Spring is in the air!  With temperatures changing to + from -, I decided to start baking some spring goodies and landed on making something with carrots in them.  Instead of making the usual carrot cake, I decided to make some mini carrot cake bites!  I still paired it with the a cream cheese frosting, but also topped it with some orange and green M&Ms in the shape of a carrot for decoration.  I found a carrot cake recipe online and just modified it a slight bit, putting in apple sauce instead of oil and decreasing the amount of sugar in the recipe.  These were super easy to make and a great solution to get your family or friends involved to help frost and decorate the mini bites.  The only hard part was grating all those carrots!  I think I gained an extra muscle after I was done making these yummy Mini Carrot Cake Bites.  :D

I was also super excited to use a new cupcake stand I stumbled upon at a cute and stylish stationary store, Pulp & Paperie.  I’ll definitely be making a trip back to purchase another stand soon! :)

Ehh!  What’s Up Doc?

Recipe (48 mini bites)

Carrot Cake
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups apple sauce
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups grated carrots (about 3 large or 5 medium sized carrots)
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 pack (8 oz) of cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

PREHEAT: oven to 350

WHISK: together eggs, apple sauce, white sugar, and vanilla.

COMBINE: in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until mixed.  Then stir in grated carrots and lastly fold in pecans.  Do not over mix the batter or else it will become super dense!  Scoop into greased mini cupcake pan.

BAKE: for 15 to 20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING: combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar.  Frost the mini carrot cake bites when cooled, and decorate with some orange & green M&Ms in the shape of a carrot!

#RecipeTags
#What’sUpDoc?
#CarrotCake
#SpringBaking