Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I swear, I will never get sick of all this wonderful local summer produce! This week, I picked up some local organic carrots at the market...and they were so freakin good, I knew exactly what to do with them: carrot cake cupcakes! I used the recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but I added about 1/2 cup of chopped crystallized ginger to the batter with the raisins and walnuts. These were so tasty! Perfectly moist and full of carrot-y goodness! And of course, they were even more awesome with cream cheeze icing and a lovely toasted walnut half on top!
If you can get your hands on some nice local carrots, give these a try! (oh, p.s. sorry about the blurry crappy picture! my apt has awful lighting...i'm workin' on it)

Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes (makes 12)

(the ingredients with a * are my additions to the recipe)

2/3 c whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

*pinch of nutmeg

2/3 cup turbinado sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup plaiin soy yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup finely grated carrots

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup raisins

*1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.

In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar, oil, yogurt, and vanilla. Sift in the dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the walnuts, raisins, and ginger pieces.

Spray the liners with non-stick spray. Fill each liner with batter to 2/3 full. Bake for 26 to 28 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely and frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Then stuff your face.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (ok, Earth Balance. let's be honest.)

1/4 cup vegan cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Cream together the softened margarine and cream cheese until smooth and fully combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time and whip until fluffy and creamy. Stir in the vanilla and whip for a few more minutes. Smear onto fully cooled cupcakes and place toasted walnuts on top to make them all pretty like.

**Adapted from Isa and Terry's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World**