Carrot cake recipes are always a favorite but sometimes you want something a little different and that's where these chewy carrot cake cookies come in!
Filled with the delicious flavors that you know from the classic carrot cake, they are a little bit of spicy deliciousness that are easy to make and can even be frozen. Plus they're topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting, so what's not to love?
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Essential Ingredients
Carrots: I like to hand-grate carrots on a box grater for this recipe for the texture, but you can use your food processor. I don't recommend buying pre-grated carrots from the store, as they are drier and lacking flavor.
Cream cheese: Use a regular full-fat cream cheese brick for the recipe. Do not use whipped or spreadable cream cheese, which can have a thinner, almost watery texture. Go with a quality brand when possible, such as Philadelphia cream cheese.
How to make the recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Set aside a baking sheet(s) lined with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Begin by adding one egg at a time to the mixture while beating well after each addition. Scrape down the beaters and sides of bowl as needed. Add the vanilla extract once the eggs and sugars are well mixed.
3. Using a wooden spoon, gently stir in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg (dry ingredients) until combined. Stir in the carrots, nuts, and quinoa flakes into the flour mixture until fully blended (you may need to do this by hand with a wooden spoon.)
4. Let the cookie dough rest in the refrigerator for at least six hours or overnight. You’ll get cookies with more depth of flavor and a more uniform shape that won’t flatten.
5. After resting, place heaping rounded tablespoonfuls of dough on the prepared baking sheet(s), spacing about 2 inches apart. With the palm of your hand, smooth out the mounds slightly.
6. Place the cookies on the baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. Follow the recipe for baking times but rely on your senses when baking. Pay attention to how things look, feel, and smell to judge for doneness. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack.
8. Make the icing: In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract until fluffy on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. At low speed, combine in the powdered sugar (confectioners') until smooth.
9. When completely cooled, ice the top of the cookies and garnish with finely chopped nuts if desired.
Storing the cookies
The chewy cookies can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days after they have been frosted. The filling may be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for up to three days. These are delicious when baked and served soon after.
Recipe tips
- Butter should not be microwaved, as it will become too soft and spread when baked. Allow butter to soften at room temperature until soft enough to work with.
- Only freshly grated carrots should be used. Grate the carrots on a box grater with small holes. Do not use pre-prepared matchstick carrots since they are too thick.
- Old-fashioned whole rolled oats will not work in this recipe, but if you have them on hand, making your own quick oats is a simple process. Add whole oats to the food processor and pulse several times or until they resemble the texture of quick oats.
- A cookie dough scoop is one tool that will instantly elevate your cooking making process. Using cookie scoops make fast work of portioning out dough. My favorite is the medium scoop by Oxo, designed for easy scooping and consistent shaping.
- If you’re using a stand mixer, finish the last of the mixing by hand. There’s always some unmixed butter and sugar at the bottom of the bowl, and this way you can get a more uniformly blended dough.
Recipe FAQs
You may also make these into sandwich cookies. Spread the cream cheese icing over one cookie and place a second on top. They're appropriate with any form of a cookie, but circular cookies are most popular.
You may also freeze the cookies plain or frosted.
Allow the cookies to completely cool before placing them (frosted or unfrosted) on a baking sheet, leaving room between them. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze the cookies until solid. Wrap each cookie separately in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer bag. To prepare the cookies: Remove the plastic wrap from the freezer bag of cookies, and take out however many you want, removing the plastic wrap to avoid condensation. Allow 20 minutes for the cookies to thaw on the counter.
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Comments and ratings
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Chewy Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 2 cups quick oats or quinoa flakes not old-fashioned or quinoa flakes
- ¾ cup walnuts finely chopped
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened, 4 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter with both sugars until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides as needed. Beat in the vanilla.
- With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg. Beat in the carrots, oats or quinoa flakes, and nuts just until blended (you may have to do this by hand with a wooden spoon.)
- Drop the dough by heaping rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet(s), spacing about 2-inches apart. Flatten the mounds slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake until cookies are lightly golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on baking sheet a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the icing. In a medium bowl and using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the confectioners' sugar until creamy. Spread the icing over the cooled cookies and garnish with finely chopped nuts, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Austin says
I don't usually write reviews on recipes but this one was just so well written and easy to follow I had to! My wife loves carrot cake so I wanted to surprise her with some carrot cake-like cookies since cookies are easier to snack on and store than cake. She loved them! Probably because I was able to accurately follow the recipe for once.. lol
Judy says
Hi! Sounds delicious.
Can you please tell me how.to substitute hazelnut or cocanut flour for white?
Thank you.
K Kingsley says
hi Judy, I haven't tried this recipe with either of those of flours, but my recommendation would be to use 1/4 to 1/3 cup of coconut flour for every 1 cup of all-purpose flour. For the hazelnut flour, try substituting one-third of all-purpose flour with it. Hope it works for you!
Lynn M says
The recipe says quick oats - not quinoa flaked. The directions say add quinoa flakes.Which is correct?
Kathy Kingsley says
hi, you can use oats or quinoa flakes. Recipe updated. Thanks and enjoy!