Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Here in California we are under a statewide Shelter in Place directive. There’s only so much house cleaning I can do to pass the time. So now it’s on to baking. I decided to bake some treats for my elderly mother and her neighbors and make little treat boxes for them. These carrot  cake cupcakes were one of the items I made for them.

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 2 cups finely grated carrots, or more to taste
• 1 (8 ounce) can finely crushed pineapple, drained
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

CUPCAKE DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Lightly grease a cupcake pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper muffin liners. Set aside.
3. Place flour in a bowl. Add salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Sprinkle in ground ginger and cinnamon. Whisk thoroughly until combined. Set aside.
4. Add sugar to a separate bowl. Whisk in eggs until mixture is smooth and pale yellow, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Heat butter and coconut oil in a saucepan over low heat until just melted but not too hot. Whisk into the bowl with the eggs and sugar until well combined. Add carrots, crushed pineapple, pecans, and raisins. Stir well.
6. Stir flour mixture into the carrot mixture until no dry spots remain.
7. Pour mixture into prepared cupcake pan.
8. Tap the pan against your counter to let any big air bubbles rise to the surface.
9. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting, at least 40 minutes.
   

   

FROSTING DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and lemon juice together using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar to form a smooth frosting. Spread evenly over the cooled cupcakes.
2. Garnish with grated carrots. (optional)

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Healthy Carrot and Raisin Cake Muffins

What’s that? Healthy? I know most my baked goodies aren’t considered healthy. But surprise! I am actually sharing a healthy recipe with you. Well, mostly healthy.  I used  all purpose flour since I did not have whole wheat flour in my pantry.  Be sure to fill your muffin tins to the top as these muffins do not rise very much. You can see how squat mine are. Oh well. It’s always good to learn something new.  This recipe yields 12 muffins.  (Or 16, if you didn’t fill your muffin tins all the way like I did. Oops.)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 carrots shredded or grated
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (all purpose flour works too)
• 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Prepare muffin/cupcake tin by greasing with baking spray.
2. In a large bowl whisk eggs until light and fluffy.
3. Add the sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and whisk again until mixture is smooth.
4. Pour in the maple syrup, milk and vanilla extract. Beat the mixture again until smooth.
5. Add the shredded/grated carrots, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and raisins over the wet batter. Using a rubber spatula to fold the wet and dry ingredients together just until combined.
6. Portion the batter evenly into your prepared 12 cup muffin tin.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the muffins have risen and set.

FROSTING DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat the cream cheese in a small bowl until smooth.
2. Add the maple syrup, vanilla extract and lemon juice and beat again until the mixture is well combined.
3. Once the muffins have cooled add a dollop of frosting on top of muffins.
4. Optional: garnish with grated carrots.

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I took my mom grocery shopping. On an empty stomach. Bad decision. Whatever delicious smelling concoction they were making in the bakery department left an everlasting craving for something sweet in me all day. Good thing I was shopping with my mom and not alone. My growling stomach would have led me to load up the cart with all sorts of goodies!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 3/4 cups rolled oats (I used quick cooking oats)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Prepare your baking pans with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.
3. Add hot water to cover your 1 cup of raisins to plump them up. Drain any excess water after 5 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add vanilla extract and stir until fluffy.
5. In a small bowl stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture. ( About 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time.)
6. Continue stirring until all the flour mixture is incorporated.
7. Next stir in the oatmeal, raisins and chocolate chips.
8. Roll dough into tablespoon sized balls onto prepared baking pans.
9. Bake 8 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Let cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to completely cool.
10. This cookie dough made 3 dozen plus cookies for me. You can probably get 4 dozen out of it because you make your cookies uniform.