Carrot Cake Cookies

Topped with a rich, cream cheese frosting and a sweet cinnamon flavor, these carrot cake cookies are a tasty treat. Both chewy and moist these cookies can rival any other holiday dessert.

A classic flavor now in cookie form. These carrot cake cookies are sweeted with light brown sugar for a chewy, candied taste and sprinkled with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla for the perfect flavor. 

Each cookie has a nutty, comforting taste and is topped with cream cheese frosting after baking. They’re an easy to dessert to make and can rival any other cookie on the table.

Take your favorite cake flavor and enjoy it over and over again in a delicious new way.

Ingredients for Carrot Cake Cookies

Ingredients for the cookies:

• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/8 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the Frosting:

• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation time:
Total Time: Approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes
● Making the Dough: 10 minutes (mixing ingredients)
● Chill dough: 1 hour (minimum)
● Baking time: 15 minutes
● Cool the cookies: 15 minutes.
● Frosting: 5 minutes
● Decorate cookies: 10 minutes
Serves: 20 cookies

How to Make Carrot Cake Cookies

1.Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. Beat the butter and sugar: In a large bowl, beat the room temperature butter
with the light brown sugar until creamy.

3. Add egg and vanilla: Add the egg and vanilla extract to the mixture and beat
for about a minute until well incorporated.

4. Incorporate dry ingredients: In the same bowl, add the flour, baking powder,
salt, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, the grated carrots and chopped
pecan. Mix until all ingredients are combined.

5. Chill the dough: Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour to make it easier
to handle.

6. Form the cookies: Using a #20 scoop, form balls of dough and place them on
a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving space between each one.

7. First bake: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 8 minutes.

8. Shape the cookies: Remove the cookies from the oven and, if they have lost
their shape, use a spoon to gently reshape them into rounds.

9. Second bake: Return the cookies to the oven and bake for an additional 6
minutes.
10. Cool: Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating with the
frosting.

Instructions for the Frosting:

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese: In a bowl, beat the room temperature
butter with the cream cheese and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.

2. Add powdered sugar: Add the powdered sugar and beat until the frosting is
well combined and smooth.

3. Decorate the cookies: Once the cookies are cool, decorate them with the
frosting.

4. Add nuts: Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the frosting as a finishing touch.

Variations and Substitutions

Nuts: In place of pecans, substitute any of your other favorite nuts. Typically, chopped almonds or pistachios pair really well.

Dried fruit: If you’re a fan of raisings in your carrot cake, toss some into the cookie batter when you mix it up or sprinkle them on top of the frosting in place of pecans. Chopped dates are also a tasty twist.

Cinnamon: Add in an additional dash of cinnamon or nutmeg to make the spices pop further in the carrot cake cookies. Again, you can also sprinkle some on top.

Caramel: Want to dress these carrot cookies up to the extreme. Add a layered of drizzled caramel on top of the cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate chips: No dessert is not made better with the addition of a few chocolate chips for a rich, goeey taste.

Shredded coconut: Adding in coconut will not only give the cookies a bit more of a chewy texture but some extra sweetness too!

How To Make The Best Carrot Cake Cookies

Make sure that both the butter and cream cheese has come to room temperature before you need them. This helps them mix easily. Do not microwave either to soften them, it’ll ruin the texture of the recipe.

However, the butter shouldn’t be melted. You do want some structure to it.

Take the time to finely grate the carrots so that the texture isn’t chunky.

Chilling the dough helps to prevent thc ookies from spreading too much while baking. If you find them spreading, after 8 minutes of baking stop to reshape your cookies before finishing the cooking time. You can do this using a spoon or silicone spatula.

Take care not ot overmix your carrot cake cookie batter. Overmixing can create tough cookies.

Let the cookies cool fully before trying to frosting them. Warm cookies will make the frosting melt. 

If you find the frosting a bit too thick, add in a dash of milk or lemon juice to thin it out. Only add a tiny but at a time though (1 teaspoon) to achieve your desired consistency.

Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can store them in the fridge for up to a week but they will firm up a bit and loose some of their texture.