Sourdough Carrot Cupcakes

4.74 from 15 votes

Using discard sourdough starter, these carrot cupcakes are sweet and moist, topped with a delicious and simple cream cheese frosting. No sourdough taste!

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Total Time55

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: sourdough cake recipe, sourdough carrot cupcakes, sourdough discard recipe

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 364kcal

Author: Katie from Heart's Content Farmhouse

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

1 ½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
1 cup sourdough starter discard/ unfed
3 eggs
1 cup canned crushed pineapple drained
2 cups carrots grated
½ cup golden raisins
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
12 ounces butter melted
4 cups powdered sugar
pinch salt if using unsalted butter
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons milk or cream if icing is too thick

Instructions

For the Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare cupcake pans with cupcake liners. This recipe makes either 24 very full cupcakes or 28 smaller ones
Combine the oil and sugar, beating well. Add the sourdough starter and combine more gently. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla.
Reduce your mixer speed and add the carrots, pineapple, and raisins
Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices in a separate large bowl. Add them to the batter one cup at a time, gently stirring after each addition.
Pour batter into prepared cupcake pans and bake fort 25 minutes. A cake tester should come out clean, and the cupcakes should be bouncy when pressed.
Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and melted butter. It may seem lumpy at first. Add the salt if using unsalted butter, otherwise it is not needed.
Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating slowly at first then increasing the speed.
If the frosting seems thick, add milk or cream a teaspoon at a time. If it seems too thin, put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Video

Notes

Store frosted cupcakes in the fridge, unfrosted ones at room temperature. Unfrosted cupcakes also freeze well for a month. If baking this recipe as a cake, use 2 8 inch round cake pans and bake for 45 minutes.

This makes a generous amount of cream cheese frosting for those who like a lot. If you prefer just a thin layer, you may want to cut the frosting recipe in half.

Nutrition