Simple Carrot Cupcakes

Although I remember carrot cake being my dad's favorite kind of cake and the one he requested for his birthday every year (my mother actually made cakes from scratch for family birthdays), I was never a fan of it myself... not even the cream cheese frosting that my finicky sister liked to scrape off by the fingerful. The few times I tasted carrot cake as an adult- in a bid to expand my culinary palate, so to speak- I just wasn't a fan of the cloying sweetness coupled with spice that seemed to overwhelm the natural sweetness of the star ingredient. That being said, since tomorrow is Easter and I have to work, I decided to tackle the recipe myself so I could tweak it more to my taste... which doesn't include raisins, pineapple, or coconut. AND, the only nuts are the few that I sprinkled on top. Also, instead of making a big cake, I decided to make individual cupcakes to share with my co-workers.

Simple Carrot Cupcakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups shredded carrots (and no, I didn't bother to peel them first, just scrubbed 'em)

cream cheese frosting (recipe to follow... or you could cheat and use canned frosting... I'm not judging)
1 Tbs. walnuts, finely chopped (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by spraying with non-stick spray and lining with paper cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk (or sift) together the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Dump in the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick blah blah blah. Cool the cupcakes in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, slather on the cream cheese frosting and top with a sprinkle of nuts if desired.

Cream Cheese Frosting: (whip the following ingredients together until light and fluffy)
4 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature (I used neufchatel instead of the full-fat version)
1 Tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar

Enjoy!