In search of my daughter’s recent first birthday’s cake, I landed upon this recipe that has somewhat healthier ingredients than what you would not normally find in cupcakes. This recipes only uses molasses and maple syrup as sweeteners and egg yolks instead of whole eggs, which was great since I didn’t introduce the egg whites until she passed her first birthday. I also substituted the all purpose flour with white wheat flour. I was actually worried about how well it would taste, and was surprised at how moist it was. It definitely tastes more like spice-cake, and has more sturdier crumbs–but still very flavorful and delicious. I decided not to make the cream cheese frosting, but made this Strawberry Meringue Buttercream instead since I had abundance of strawberries.  But if you want to use cream cheese frosting, you can add a touch of maple syrup as added sweetness.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes

Ingredients
2-1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cup pure maple syrup, preferably grade B
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 cup safflower or canola oil
1 tsp apple-cider vinegar
5 large egg yolks
2 cups grated carrots

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degree F. Line standard and mini muffin tins with paper liners. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together maple syrup, molasses, oil, vinegar, and egg yolks until smooth. Add to flour mixture, and whisk until combined. Stir in carrots.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4-full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tested inserted in centers come out clean, 10-12 minutes for mini, and 18 minutes for standard. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 1 month, in airtight containers.

Yield: 12 standard muffins and 24 mini muffins