Carrot Cupcakes

Before this, I had never made carrot cake. I was never a huge fan of carrot cake--mostly I think I avoided it because recipes usually include nuts, but I was also not totally convinced vegetables would be good in cake. But when asked to make some cupcakes that would be appropriate for morning, I thought these might be a good bet. I thought these were delicious--granted, I don't have much to compare them to, but others seemed to like them as well!

Carrot Cupcakes
-1 lb. peeled finely grated carrots
-3 eggs, room temp.
-1/3 c. buttermilk, room temp.
-2 c. sugar
-1.5 c. vegetable/canola oil
-1.5 tsp. vanilla extract
-1/2 c. raisins
-3 c. all purpose flour
-1 tsp. baking soda
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1 tsp. ground ginger
-1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1. Whisk together carrots, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, oil, vanilla, and raisins.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
3. Stir the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until combined. Divide batter into 24 lined cups and bake at 325* for 23-28 minutes, rotating tins halfway through.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
-1/2 c. softened butter
-8 oz. softened cream cheese
-1 c. packed light brown sugar

1. Beat together butter, cream cheese, and sugar until smooth.

Banana Carrot Bread

I've been on a mission to use up miscellaneous ingredients lately. When I found this recipe, I was able to check two items off the list. I wasn't sure about the carrot banana combination, but it was delicious! I'll absolutely make this every time I have a couple spare carrots.

Banana Carrot Bread
-2 c. flour
-1/2 t. salt
-2 t. baking powder
-1/4 t. baking soda
-1/2 t. cinnamon
-1/4 t. cloves
-4 T. softened butter
-3/4 c. granulated sugar
-2 eggs
-2 ripe bananas, mashed
-1 t. vanilla
-2 medium carrots, grated

1. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
2. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Beat in mashed bananas and vanilla.
3. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Stir in the grated carrot.
4. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350*. Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before turning the loaf out onto a cooling rack.