Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

From tastebook.com:

Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated, peeled carrots
1 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Line cupcake pans with papers or butter and flour them.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

4. In a different and large bowl, whisk sugar and oil until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at at time.

5. Add flour mixture to the large bowl and stir until blended. Add carrots, walnuts, and raising.

6. Divide batter among the 24 cupcake molds. Fill about 3/4 of the cup.

7. Bake cupcakes for about 15 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if cupcakes are done. When they are finish, the toothpick will come out clean.

8. Cool the pans for a few minutes. Transfer cupcakes to cooling racks to completely cool.

9. Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, and maple syrup in a large bowl until fluffy and smooth. Chill the frosting for 15 minutes.

10. Frost cupcakes as desired. I used a piping bag with a large tip for this design.