Carrot Cake Cookies
Carrot cake cookies are soft, chewy cookies filled with warm spices, toasted walnuts, plump raisins. Enjoy as is or frosted with cream cheese frosting.
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 171kcal
Ingredients
Carrot Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter divided, brown half (~57g), cut the other half into cubes
- ⅓ cup chopped walnuts toast first (see instructions below) then chop and measure, plus more for decorating (optional)
- ½ cup shredded carrots about 1 medium carrot, finely shredded, measure before squeezing out excess moisture with paper towels, see instructions
- ½ cup brown sugar light or dark, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger swap in extra cinnamon if you prefer
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg swap in extra cinnamon if you prefer
- ⅓ cup raisins optional
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 ounces cream cheese brick style, full fat, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1¾ cup powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
Carrot Cake Cookies (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cut all the cold butter into 1 inch cubes. Place about half the butter in a large heat proof mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Place other half of the butter (4 tbsp or about 57 g) in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as the butter melts. Once melted, reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking the butter, stirring frequently. The butter will get foamy and bubbly then it will get quiet and turn an amber color and will have a nutty aroma. You'll also see brown bits start to form on the bottom. This browning will take around 4-6 minutes once the butter has melted. When the butter reaches this stage, remove it from the heat. Immediately pour the brown butter over the cold cubed butter and stir until fully melted and combined. Let cool at room temperature for 20–30 minutes until it solidifies to a soft, peanut-butter-like consistency.
- Toast then chop and measure the walnuts. Toasting is optional but it enhances the flavor and makes the nuts extra crunchy. Spread nuts evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until nuts are fragrant. Allow nuts to cool then finely chop them. Set them aside. Turn oven off for now.
- Peel the carrots. Finely shred the carrots using the small shredder side of a box grater. Measure out 1/2 cup (about 50 g) of shredded carrots.
- Place the shredded carrots on a few thick paper towels. Wrap the paper towels up around the carrots. Squeeze out all the excess moisture. Do this one more time with a few extra paper towels, if needed until you remove most or all of the moisture. Set carrots aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Set aside.
- Once the butter has cooled to room temperature, add both sugars directly to the bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2–3 minutes until creamy and combined.
- Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the egg until completely incorporated then mix in the egg yolk. Mix in the vanilla and the blotted shredded carrots.
- With the mixer on low, mix in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Stir in the chopped walnuts and raisins til just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 ℉. Scoop out the dough using a #40 cookie scoop (1.5 tablespoons of dough or about 23 grams each). Place balls on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are light golden brown and the tops are set. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)
- Sift the powdered sugar. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a hand held mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until completely combined, creamy and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and salt.
- Turn mixer off and add the powdered sugar mixture. Beat on low until powdered sugar is no longer visible. Turn mixer to medium high and beat for one minute.
- Use right away or cover with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Spread frosting on cookies with a butter knife or offset spatula. Top with chopped nuts right after frosting. Enjoy!
Notes
Carrots: You'll need 1/2 cup of finely shredded carrots. This is about 1 medium carrot. Wash then peel the carrot. Grate it using the small holes of a box grater. Do not use pre-shredded carrots (they're too dry) or baby carrots (they're too wet). Measure out 1/2 cup of shredded carrot before blotting it or squeezing out the moisture. Dry the carrots with paper towels for slightly less cakey and more chewy cookies.
Raisins: Leave out the raisins if you're not a fan or if you don't have any. You could also swap in chopped dates.
Spices: I like to use a mix of ground cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Swap in extra cinnamon in place of ginger and nutmeg if you like. You could also use allspice, cardamom or ground cloves in place of some of the other spices if you prefer!
Walnuts: To make these cookies nut-free, leave out the walnuts. You can also swap in almonds, pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts in place of walnuts. For best flavor and extra crunch, I recommend toasting the nuts. Leave them whole so that they toast evenly. Chop after toasting. Toast them on the stovetop or in the oven. Nuts can burn easily, so be sure to keep a close eye on them. Transfer them to a plate to cool.
Cream cheese frosting: Use brick style room temperature full fat cream cheese for the frosting. Make sure it's room temperature. If your cream cheese is cold, the frosting will turn out lumpy. These cookies are delicious with or without frosting. Feel free to leave off the frosting.
Flavoring the frosting: Feel free to add a little ground cinnamon or fresh ginger to the frosting. I added a little over an inch of grated, blotted fresh ginger to my frosting. I recommend starting with 1 inch and taste-testing to your liking. Blot the grated ginger with paper towels like you did with the carrot. This wil make sure it's not affecting the consistency of the frosting.
Decorating: I like the simple and rustic look of frosting the cookies with an offset spatula or butter knife. To make the cookies look a little fancier, you can use a pipe the frosting in a flat swirl. Top with a whole walnut, chopped walnuts, and/or some raisins.
Don't overmix: Make sure not to overmix the dough when adding the dry ingredients, nuts and raisins. Overmixing can cause the cookies to be tough.
Storage: Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freeze the baked cookies with or without frosting for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 171kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 97mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 693IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg
