Santa Claus gets milk and cookies set out for him on Christmas Eve, but what should a host or hostess looking to thank the Easter Bunny offer? I’m no Emily Post, but my guess would be these Carrot Cake Cupcakes.
Carrots have tons of health benefits including improved vision, healthy skin, and prevention of heart disease and cancer. I love eating them on their own (or with a little hummus), but I love them even more in cupcake form. Isn’t everything a little better in cupcake form? Especially when those cupcakes are slathered in sweet cream cheese frosting, and only 159 calories or 7 Weight Watchers SmartPoints on myWW Green, Blue or Purple each. To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here! The cake in this recipe is perfect. It’s not too sweet (so it’s just the right match for the decadent frosting), it’s packed full of carrots, and the plump, juicy raisins offer little bursts of added flavor throughout.
I’m pretty sure I see some cupcake envy in Santa’s future…
These Lighter Carrot Cake Cupcakes with sweet cream cheese frosting are made from scratch and taste amazing!
Yield: 18cupcakes
Ingredients
½cupraisins
2cupswhite whole wheat flour, you can use white or regular wheat, this is just my preference
2teaspoonsbaking soda
2teaspoonsbaking powder
1teaspooncinnamon
½teaspoonsalt
½teaspoonnutmeg
½teaspoonground cloves
2tablespoonscanola oil
2tablespoonsunsweetened applesauce
2tablespoonsorange juice
¾cupreduced calorie “light” breakfast syrup
½cupskim milk
2teaspoonapple cider vinegar
1teaspoonvanilla extract
½teaspoonorange extract
2cupsgrated carrots, I just washed and peeled a bunch of carrots and threw them in my food processor to shred them up and then measured out 2 cups for this recipe
8ozof 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1teaspoonvanilla extract, separate from above – this one’s for the frosting!
1cuppowdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350. Line 18 cups of a muffin tin with liners and set aside.
Put the raisins in a small bowl filled with warm water and let them sit for 10 minutes to plump.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the oil, applesauce, juice, syrup, milk, vinegar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and orange extract and stir together until combined. Pour the mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Add the shredded carrots. Drain the raisins and discard the water. Add the raisins to the other ingredients and stir the batter together until carrots and raisins are incorporated.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.
While the cupcakes cool, combine the cream cheese and 1 tsp vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with an electronic mixer, adding the powdered sugar in a little at a time until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes.
Notes
To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!Nutrition Information:159 calories, 25 g carbs, 15 g sugars, 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 3 g protein, 2 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)MyWW SmartPoints per (1 cupcake) serving: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)Green: 7 SmartPoints/ Blue: 7 SmartPoints/ Purple: 7 SmartPointsWeight Watchers Points Plus: 4 per cupcake (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)