Clever carrot-shaped mini carrot cakes are a cute Easter kids treat! (Try saying that three times fast!)
I am picky about my carrot cake…
First, it needs to be moist. (Dry carrot cake tastes like sawdust, am I right?)
Next, it needs to be sweet, but not too sweet!
Finally, it must include cream cheese frosting. Anything else is just a carrot cake imposter!
Related: If you love carrot cake as much as we do, try our Carrot Cake Cookies too!
Carrot-Shaped Mini Carrot Cakes Recipe
These mini carrot cakes are actually cake balls, so they are definitely rich and moist! Real carrot cake is mixed with cream cheese frosting (ding ding…requirement #2 met) and then topped with white chocolate.
Plus, they are literally one of the cutest Easter themed treats I’ve ever seen!
I just couldn’t wait to share them with you!
–Stacey
Shopping List:
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- Boxed carrot cake mix
- Unsalted sweet cream butter
- Whole milk
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Shredded carrots
- Chopped pecans
- Cream cheese frosting
- White chocolate melting wafers
- Green candy melts
- Orange candy melts
- Coconut oil
Kitchen supplies used to make this recipe:
- carrot-shaped cookie cutter
- 3 plastic piping bags
- 2 cookie sheets
- non-stick silicone baking mats (or parchment paper)
- wire cooling rack
- stand mixer
Free printable copy of this recipe available at bottom of post with full ingredients list and directions.
Keep reading for photo step-by-step instructions and cooking tips or click here to jump to printable recipe.
How to make carrot cake balls shaped like carrots
To make the cake ball batter:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
Tip: We love these re-usable silicone baking cups because they’re non-stick (your cupcakes pop right out) and washable to use again and again.
Combine cake mix, butter, milk, vanilla and eggs in a stand mixer and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Add shredded carrots and chopped pecans to batter and stir in by hand with a large wooden spoon or spatula.
Pour cupcake batter into cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 full.
Bake for 21 minutes at 350°F.
When cupcakes are done baking, remove from oven and allow to cool completely before handling.
Once cool, remove cupcakes from cupcake liners and crumble into a large mixing bowl. You want fine crumbs (no big chunks).
Add two heaping tablespoons of cream cheese frosting into the crumbled cake and mix until you’ve achieved a dough-like texture. Add more frosting if needed until dough forms. (You might want to mix by hand for best results).
Flatten out cake batter onto a medium cookie sheet and set aside (about 1/2″ – 3/4″ thick)
To make your candy carrot stems:
Using a double boiler, melt your green candy melts. Once melted, scoop into a disposable piping bag and cut the tip off (about enough space for a thick pencil lead to fit through).
Tip: You can also melt chocolate with the microwave. Be sure to use a microwave-safe bowl, stir every 15-20 seconds, and handle with care as bowl and contents will be hot.
Pipe stems onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. We “drew” our carrots stems to be about 2-3 inches long, then attached little leaves along those lines.
Tip: I recommend piping extra stems because they are fragile and sometimes break during handling.
Set stems aside to dry completely.
To make your mini carrot cakes:
Using a carrot-shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many mini carrots cakes as possible from your sheet of dough.
Cut the tops off the carrot cakes (like pictured below). Discard, or save along with the extra dough from cutting – this could make a delicious trifle, or breakfast bake!
Melt white chocolate, stirring in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to thin the mixture slightly. Pour into a piping bag.
Line up all of your mini carrot cakes on a wire cooling rack, then place this rack on top of a cookie sheet (this will make for easier clean-up afterwards!)
Carefully push the green candy stems into the top of the carrots.
Cut the top of your plastic piping bag filled with melted white chocolate, then drizzle to completely cover each of the mini carrot cakes. Leave green stems uncovered, though pouring chocolate around the area where the stems are pushed into the cake can help secure them in place.
Allow excess white chocolate to drip through to the cookie sheet below.
While the white-chocolate coated mini carrot cakes are drying, melt the orange chocolate and pour into another plastic piping bag.
Cut the tip off the orange piping bag and drizzle over the white chocolate covered cakes, forming loose stripes.
Allow your mini carrot cakes to dry fully before moving from the wire rack.
More of our favorite Easter desserts for kids:
Grab a free printable copy of our mini carrot cakes recipe:
Carrot-Shaped Mini Carrot Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 box carrot cake mix
- 1 cup unsalted sweet cream butter softened
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese frosting
- 2 cups white chocolate melting wafers
- 1 cup green candy melts
- 1/2 cup orange candy melts
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
Instructions
To make the cake ball batter:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine cake mix, butter, milk, vanilla and eggs in a stand mixer and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add shredded carrots and chopped pecans to batter and stir in by hand with a large wooden spoon or spatula.
- Pour cupcake batter into cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 21 minutes at 350°F.
- When cupcakes are done baking, remove from oven and allow to cool completely before handling.
- Once cool, remove cupcakes from cupcake liners and crumble into a large mixing bowl. You want fine crumbs (no big chunks).
- Add two heaping tablespoons of cream cheese frosting into the crumbled cake and mix until you've achieved a dough-like texture. Add more frosting if needed until dough forms. (You might want to mix by hand for best results).
- Flatten out cake batter onto a medium cookie sheet and set aside (about 1/2" - 3/4" thick).
To make your candy carrot stems:
- Using a double boiler, melt your green candy melts. Once melted, scoop into a disposable piping bag and cut the tip off (about enough space for a thick pencil lead to fit through).
- Pipe stems onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. We "drew" our carrots stems to be about 2-3 inches long, then attached little leaves along those lines. (At least 2-3 stems per cake)
- Set stems aside to dry completely.
To make your mini carrot cakes:
- Using a carrot-shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many mini carrots cakes as possible from your sheet of dough.
- Cut the tops off the carrot cakes (like pictured below). Discard, or save along with the extra dough from cutting - this could make a delicious trifle, or breakfast bake!
- Melt white chocolate, stirring in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to thin the mixture slightly. Pour into a piping bag.
- Line up all of your mini carrot cakes on a wire cooling rack, then place this rack on top of a cookie sheet (this will make for easier clean-up afterwards!)
- Carefully push the green candy stems into the top of the carrots.
- Cut the top of your plastic piping bag filled with melted white chocolate, then drizzle to completely cover each of the mini carrot cakes. Leave green stems uncovered, though pouring chocolate around the area where the stems are pushed into the cake can help secure them in place.
- Allow excess white chocolate to drip through to the cookie sheet below.
- While the white-chocolate coated mini carrot cakes are drying, melt the orange chocolate and pour into another plastic piping bag.
- Cut the tip off the orange piping bag and drizzle over the white chocolate covered cakes, forming loose stripes.
- Allow your mini carrot cakes to dry fully before moving from the wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
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