Carrot Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

So, I usually start these things off with a little song and dance about what I made and how I love it so much but today I thought I'd get right down to business. Today I made Carrot Cupcakes, I am a huge fan of Fall colors and flavors and since it's pretty obvious that summer in Georgia is over, this is a perfect recipe to start the season with. This recipe makes 24 cupcakes and without further ado.....

Cupcakes:

2          cups all purpose flour

2          tsp baking soda

1          tsp salt

2          tsp ground cinnamon

½         tsp ground nutmeg

1          tsp ground ginger

2          cups sugar

1¼       cups extra light olive oil

4          large eggs

3          cups grated peeled carrots 

Frosting:

2          (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1          stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2          cups confectioners’ sugar

2          tbsp dark brown sugar

¼         cup pure maple syrup

Note: For the grated carrots, I usually buy a bag of shredded carrots and then I run those through my Ninja food processor. I never buy whole carrots, peel them and then run them across a grater...takes way too much time for me personally.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line 24 cupcake molds with papers.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. 
3. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. 
4. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots and then divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.
5. Bake cupcakes for 15 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean because oven times do vary! Cool in pans for five minutes or so and then transfer to a cooling rack. Make sure that the cupcakes are completely cooled before icing, else the icing will just slide right off.
6. **While the cupcakes are baking**:  In a medium, deep bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together using an electric mixer until fluffy.
7. Gradually add in the confectioners' sugar and continue mixing.
8. Add in the brown sugar and maple syrup and chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly