Carrot and Pineapple Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put paper liners into a 12-count muffin tin and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine grated carrots with sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Add the pineapple and mix until just combined. Set aside.

Whisk the eggs, oil and vanilla in a separate bowl and pour into the carrot mixture, stirring until just combined and no dry spots remain. Don’t be tempted to keep mixing!

Scoop batter into muffin liners and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove muffins from the oven and let them cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting: Over medium heat, melt butter.

Once the butter is melted completely, continue to cook it until it turns a light brown color. You’ll notice the butter will start to bubble and will start to change color once the bubbles subside a bit. Watch closely though because it can go from perfectly browned to perfectly burned pretty quickly.

Stir the flour into the butter and slowly add in milk. Whisk until smooth and starts to boil, then immediately remove from heat.

The mixture will be thick and pasty. Transfer it to a mixing bowl and place it into the fridge to cool. You want it to be well chilled and not warm at all, so you can leave it in there for as long as you like. Once it’s chilled move on to the next step.

With a hand mixer or stand mixer combine the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar, mixing until the sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. You’ll want to use a whisk attachment, not a paddle.

While beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and beat to combine. At first it will look a little weird and gloppy, but don’t worry, keep beating, scraping down the sides of the bowl a bit, and it will come together. Once smooth, you’re done and ready to frost cupcakes!