If you’re new around here, one thing you should know about Our Best Bites is that we don’t do very many fancy things, but we love to find un-fancy ways to make it look like we do fancy things. Fake it till you make it? Perhaps. Take tiny molded edible objects, for example. I am 98% certain you will never, ever find us making fondant and crafting tiny caricatures to adorn a cake people are going to tear apart. But what I can do? Roll a starburst between my hands and stick some licorice in it. Boom. Fancy. People will instantly think you have mad skillz when you craft things like tiny carrots. One of our favorite short-cut tricks for things like this is candy. And I’m not talking bust-out-the-candy-thermometer candy. I’m talking like, grab-a-pack-of-something-in-the-check-out-lane-at-Walmart candy.
I first made little orange candy carrots years and years ago, but back then I put little parsley sprigs in the ends for the greens. They look adorable, but people are always a little iffy about whether they’re supposed to eat them considering it’s candy with herbs sticking out of them. Then last year when I was making these cute St. Patrick’s Day favors Kate posted, I realized the green Twizzlers would be perfect in place of my parsley.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
To Make Candy Carrots
- Orange Starburst candies – You can use any orange colored pliable candy, and if you walk the candy aisle you might find more options than you knew of. I’m using Starburst here, I’ve also used the orange Tootsie rolls (my WinCo grocery store usually sells them in bulk), and orange Airheads. Starbursts are a good size because all you need to do is cut one in half and it’s the perfect size for 2 carrots. You can make the Carrots larger or smaller depending on your preferences.
- Twizzlers Twists Rainbow Candy – This pack of Twizzlers comes with a rainbow of fruity candy. The green ones are perfect to top your carrots.
To Make Carrot Patch Cupcakes
- Cupcakes – Homemade, from a box, or store bought.
- Chocolate frosting – Store bought or homemade. We love this Chocolate Frosting!
- Cookie crumbs – Oreos or chocolate wafers run through the food processor will work great.
How to Make Candy Carrots & Carrot Patch Cupcakes
To Make the Carrots
- Each carrot will use up about half a Starburst worth of candy. Just mold it into a soft cone shape, then use a skewer to poke down the top of the carrot and make an opening to insert the greens. I stick the skewer pretty far down and wiggle it around a little bit.
- The green Twizzlers are already in little line shapes, so just cut them into small pieces, and take 3 and press them together at one end, and then nestle them in the opening in your carrot.
- You can then gently press with a sharp knife to make little lines down the front of the carrots.
To Make Carrot Patch Cupcakes
- Frost your cupcakes with chocolate frosting and press into chocolate cookie crumbs.
- Nestle a carrot across the top of the cupcake, or poke it right down into it like it’s growing in the dirt. Note that the cupcakes pictures below are mini sized! You may want to use a whole Starburst for each carrot for full-sized cupcakes.
Storing and Other Tips
- Depending on how fresh your candy is, sometimes they can be a little hard. If that’s the case, I’ve found that popping them in the microwave for just a few seconds (5 seconds in mine) softens them perfectly.
- For the cupcakes, you could use vanilla frosting with graham crackers crumbs, cinnamon and sugar, or coconut flakes tinted green in place of the cookie crumbs.
- These little candy carrots are a great way to decorate Carrot Cake.
Candy Carrots and Carrot Patch Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Carrots
- orange Starbursts or other pliable orange candy such as Tootsie Rolls or Airheads
- Twizzlers Twists Rainbow Candy you'll only need the green ones
For the Carrot Patch Cupcakes
- cupcakes home made from a boxed mix, or store bought
- chocolate frosting
- chocolate cookie crumbs from Oreos or chocolate wafers
Instructions
To Make the Candy Carrots
- Each carrot will use up about half a Starburst worth of candy. Just mold it into a soft cone shape, then use a skewer to poke down the top of the carrot and make an opening to insert the greens. I stick the skewer pretty far down and wiggle it around a little bit.
- The green Twizzlers are already in little line shapes, so just cut them into small pieces, and take 3 and press them together at one end, and then nestle them in the opening in your carrot.
- You can then gently press with a sharp knife to make little lines down the front of the carrots.
To Make Carrot Patch Cupcakes
- Frost your cupcakes with chocolate frosting and press into chocolate cookie crumbs.
- Nestle a carrot across the top of the cupcake, or poke it right down into it like it’s growing in the dirt. Note that the half Starburst size is perfect for mini cupcakes. You may want to use a whole Starburst for each carrot for full-sized cupcakes.
Notes
- Depending on how fresh your candy is, sometimes they can be a little hard. If that’s the case, I’ve found that popping them in the microwave for just a few seconds (5 seconds in mine) softens them perfectly.
- For the cupcakes, you could use vanilla frosting with graham crackers crumbs, cinnamon and sugar, or coconut flakes tinted green in place of the cookie crumbs.
- These little candy carrots are a great way to decorate Carrot Cake.
Questions & Reviews
i don’t know what to do so that the cookie crumbs won’t fall off…
Where can I find the recipe for the Carrot Patch Cupcakes? Thanks!
You can use any cake and frosting recipe you like, Sarah. This is just a cute idea to top them!
Can I just say I wish I was your neighbor so I could get all your cast-offs. These are so cute.
Making these for the cake walk at our church’s Easter picnic on Saturday!!
So cute I think I just peed my pants (see yesterday’s Facebook post from Sara). Really, I might do this!
Great Idea! Perfect for Easter! Thanks!
The Dollar Tree near me (Vancouver, WA) has packages of Jelly Belly ‘Peas and Carrots’ candy. Now I know what I will be making with the carrots in the two bags I picked up. Cute!
I love these!!