Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

Breakfast? Yes. Dessert? Yes. Trust me, you'll want these insane muffins all day long. Moist and dreamy carrot cake batter, baked into a muffin and then topped with the MOST incredible, vanilla-scented cream cheese frosting. They're so good, I almost called them cupcakes. But get this, they're HEALTHY. That means you CAN eat them all day long.

Confession time: I've never been a huge fan of regular carrot cake. If it's on a menu, I'll NEVER order it over something with chocolate. Not a chance. And, it's not because I prefer chocolate, it's because carrot cake can be a major buzzkill. When you want something sweet, it should be sweet. And moist. I've had dry, not sweet carrot cake more times than not. In fact, "oily" comes to mind... And dense.

That's why I created these amazing muffins. So I could enjoy carrot cake without wishing I had chocolate cake. These are sweet, moist and addictive. And, they're healthy. Instead of using copious amounts of oil (as most carrot cake recipes do), I used applesauce, for moisture, flavor and to eliminate half of the fat. Instead of 2/3 cup of oil, there's 1/3 cup applesauce and 1/3 cup oil. Fat gone, flavor boosted.

I also used egg whites instead of whole eggs. As I said above, carrot cake can be dense - like lead. Using the whites aerated the batter and created fluffy, light muffins. Maybe fluffy isn't a good word for describing food, but you get the point.

Yes, I know. I created a healthy muffin and then topped it with cream cheese frosting. If you want to lighten the frosting, use light cream cheese instead of regular. You can also eliminate the frosting altogether - these muffins can certainly stand on their own. No frosting needed (and unfrosted muffins are easier pack in lunchboxes!).

I hope you make these - they're so dang good.

Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the muffins: 
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 heaping cups grated carrots
1/3 cup applesauce
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup egg whites (about 2 egg large whites)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting: 
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus more if needed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.
To make the muffins, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the grated carrots, applesauce, oil, egg whites, and vanilla. Add the carrot mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined (just until the flour mixture is incorporated).

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out clean or with little moist bits clinging to it.  

Cool the muffins completely (in the pan) before frosting. 

To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until smooth, adding more powdered sugar if necessary to create a thick, spreadable frosting. Transfer the frosting to a plastic freezer bag or piping bag, snip the corner or end of the bag and pipe the frosting onto the muffins (I didn't use a tip, I just snipped the corner of a freezer bag about 1/2-inch). Store leftovers in an airtight container. 

Makes 12 muffins