Fall is finally here and I’m welcoming it with  these easy spiced carrot cupcakes!  🥕🧁This recipe adds a vegetable and uses ripe bananas.  🍌That’s a double win 🏅🏆at our house since I’m always trying to find ways to sneak in veggies and my bananas seem to brown as soon as I buy them.

The kids had so much fun mashing up the bananas, adding the ingredients to the mixing bowl and trying their best to stir it all together. It definitely got a little messy but we managed to have enough batter for cupcakes after the cake mix dust settled.  😂 

These spiced carrot cupcakes are the perfect fall treat.  They definitely smell, taste, look, and feel like the season.  🍁 

Ingredients 

1 box Betty Crocker white cake mix

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

2 ripe bananas mashed 

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water 

2 eggs

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 325 degrees F if using a dark pan.  Add the cake mix, mashed bananas, oil, water, spices and baking soda in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.  Add the eggs one at a time.  Then stir in the carrots and optional chopped pecans. 

Place liners in the cupcake pan and use a large ice cream scoop to fill them 3/4 of the way full.  Bake according to directions on the box.  

While the cupcakes are baking, make the cream cheese frosting.  Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.  

Cream Cheese Frosting 

8 oz reduced fat cream cheese

5 c powdered sugar

2 tbsp sour cream

1/4 c butter 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/4 tsp salt

Soften the cream cheese and butter at room temperature.  Place all the ingredients into a large bowl and whip with an electric mixer until smooth.  

Once the cupcakes are frosted, you can top them with an optional carrot fondant.  If you try these out, please tag me on instagram!  @diy_bucket_list