Carrot Cake Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting & Toasted Coconut

I may or may not (totally am!) eating one of these cupcakes as I write this. I made them for a Good Friday dinner party and they turned out great!

Ingredients for the batter:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 11/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:

• Beat sugar, oil, and vanilla in a bowl
• In another bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt
• Add 1/2 the dry ingredients to the wet mix
• To the other 1/2 of the dry ingredients, add the carrots and walnuts and mix them together. This way, the carrots and walnuts will incorporate well into the batter.
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes

Ingredients for the frosting:

• 2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

• Cream together the cream cheese and butter
• Mix in the vanilla
• Gradually mix in the powdered sugar

I toasted sweetened coconut in the oven and broke it up into small pieces. I topped the cupcake with the frosting and then turned it upside down in the coconut. 

I make sure to store them in the fridge until they were ready to serve :)

>> If you end up making this for dessert, tag me in an Instagram post -- @marriedtodavis or #marriedtodavis