Easter Brunch Carrot Cake Muffins

Food

Call me out for being a Millenial, but I LOVE brunch. For one thing, I love how it’s strictly a weekend thing (not being able to brunch every day makes it more special) and for another, I love how creative you can be in your brunch menu.

Is it breakfast? Lunch? Dessert? It’s whatever the heck you want it to be! And that’s what makes it fabulous.

Usually my family does Easter dinner but this year we’re changing it up to accommodate everyone’s busy schedules and dong brunch instead. As you can probably imagine, I’m really excited about this! I’m looking forward to mimosas, biscotti and breakfast casseroles all around.

Because I’m not one to show up empty-handed, I decided to whip up some carrot cake muffins. This sounds like something the Easter bunny would like, right? I found this amazing recipe for healthy carrot cake muffins on The Ambitious Kitchen and was pleasantly surprised to realize I had all of the ingredients in my house already (serious adulting win).

I followed the recipe for the muffins step-by-step but decided to stray from the recommended glaze suggested in the post. Because it’s a holiday afterall, I went with a more traditional cream cheese frosting and honestly love how the hearty, healthy flavoring of the muffin pairs with the sweet cream cheese frosting.

In an attempt to make the muffins look a little fancier, I used a piping bag and round decorating tip to pipe on the frosting. I also added a sprinkle of nutmeg for the finishing touch.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup finely shredded carrots (about 2-3 carrots)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup natural unsweetened applesauce
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup Almond milk
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut flakes (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12-cup muffin pan with liners and spray the inside with nonstick cooking spray to prevent batter from sticking to the liners.
Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to a medium bowl; stir to combine and then set aside.
In a separate large bowl, add carrots, maple syrup, olive oil, applesauce, egg and vanilla. Whisk to combine wet ingredients then slowly stir in almond milk and flour mixture until just combined. Fold in coconut flakes if you’d like.
Divide batter evenly between muffins cups or liners.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes in pan then transfer muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling.

I paired these muffins with my go-to recipe for cream cheese frosting. It’s the perfect amount of sweetness and requires minimal ingredients. Whip it up by combining these ingredients with an electric mixer:

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 oz cream cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups confectionary sugar
2-3 teaspoons milk

While I’m posting this recipe for Easter, these muffins would be great any time of the year! I know I’ll definitely be revisiting this recipe in the fall when I’m craving all-things-spice.

To shop the products featured in this post, click on the corresponding links below!

Carrot garland

Cupcake stand

Cake decorating kit

The links featured in this post are affiliate links.

Whipped Mocha Frosting and the Cutest Dessert Stands

Food

This weekend we celebrated my husband Andy’s 35th birthday! This was really exciting for us as it was the first birthday celebration we were able to host in our own home (our last house was waaaaay too tiny to host his large family all under one roof). It was really great having everyone over for what turned out to be a lovely afternoon spent indulging in entirely too much pizza, ice cream and cake covered with Andy’s favorite frosting: Whipped mocha.

Typically, I pair this frosting with marble cake and an apricot filling but it really does taste great with any kind of cake. Andy actually asked for a devil’s food cake this year and the added chocolate made the dessert extra decadent.

I was really missing the apricot filling though so I decided to also whip up a batch of yellow cupcakes and fill them with apricot preserves!

While I’m still very new to cake decorating, I tried to make both the cake and cupcakes fun by piping details with a star tip and throwing some colorful sprinkles on the cupcakes.

Adding to the whimsy, I displayed the treats on stands. Doing so really helps elevate your display and makes grabbing for a treat extra fun for your guests!

The Pioneer Woman cake stand featured in these photos is so adorable and I honestly leave it out on my counter all the time. Its farmhouse charm adds to my kitchen decor and it is perfect for storing all kinds of goodies including cookies, bars, brownies and doughnuts. I can honestly say it’s one of my favorite kitchen items!

I’m also loving this cupcake stand, which holds up to 13 treats. One thing I especially love about it is that it unscrews into three pieces, making it incredibly easy to store in your cabinets. This also makes it portable for displays on the go! Bring it to parties or family gatherings for a more sophisticated display.

To check out my recipe for whipped mocha frosting, click here. I promise you’ll use it again and again – it’s so tasty!

And to shop the items featured in this post, click on the links below:

Large Chalkboard

Pioneer Woman Cake Stand

Wilton Dessert Stand

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Chocolate Frosting (Happy Birthday Dad!)

Food

Growing up, my mother would always get annoyed with my father’s birthday cake request: cake made from packaged mix (such as Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, etc.). Although she always wanted to make a homemade cake, he insisted that he liked pre-packaged mix the best.

Although I was once opposed to boxed cake mix myself, I have come to realize that it doesn’t really matter if your cake is homemade or not. What matters is the frosting. And you most definitely want homemade frosting.

This is convenient, as making homemade frosting is much quicker than making a homemade cake. That being said, below is an easy chocolate frosting recipe that is not only delicious but requires little effort and ingredients:

What You Will Need:

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 stick butter, softened

3-4 tablespoons heavy cream (or however much you need to achieve desired consistency)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Sift sugar and cocoa together.
In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar mixture with butter and 1 tablespoon of cream. Beat until smooth.
Keep adding the sugar mixture cup by cup, with each accompanied by another tablespoon of cream.
Continue until all ingredients are combined and frosting is fluffy.
Mix in vanilla.
Frost your cake!

If the requirement for heavy cream isn’t enough indication that this recipe is delicious, take my word for it!

And if you find yourself in a situation that calls for packaged cakes, don’t fret. Simply enhance it with homemade frosting.