Bunny Cupcakes (w/ Recipe)

Hooray for the start of Spring! In an attempt to celebrate- Barrett and I made Bunny Cupcakes for school under the pretense of practicing fine motor skills. He did an awesome job decorating, an even better job eating the jelly beans, marshmallows, and peanut butter cookies.

I know there isn't much scientific evidence that eating junk food leads directly to bad behavior- but man- I have never seen that kid jump as high, far, or run around in circles for as long as he did the other day. Between the red#40, blue#2, hydrogenated fats, and fluffed up corn starch I think we all almost went a tad bit crazy.

Anyway, here is the recipe for carrot cupcakes with a dairy/soy free frosting. I'd recommend a cream cheese frosting if no one has allergies- It will hold up the decorations way better

Carrot Cake: dairy, soy, nut free

3/4 lb raw carrots (shredded finely)
2 cups all purpose flour (feel free to sub up to one cup whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canola, safflower, or vegetable oil (applesauce works great if you want to cut back on the oil)
2 tsp vanilla extract

opt- 1 cup toasted walnuts if you want


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Peel and grate the carrots, set aside
-Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon- set aside
-Beat the eggs until frothy (w/ electric or hand mixer), gradually add in the sugar until thick and light colored. Add the oil in a steady stream and beat in vanilla extract.
-Add in flour mixture, mix just until everything is combined
-fold in the carrots

-Bake for about 15-20 minutes in cupcake tins (you can bake as a cake as well, increase time to 25-30 minutes)

***original recipe taken from joyofbaking.com***

Vanilla Frosting (dairy, soy, gluten free)

3 egg whites
1 cup confectioner sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
opt- zest of 1/2 lemon

-This can be kinda tricky, but worth it. Mix together the egg whites, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl. Place over a double boiler (or a pan with simmering water) whisk fervently for 1-2 minutes. Be careful not to scramble the egg whites!! It should look frothy and light.
-Place in a mixer (or handheld electric) and whisk on high for 7-8 minutes.
-Let cool for 30 minutes in the fridge before using.


Decorations
-stick shaped cookies (we used peanut butter ones from the dollar store)
-jelly beans (for the nose)
-marshmallows (for the eyes)
-black thin licorice (for the whiskers/mouth) *we weren't able to find any so it's not in the picture


Have fun decorating however you like- it looks best with the ears sticking up in the air but my frosting wasn't strong enough!