The amount of chocolate our kids still have from Christmas is going to keep them going for quite awhile. They would disagree completely with me, of course. As scrooge like as I was being in the chocolate department I didn’t want to forego any treats. I’m not that mean!
So what do bunnies really like? Carrots!
I did a search on Pinterest for fun easter desserts. The plethora of Peeps desserts was a bit scary. Aside from the fact none of us like Peeps, my kids aren’t little so something less sugar high inducing would do the trick. I found this Mini Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies recipe and I thought it would be fun to make. Not to mention easy! And as we’re still plugging away at our renovation of the bathroom project, well, easy is key.
I will say the overall time to make this of 18 minutes is seriously over optimistic. Give yourself an hour. There is only so fast I can go!
Preheat the oven to 350F/175C
Begin with finely grating 180g of carrot. This will give you 1 1/2 to 2 cups of shredded carrot.
In a mixer add 113g/1 stick of butter (room temperature) along with 100g/1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar and 100g/1/2 cup of white sugar.
Cream all this together for several minutes until creamy and blended well. While this is mixing mix the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Add 250g/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the mixer. Once all the ingredients are mixed well add the grated carrot.
Using a piping bag and a large nozzle pipe out the batter into circles about an inch/2.5cm onto parchment paper. This is very sticky and they come out like wizard hats. Don’t worry about that, it will smooth out in the oven. Just tap down the real pointy peaks.
Bake 6-8 minutes until set and golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
While these are baking prepare the cream cheese frosting. I chose to use neufchatel cheese which has a 1/3 less fat. I know, a funny time to start worrying about calories but what can you do?
In a large bowl add 8oz/226g of the cheese and 56g/1/2 stick of butter (both at room temperature).
Using a hand mixer cream the two ingredients together for a few minutes.
Add 187g/1 1/2 cups of confectioner’s (powdered) sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well until the frosting is smooth and light.
Pair up the mini cakes so both sides are relatively equal in size. Spread the frosting on one side and add the other to make a sandwich.
Keep the ones you don’t eat right away in the fridge. Not going to lie, these were really good. With the carrot how unhealthy can these be? Ahem. 😉
