that particular slightly disappointing carrot cake, these cupcakes are incredibly moist, completely packed with carrots, and positively bursting with rich spice flavor. They’re also topped with swirls of sweet cream cheese frosting (that’s secretly made from Greek yogurt!).
Although I may be slightly biased, I think these healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes taste a thousand times better than that store-bought cake, even with no refined flour or sugar… And each one is 43 calories!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY MINI CARROT CAKE CUPCAKES
Let’s go over how to make the best healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes! You’ll start with white whole wheat flour and a trio of spices: cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Although some people just stick with cinnamon, I always add both cinnamon and nutmeg to my carrot cake recipes because I love the deep, rich, ever-so-slightly earthiness that nutmeg adds. Then on a whim, I added in allspice, which rounded out the spice flavor so well… And made these healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes taste even more irresistible!
Tip: I buy my favorite kind of cinnamon online here! It’s extremely affordable, and it has a much stronger, richer, and sweeter flavor than regular cinnamon. It’s the only kind I use in my baking recipes now!
In case you haven’t heard of it before… White whole wheat flour actually exists, and it’s not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and regular whole wheat flour! Instead, it’s made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. They both have the same health benefits, like extra fiber, but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture… Which lets the moist texture and sweet flavor of your healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes shine!
Tip: I’ve also included my two favorite gluten-free options in the Notes section of the recipe, if you’d like to make these healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes gluten-free!
Regardless of whether you use white whole wheat flour or gluten-free flour… Please oh please make sure you measure it correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale! (← That’s the one I own!) Too much flour will dry out the batter and make your cupcakes crumbly, rather than supremely moist and tender. I promise it’s worth taking the few extra moments to properly measure!
Whereas many traditional recipes call for ¼ to ½ cup of butter or oil (yikes!), you only need ½ tablespoon in my version. That really helps keep your healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes low calorie and low fat! Yet they’re still just as moist and tender as their “traditional” counterparts because of…
Greek yogurt! If you’ve browsed through my recipes before, then you already know how much I love it. I’ve used Greek yogurt to make everything from cakes and cupcakes to muffins and scones to brownies and cheesecake. Here, it adds the same moisture to the batter as extra butter or oil but for a fraction of the calories. It also gives your healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes a protein boost!
Also unlike traditional recipes that call for lots and lots of refined granulated sugar, you’ll skip that and sweeten your healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes with two other sweeteners instead: liquid stevia and confectioners’ style erythritol.
Yes, two… Yes, you need both… And here’s why!
I found that when I only used liquid stevia, these cupcakes just didn’t quite taste sweet enough… Even when I kept adding more. But by stirring just a small amount of erythritol, their sweetness immediately became much stronger, and these healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes tasted just as sweet as traditional sugar-laden versions. Hooray!
And just in case you aren’t familiar with these two ingredients… They’re both plant-based, no-calorie sweeteners that contain nothing refined or artificial (aka they’re clean eating friendly!). Erythritol typically sweetens cup-for-cup like granulated sugar, but liquid stevia is highly concentrated. With the kind I use, 2 teaspoons is the equivalent of nearly 1 cup of granulated sugar!
Tip: I actually buy both of these sweeteners online! Here for the liquid stevia and here for the erythritol. (You’ll use liquid stevia in all of these recipes of mine and erythritol in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
There’s one more key ingredient that we’re currently missing… The freshly grated carrots! Yes, freshly grated. They must be freshly grated! Store-bought pre-shredded carrots (also called “matchstick” carrots) are thicker and drier, and they don’t soften properly while baking… So please don’t substitute them. Always use freshly grated carrots for the best healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes imaginable!
Tip: If you have a food processor with a grater attachment, that makes grating your carrots so much quicker and easier!
Oh, and because someone always asks… I typically peel my carrots before grating them, but you don’t have to! I’ve just found that the outer peel looks somewhat dingy and brown, rather than bright and orange, when it’s baked in carrot cake… But it doesn’t affect the flavor whatsoever — just that orange color!
Before baking your healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes, you must coat your cupcake liners with cooking spray! Low fat batters (like this one!) stick to cupcake liners like superglue, but generously misting them with cooking spray first allows the liners to peel away from your cupcakes much more easily.
Then once you’ve baked your mini cupcakes and let them cool…
It’s time to top them with cream cheese frosting! And, surprisingly enough…
You’ll actually use Greek yogurt to make it! That’s right. Healthy Greek yogurt cream cheese frosting — with NO butter or powdered sugar. Miracles do exist! 😉
The frosting is really simple to make. Just beat together Greek yogurt, cream cheese, and more liquid stevia until your mixture is smooth and creamy. This type of frosting is perfect for spreading on top of your healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes!
But… If you’d like stiffer cream cheese frosting so you can pipe it on top in gorgeous swirls like I did for these photos… Then check the Notes section of the recipe for how to do that. 😉
I just have one question left for you… Would you stop at just one mini cupcake? Or would you reach for a second?? 😉 And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ????) I’d love to see your healthy mini carrot cake cupcakes!
| Healthy Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes | | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla extract
- 2 tsp liquid stevia
- 2 tbsp (18g) confectioners’ style erythritol
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp (210mL) nonfat milk
- 2 cups (180g) freshly grated carrots (peeled first, and see Notes!)
- cream cheese frosting, for serving (see Notes!)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line 36 mini muffin cups with cupcake liners. Generously coat the liners with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter or coconut oil and egg whites. Stir in the vanilla extract, liquid stevia, and erythritol. Add the Greek yogurt, stirring until no lumps remain. Stir in 2 tablespoons of milk. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and remaining milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 4 equal parts.) Gently fold in the carrots.
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 13-16 minutes or until the tops are firm to the touch. Cool in the muffin cups for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack. Once completely cool (and not before!), top the mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting just before serving.
For the gluten-free flour, I recommend the following: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, ½ cup (60g) tapioca flour, and 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum. Most store-bought blends (like this one!) will work as well, if measured like this.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
It’s extremely important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much flour will dry out your cupcakes and give them a crumbly texture, instead of having them turn out supremely moist and tender!
I highly recommend using the liquid stevia! It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine too. (I always buy mine online here because it’s the cheapest price I’ve found!)
If you prefer, ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (210mL) of pure maple syrup, honey, or agave may be substituted for the liquid stevia AND the milk. (Do not use the milk if using any of these liquid sweeteners!) Alternatively, substitute 1 cup (192g) of coconut sugar, brown sugar, or granulated sugar for the liquid stevia, and reduce the milk to ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (90mL) to compensate for the added volume.
I buy my erythritol online here, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine too! Coconut sugar, brown sugar, or granulated sugar may be substituted for the erythritol.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
Do not substitute store-bought pre-shredded carrots (also called “matchstick” carrots). They’re thicker and drier, and they don’t soften properly while baking.
Be VERY careful if using liners! Generously coat the liners with nonstick cooking spray before adding the muffin batter. This batter will stick to liners like superglue if they aren’t coated with cooking spray.
If you prefer, this recipe will yield 12 standard sized cupcakes. To bake standard-sized cupcakes, bake them at 350°F for 25-29 minutes. The muffins will be done when the tops feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING, OPTION 1: In a medium bowl, beat 1 cup (240g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt, 8 oz (226g) well-softened light cream cheese, and ¾ tsp liquid stevia (or adjusted to taste!) until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to frost your cupcakes. This frosting option is clean eating friendly and spreadable, not pipe-able!
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING, OPTION 2: In a medium bowl, beat 1 cup (240g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt, 8 oz (226g) well-softened light cream cheese, 2 serving (16g) fat-free, sugar-free cheesecake instant pudding mix, and ¾ tsp liquid stevia (or adjusted to taste!) for 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before you’re ready to frost your cupcakes. (You just need the dry instant pudding mix; don’t prepare it according to the package directions!) This frosting option is pipe-able!
For both frosting options, any type of cream cheese will work (Neufchâtel cream cheese, Greek yogurt cream cheese, fat-free cream cheese, even regular cream cheese!). Just make sure it’s very well softened first!
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, sugar-free}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Carrot Cake
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Carrot Bundt Cake
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
♡ Healthy Carrot Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Muffins
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy carrot cake recipes!
Amy,
From a marketing and optimization perspective you need to frontload the salient details of your articles and recipes.
Requiring six page scrolls to reach a recipe is inefficient and on average leads to 40 to 60% bounce rate. Your narrative (which I did read in its entirety) while endearing is a bit too long.
That said, I’m excited to try these out.
Have a lovely day,
Scott
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Scott! Thanks for sharing your feedback and perspective. It means a lot that you care about my website’s bounce rate and optimization. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cupcakes!
scott is right. by the time i got to the recipe…i lost interest. Recipe is too labor intensive.
HI there, I love the idea of your recipes but often I have to find substitution options. One I can’t figure out is a recommendation for subbing the yogurt. We are trying to do sugar free and candida friendly recipes which are pretty non dairy and no sugar. If you have suggestions for some of your recipes I should be looking at too, that would be great! Thanks, Nicole
I truly appreciate your interest in my recipe, Nicole! To find my sugar-free recipes, just click on the “Recipes” tab in the top pink menu bar of my blog. There, you’ll find my recipes sorted into categories. One of the categories is sugar-free! You’ll also find a search bar on that Recipes page, if you have something specific in mind that you’d like to make.
In general, if the yogurt is included as part of the batter or dough (ie inside of this cupcake batter — but not the frosting!), then non-dairy yogurts typically work really well as a substitute. However, many non-dairy yogurts aren’t as thick as Greek yogurt, which is why they don’t work for the frosting. When you substitute those, the frosting turns out more runny and liquidy, and it doesn’t hold its shape as well. Does that make sense?
I’d love to hear what you think of these cupcakes, if you try making them — or any of my other recipes too!
Not sure what I’m doing wrong – tried three times and each time they’re just not baking in the middle. I’ve reduced the amount of carrots and milk and dried the freshly grated carrots to maybe make the dough less wet, but still no luck. Which is a shame because they smell lovely during baking
It means a lot that you’ve tried making my recipe, Astrid! That sounds frustrating and not at all like how these cupcakes should turn out. I’m happy to help solve that mystery, and in order to do so, I have some questions for you!
Did you make any substitutions or modifications, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients, especially the flour, milk, and carrots?
Did you make mini cupcakes or standard sized ones?
How long did you bake your cupcakes?
Did they collapse while cooling?
How was their flavor?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a better idea of what might be going on once I know your answers to all of them!
Hi Amy,
Thanks for getting back to me.
No, no modifications for the first 2 batches. Particularly for the second batch I made sure I followed everything exactly.
I used self-raising flour for the third batch as the first 2 didn’t really rise. Though now I’m wondering whether they actually rose a little, then collapsed? Not sure anymore, or if that’s actually possible.
Used kitchen scales for measuring (I’m in the UK, have to admit I don’t even own measuring cups, lol).
And I baked them forever. Checked after about 25 mins, but they were still raw in the middle. The first 2 lots basically ended up with a thick chewy crust on the outside and dense, still partially raw in the middle after 45-60mins.
The last lot (where I reduced carrots & milk,and used self-raising flour) tastes ok, but is dense and looks like they didn’t bake through in the middle (and not just the “middle middle” if that makes sense)
Ended up baking for just over an hour on 160°C in a fan oven.
I’d say they’re “normal” cupcake size. The cases are approx 4.7cm at the bottom and 3.5cm high. Half filled them, or just over half, as expected them to rise a little.
Thank you,
Astrid
It’s my pleasure, Astrid! I’m happy to help. 🙂
Did you use the exact same brands of liquid stevia and erythritol that I did? Or did you use one of the other sweetener options I provided in the Notes section?
Your muffin pan does sound like a standard-sized muffin pan, rather than a mini one. The dimensions are helpful — thank you!
When you weighed the carrots, did you measure them before or after grating? Did you use the standard-sized holes of a box grater (around 0.5cm in width)? Or did you use the finer holes instead (around 0.2cm in width)?
To confirm, you used your kitchen scale to measure the milk, correct? Did you use nonfat milk (also called skim milk)? Did you weigh it in ounces or grams?
Can you describe the consistency of your cupcake batter? Compared to the batter in this recipe video of mine (at the minute marker 3:22!), was it thicker, thinner, or the same consistency? (It’s a different carrot cake recipe, but that will at least give me a better idea of the consistency of your batter!)
For your last batch, made with self-rising flour, did you include the baking powder and baking soda in my original recipe? How sweet were they? By how much did you reduce the milk and carrots?
I have a pretty good idea of the culprit, but your answers will help confirm whether my hunch is correct!
Hi,
No, I used the NKD living pure stevia and erythritol, as that’s what I already have at home.
I weighed the carrots after grating, and yes standard size grater holes 😄
And yes, skimmed milk, but I did ml, weighed.
Compared to the video the batter was far thinner and runnier, that’s why for the last batch I reduced the milk&carrots – probably too much as it was then fairly thick. I reduced the carrots by half, and the milk probably about the same, but not sure, as I just added a tablespoon at a time and forgot to check how much was left over.
Yes, still used baking powder with self-raising flour. Which should have been a complete overload, shouldn’t it?
Can’t wait to hear who the culprit/s is/are. To start with I was actually wondering if it’s my yogurt, or my baking powder.
Just to add, not sure if it makes a difference, but completely forgot – I only made half of the batter, so only used half of all ingredients (I shouldn’t eat that much cake, not even healthy ones 😄)
Thanks
Thank you for sharing these answers too, Astrid! Very helpful again. 🙂
What’s the exact yogurt (brand + product name) that you used?
If you made half-batches, are you absolutely positive that you halved all of the ingredients? You didn’t accidentally use the full amount of milk, by any chance — correct?
One big issue is actually how the milk was measured! Kitchen scales can’t actually measure liquids (ie ingredients given in mL or fluid ounces). I know many of them say they can, but it’s not true… and it drives me nuts. 😉 Scales can only measure weights, not volumes! This is because the weight of liquids like milk, honey, maple syrup, etc actually depends on their density, and every liquid’s density is different. There’s no way to program every different density into a kitchen scale, so that’s why it doesn’t work for measuring liquids.
If you used your kitchen scale to measure the milk (and didn’t use its density to convert from mL to grams!), you were unintentionally measuring it by weight instead of volume, for the reasons I shared above, and that resulted in adding a different amount than the recipe called for! That’s likely one major reason why your cupcakes turned out incorrectly. If you measure the milk with a measuring cup or measuring spoons, your cupcakes should look (and taste!) much better because you’ll be adding the correct amount!
So for my recipes, I always recommend using a scale for solid ingredients (or mostly solid ingredients, like yogurt!) with measurements given in grams, and then using measuring cups or spoons for all liquid ingredients (given in mL) AND small amount solid ingredients (like baking powder, baking soda, salt, etc where you just need teaspoons!).
Hi Amy,
Thanks for your reply.
Well turns out my baking powder was definitely no good anymore, so that might explain the first 2 batches 😄
I’ve “weighed” the milk on the scales into a measuring jug, so it shouldn’t be out by more than about 10ml (the jug only has 50ml lines, so I did it on the scales to be more precise. Clearly that might not be the case).
The yogurt I used is a supermarket own brand fat free greek yogurt (Milbona 0% fat authentic Greek yogurt).
And I made sure to write the ingredients on a piece of paper – unfortunately it’s happened too often that I tried to half things in my head and forgot halfway through 😄
I’ll probably try again with the new baking powder, but it might be a week or two, as I ended up making blueberry muffins at the weekend.
Thanks,
Astrid 😊
You’re welcome, Astrid! Baking powder that doesn’t work anymore would definitely affect how much your cupcakes rose — or didn’t! 😉 I’ve been there and done that with halving recipes too. You’re not alone — and so smart to write the modified amounts down!
Thanks for sharing about weighing the milk and your brand of Greek yogurt! It’s not a brand we have here in the US, so I don’t know much about it. Does it have a really thick texture, where it can hold its shape when scooped from the container with a spoon?
Blueberry muffins sound like a lovely weekend bake — I hope you’re enjoying them! 🙂
Hi,
The yogurt is fairly thick and mostly holds its shape. But can also get a bit watery if the pot has been open for a couple of days. Sorry I can’t be more precise 😄
I’ve done another lot of blueberry muffins, as the blueberries were on sale. Couldn’t pass on that.
But once they’re gone I’ll give the carrot cakes another try 😊
Thanks, Astrid
Thanks for sharing, Astrid! My trick for minimizing the amount of water that “seeps” out of yogurt is to smooth out the top of the yogurt in the tub with the back of a spoon or a spatula before putting the lid on and returning it to the fridge. (The water usually comes out and collects in the indentations or crannies, so smoothing the top eliminates most of those.) It works quite well! 🙂
Hi Amy, I love this recipe as it tasted great and everyone LOVED it. Now I’m hoping to make it as a first birthday cake for my baby this Saturday. Since he is only turning 1yo, he cannot eat any sugar substitute and we prefer not giving him any syrup at this age. May I know if there’s any way I can substitute sweetness with like banana or apple sauce in this recipe? Thank you.
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed these cupcakes, Ruby! I’m truly honored that you’d want to make it to celebrate such a special occasion. Happy first birthday to your baby boy!!
I can’t guarantee the results of using either one, but some things to consider…
If you solely use banana or applesauce as the sweetener, these cupcakes wouldn’t be very sweet at all (more like the sweetness level somewhere between bread and muffins, rather than a dessert). Bananas also have a really strong flavor (whereas applesauce tends to be pretty neutral!), so if you used them, these would taste more like banana bread with carrots mixed in. Using either one as a substitute would probably impact the texture as well.
Although I can’t personally vouch for the results, you’re welcome to try! 🙂 I’d love to hear how your birthday dessert turns out if you try either substitute!