There is one dessert my family really do love and savour which makes me happy because they’re both so easy to make and go down really well – Carrot Cake Cupcakes. They love the flavour of the spice of the cake and the homemade “cream cheese” frosting. My nephew can happily nom down two in one go and have space for a third; this also gets me on to how light they are, leaving you no where near as heavy after having that guilty traditional sugar packed cupcake.

For this occasion, it happens to be my sister in laws birthday today and her favourite cake is carrot so I decided to throw up these cups of goodness. Because the way to another happy year is celebrated with good treats! They took me about 30 minutes overall to make and the ingredients for this specific recipe is easy to find and usually would have in your cupboard.

Needless to say, they are super nutritious too (with all the carrot of course!) and filled with all the right love-your-body stuff, from fibre to vitamins, etc!

I decorated and topped mine this time with these delicious biscuits I recently discovered from Planet Organic; Almond Biscotti – so so yummy and taste so much like the classic biscotti but these are organic, sugar free, gluten free, dairy free and vegan. I sprinkled some of my all time favourite Caramel nibbles too which you can get from Sainsbury’s, Asda and other grocery stores nearby you. They both compliment the sponge layer of the cake so well, creating to the perfect bite!

12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcake

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 cups carrots, finely shredded

1/2 cup ripe banana, mashed

2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

2/3 cup melted coconut oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp maple/coconut syrup

Coconut frosting

1 can refrigerated coconut milk, cream only

2 tbsp maple syrup

Topping

Caramel nibbles 

Almond biscotti 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 120C and line your cupcake pan with baking cups. In a medium sized bowl, mix your dry ingredients

In another bowl, combine your wet ingredients. Add your dry ingredients. Mix well. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop mixture into muffin tins, about 2/3 full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and/or toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely. Meanwhile, scoop out the cream of the coconut milk and whisk the maple syrup into it. Coat the top layer of the cupcake with the mix. Top with almond biscotti and caramel nibbles.

Serve and enjoy!