Eggless Carrot Cake Cupcakes – Texanerin Baking

These eggless carrot cupcakes are the perfect egg-free Easter dessert, and they don’t call for any egg substitutes. They’re not just a workaround or compromise either. They’re soft, moist, flavorful, and full of cozy spice. They can be made traditionally or gluten-free.

I’m currently spending some time in South Tyrol, a beautiful region in northern Italy. One of the most interesting things about this area is that German — not Italian — is actually the main language spoken by most locals. It definitely gives the region a unique vibe!

Since I’m traveling, today’s post will be a little shorter than usual, but I still wanted to share these cupcakes before Easter.

I spent years trying to adapt this Healthier Carrot Cake recipe to be egg-free. No matter how many tweaks I made, I just couldn’t get it to work.

My last attempt was completely inedible. So instead of continuing the uphill battle of modifying a recipe that clearly didn’t want to be eggless, I scrapped the idea and created something brand new from scratch. And I’m so glad I did because this version works beautifully.

Ingredient Notes

Please scroll below for the full recipe. These are just some notes on select ingredients.

• Vinegar – when combined with milk, it acts as a faux buttermilk and helps the baking soda work its magic for lift and tenderness. You can’t taste it in the baked cupcakes. If you have store-bought buttermilk on hand, you can go ahead and use that in place of the apple cider vinegar + milk.
• Milk of choice – regular or any plant-based milk (like oat, soy, or almond) works here. Just steer clear of canned coconut milk, which is too thick and rich for this purpose.
• Neutral oil – canola, vegetable, or grapeseed oil all work well. I used extra-virgin olive oil, but not a very strong one. You’ll want to avoid strongly flavored oils, which can overpower the spices and carrot flavor.
• Greek yogurt – I’ve also made these with vegan coconut milk yogurt and cashew yogurt, and both came out great.
• Carrots – use finely grated carrots (not pre-shredded or coarse pieces) to ensure they blend smoothly into the batter and bake evenly, without leaving the cupcakes with a chunky texture.

Tips for Success

Even though this recipe is pretty forgiving, here are a few helpful tips to make sure your cupcakes turn out perfect every time.

• Use a fine grater for the carrots – the finer the shreds, the better they integrate into the batter and keep everything moist.
• Don’t overmix the batter – as with most baked goods, overmixing can lead to tough cupcakes. Stir just until everything is incorporated.
• Weigh your ingredients – using a kitchen scale helps you avoid dry cupcakes (especially with flour and carrots, which can vary a lot by volume).
• Chill the frosting if needed – if your kitchen is warm or the frosting feels too soft, a short chill in the fridge will firm it up enough to pipe beautiful swirls.

How to Make Ahead and Store

If you’re baking for an event, prepping in advance, or just want dessert on standby, these cupcakes are great make-ahead options. They store beautifully both frosted and unfrosted, and you can even freeze extras if needed.

• Unfrosted cupcakes – store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.
• Frosted cupcakes – keep refrigerated in a covered container. Let them sit at room temp for 20–30 minutes before serving for the best texture.
• Frosting – it can be made and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Beat again briefly before using for a smooth finish.
• How to freeze – unfrosted cupcakes, frosted cupcakes and the frosting can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Gluten-free Option

I’ve tested these cupcakes with both Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour and King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour, and they worked great.

If you want to try a different brand, just make sure it’s specifically labeled as a one-to-one replacement for all-purpose flour. Please do not use almond, coconut, oat, or other flours that aren’t direct substitutes. They won’t work.

✨🥕 Have you tried these egg-free carrot cake cupcakes? 🥕✨ Please share your feedback by leaving a review and rating – it helps me and others! I so appreciate it. 💖

❀

• Prep Time: min
• Cook Time: min
• Ready in: 0 min
• Yield: 16

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
• 1 cup milk of choice
• 2 1/4 cups (281 grams) flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 1/3 cup (80 grams) Greek yogurt or cashew/coconut yogurt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups (248 grams) finely grated carrots

Frosting:

• 8 oz (225 grams) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup (120 grams) powdered sugar

Directions

Make the cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 410 °F (210 °C) and line 2 muffin pans with 16 liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl, pour in the vinegar and pour the milk over that. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until combined. Set aside.
3. To the thickened milk, add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Stir until combined. It’ll look weird and oily, and that’s fine.
4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, and stir until combined and no large lumps remain.
5. Fold in the grated carrots.
6. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop 73 grams of the batter into the muffin liners.
7. Bake for 5 minutes at 410 °F (210 °C) and then at 375 °F (190 °C) for an additional 10-13 minutes (I did 12). A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.
8. Place the muffin pans on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, and then turn the muffins out onto the rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the cooling period, prepare the frosting. If making the gluten-free version, they need to sit for at least 2 hours. They might be a bit gummy while warm, but the texture improves as they sit.

Make the frosting:

9. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric hand mixer until smooth.
10. Beat in 2 tablespoons of butter at a time, beating after every addition.
11. Beat in the vanilla and salt.
12. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until the frosting is totally smooth.
13. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip, and pipe swirls onto the cupcakes. If it’s too soft to pipe right now, place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it’s firmed up enough.

To store:

14. Keep refrigerated in a covered container. Let them sit at room temp for 20–30 minutes before serving for the best texture. Frosting can be made and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can store unfrosted cupcakes at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Beat again briefly before using for a smooth finish. Unfrosted cupcakes, frosted cupcakes and the frosting can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Notes

1. For the milk, any kind will work except for canned coconut milk.
2. For the flour, you can use all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, whole wheat flour, or for gluten-free, use 2 1/4 cups (310 grams) Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour or 2 1/4 cups (281 grams) King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour
3. The 1 tablespoon of baking powder isn’t a typo.

Recipe by Texanerin Baking | www.texanerin.com