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Mini Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Glaze

Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
35 min
Yields
12 servings

Whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt keep these cakes flavorful and moist while adding fiber and protein. Each cake gets 1 teaspoon of sweet cream cheese glaze-far fewer calories than the multiple tablespoons of frosting piled onto your typical cupcake.

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ingredients

Cake

Pan release spray, for greasing
½
cup pecan halves
1 ½
cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 ½
tsp baking powder
1
tsp ground cinnamon
1
tsp ground ginger
1
tsp baking soda
½
tsp fine salt
½
cup light brown sugar
½
cup 2% Greek yogurt
cup vegetable oil
1
tsp pure vanilla extract
1
tsp finely grated lemon zest
3
large eggs
3
cups shredded carrot (about ¾ lb)

Glaze

½
cup + 2 Tbsp confectioners' sugar
2
Tbsp ⅓-less-fat cream cheese (neufchatel cheese), at room temperature
1
tsp lemon juice
¼
tsp pure vanilla extract
1
pinch fine salt
Pecan halves, golden raisins and/or ground cinnamon, for garnish, optional
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directions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray 12 mini loaf pans or a 12-cup regular muffin pan with pan release spray.

Step 2

Spread the pecans out on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until toasted, 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool and then pulse in a food processor until very finely chopped but not ground.

Step 3

Combine the chopped pecans, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the brown sugar, yogurt, oil, vanilla extract, lemon zest and eggs in another bowl. Stir the carrots into the egg mixture. Fold the carrot-egg mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Divide evenly among the prepared pans. (Don’t be alarmed if the batter seems skimpy; the cakes will rise once baked.)

Step 4

Bake until the center of the cakes bounce back when pressed and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Step 5

Mix together the confectioners’ sugar, cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt in a medium bowl. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the glaze onto each cake and use the back of the spoon to spread. Garnish as desired.

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My rating for Mini Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Glaze
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