What's up, doc?

I made this carrot cake recipe for some friends who came to lunch last week. The original recipe was for a sheet cake, but I made cupcakes instead. (Just cut the cooking time by about half.) I also halved the recipe, with no adverse results. (The recipe below makes ALOT of cake.) Moist and delicious!

Carrot Sheet Cake
Cooking spray
9 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 cups finely shredded carrot
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13x19 inch baking pan with cooking spray; line bottom of pan with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray; set aside.

Place butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed for 5 minutes or until well-blended. Add eggs and egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition until pale and fluffy. Beat in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix after each addition. Stir in carrot, raisins, and walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Sharply tap on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack, remove from pan. Carefully peel off wax paper; cool completely on wire rack.

** My notes - the original recipe, from Cooking Light Magazine, did not include the raisins and walnuts, but I think they make an excellent addition. Also, the original recipe also had a cream cheese frosting recipe to go with it. While I think the cake/cupcakes could benefit from frosting, the recipe they gave for it was a clunker. I'd rather have it plain and save the calories! Lastly, I just put paper liners in the cupcake pan, and the little cakes came out fine. (No cooking spray for me!)

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