Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1 pound of carrots
3 large eggs
1/2 cup of buttermilk (or add a teaspoon of lemon juice to regular milk and allow to stand for 10 minutes)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of orange zest
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 teaspoons of ground cardamom
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

STEPS!

1 Preheat the oven to 350F. Toast the walnuts in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

2 Rinse the carrots and peel the rough skins off, then grate the carrots.

3 Place the carrots, buttermilk, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest together in a bowl and whisk thoroughly.

4 In another bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and cinnamon.

5 Fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture, being sure not to overmix. Fold in the toasted walnuts until evenly incorporated.

6 Scoop into cupcake papers about 1/2 to 3/4 full and bake for 19-21 minutes at 350F, being sure to rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes of baking. Afterwards allow to cool for 5 minutes before taking the cupcakes out of the cupcake tin and allowing them to fully cool on a wire rack. Frost cooled cupcakes.


Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick of butter
8 oz cream cheese
3 Table spoons of Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups of powdered sugar
If you need the to thicken just add more powdered sugar.