Let’s talk donuts. Are you a yeast-lover or a cake-lover?
I also love carrot cake. The soft dense texture and earthy goodness makes my tastebuds smile.
Another favorite is cream cheese frosting. Well, cream cheese anything really, but cream cheese frosting is the bomb dot com.
So what if you combined cake donuts, carrot cake AND cream cheese frosting into one recipe. Just stop!
That’s exactly what I did and these Baked Carrot Cake Donuts are to die for.
I’m thinking you could eat them right out of the oven…before adding all the yummy-ness.
Be still my heart…there’s the cream cheese frosting.
(BTW, be sure to come back this fall and grab my recipe for Gingerbread Cream Cheese Frosting. You can thank me then.)
Oh, I almost forgot to mention. We amped things up just a little more by garnishing these babies with healthy carrot shreds and chopped nuts. Mmmmm….Mmmmmm…..good.
Oh, I almost forgot…you’ll need a donut pan for these baked bundles of yum!
Ingredients
- Donuts
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbs baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 5 tbs unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups carrots shredded
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 tbs unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Optional: shredded carrots and chopped nuts for garnish
Instructions
- For the Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a donut pan and set aside until needed.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until fully combined.
- Fold in the shredded carrots.
- Transfer the batter to a zip lock bag and cut off a tip. Pipe the batter into each donut cavity, filling 2/3 of the way up.
- Bake the donuts for 8-10 minutes. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for 2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool.
- For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- To make the cream cheese frosting, mix the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
- Add the confectioner’s sugar and mix (gradually increasing speed) until the sugar is fully incorporated.
- Add the vanilla and whisk until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Frost the top of the donuts, and garnish with carrots and chopped nuts.
Notes
And now that we’ve whetted your appetite, head on over and grab more Delicious Donut Recipes!
