Carrot Cake Muffins

carrot cake muffins

Ingredients

for the filling

• 4 oz (113g) softened cream cheese

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1-½ teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

for the muffins

•  2-½ cups (325g) all-purpose flour

• 1 cup (200g) light brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ¾ teaspoon ground ginger

• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

• ⅛ teaspoon allspice

• 1-½ cups sour cream

• ½ cup (1 stick, 113g) melted and slightly cooled unsalted butter

• 2 large eggs

• 2 large egg yolks

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1-¼ cups (150g) freshly grated carrots (from about 2 extra large carrots)

• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

A Few Notes:

• I prefer making these without muffin liners - they will pop straight out of the pan if you grease the wells, so no need to bother with liners.

• I know it’s really annoying to grate carrots, and I wouldn’t have you do it unless it was necessary. But in this recipe it makes a big texture difference! The pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store are too hard!
  

Pairs Well With:

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This recipe makes fluffy, carrot laced, gently spiced muffins with a crunchy lid - dressed up with a lemony cream cheese filling. Basically, I've taken a carrot cake and turned it into 12 lil mini carrot cakes, with the cream cheese part on the inside.

the how-to: filling

In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and lemon zest until smooth.

the how-to: muffins

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and grease a 12 cup muffin pan with butter (make sure you grease around the tops of the cups too!). 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, kosher salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, melted butter, eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula just until combined. Fold in the grated carrots. The batter will be thick - it’s no prob!

Spoon the batter into each muffin well halfway up the side. Top with a heaping teaspoonful of the cream cheese filling. Spoon the remaining half of the batter on top of the cream cheese filling - it will fill all the way to the top! Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with the turbinado sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 24-26 minutes, until the tops are deeply golden. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store at room temp in an airtight container for up to 3 days.