Easy Carrot Cake Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
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If you love traditional carrot cake but are lacking in time, you have got to make these easy carrot cake cookies, which are packed with wonderful flavors and textures like warm cinnamon, sweet raisins, and moist grated carrots. Full of carrot cake flavor, these soft carrot cake cookies have all the goodness of a classic carrot cake but take less time to make and decorate.
It’s the Easter holiday season, and for many that means it’s time to search for the perfect carrot cake recipe. But, whats that? Your baby got in to the dog food again? And he’s refusing to nap? Your toddler is throwing a week’s worth of newly folded laundry all over the living room? The older children, your amazing helpers, are no where to be found?
My goodness, you don’t have time to make and decorate a whole cake.
Instead you should make these easy, delicious, delightfully chewy carrot cookies topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting. With warm spices like cinnamon, and topped with homemade cream cheese frosting, these cookies are sure to delight your whole family.
No one will be missing their usual slice of carrot cake come Easter, but if you need another easter dessert, try these sourdough strawberry rolls or this easy strawberry crumble.
This carrot cake cookie recipe would be perfect in the fall, too. While many people are busy making sourdough pumpkin bread and pumpkin spice lattes, you could be using your freshly-dug-up-from-the-garden carrots to make these amazing cookies.
Whatever time of year it is, we highly recommend these carrot cake cookies, and hope you love them, too.
Recipe Highlights:
Easy: Making these cookies is easier than making and assembling a whole cake. And they are easier to take on the road with you.
Delicious: These cookies are no sacrifice in flavor or texture.
Healthy-ish: Carrots are full of great nutrients that support overall health, so these cookies are a great way to sneak in some veggie goodness.
Carrot Cake Cookie Ingredients:
Carrot shreds: Grate your own carrots using a box grater, or if you’re lucky enough to have a grating attachment for your food processor or stand mixer, that will make the grating process less….grating. Ha!
Unsalted butter: Your butter should be softened to room temperature so that it will mix with the sugar correctly. Melted butter will result in the cookies having excess moisture, so try not to melt it. Just let it sit out for an hour or two before you get started.
Rolled oats: Quick oats or regular will both work. Don’t use steel cut!
Cream Cheese: Tangy cream cheese frosting is really the cherry on top of these cookies. They are delicious without it, but perfection with it.
A list of the remaining ingredients can be found in the recipe card.
Tools
Electric Mixer or hand mixer
Large mixing bowl
Cookie sheets
Have a lot of extra carrots and need inspiration for them? Try these:
Easy Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup
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How To Make Carrot Cake Cookies:
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F. To the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together your butter and sugar using the paddle attachment. When it starts to be crumbly, add in the honey and whip until nice and fluffy, about three to five minutes.
Step 2: While the butter and sugar are whipping, add flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, shredded carrots, and raisins to a large bowl. Whisk together until well mixed. Set aside.
Step 3: Add the egg and vanilla extract to the wet ingredients and combine on low speed.
Step 4: Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through.
Step 5: Scoop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes for larger cookies and 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies, or until the edges start to become golden.
Step 6: When the cookies are done, allow them to cool on the pan, or transfer them to a wire rack after about 5 minutes. Once your cookies are completely cool they are ready to frost.
How To Make Cream Cheese Frosting:
Step 1: Combine butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat until smooth. Add vanilla extract and salt and combine.
Step 2: With the mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined. Increase speed to medium high and whip until fluffy.
Step 3: Frost your completely cooled cookies by putting a big dollop on top of each cookie and spreading to cover the top.
Tips:
- Do your freshly grated carrots have too much moisture? Just pat them dry with a clean dish towel or paper towel prior to adding them to the dry mix.
- Don’t be tempted to eat one hot out of the oven. These cookies are a bit fragile when they first come out, but they firm up as they cool. Make sure to leave them on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes to set up before you transfer them.
- When making your frosting, we highly recommend sifting the powdered sugar prior to adding it to the bowl. This will reduce lumps and give you a soft, creamy finish.
- For the best results when mixing your frosting together, your cream cheese should be at room temperature.
How to serve:
- Serve these delicious treats anywhere. Everyone will love them!
- Try them for breakfast by leaving off the cream cheese frosting (or don’t if you roll that way, we do!) and dip them in to your morning coffee topped with our delicious sweet cream cold foam.
Storage
- These cookies will keep in the fridge for 3 days if kept in an airtight container. If you want them to last longer, we recommend storing them in the freezer.
- Unused frosting will last quite awhile in the fridge, but you can freeze it, too. Just take it out to thaw when you want to use it and give it a good mix to bring it back to that soft and smooth consistency.
FAQs
Absolutely! Just swap out the all purpose flour for a gluten free 1 to 1 flour.
You could in a pinch, but it’s not recommended because the grated carrots at the store are thicker cut and will result in a less soft, less moist, less chewy cookie.
You could, but it is not recommended as you run the risk of overheating them. It’s better to increase the surface area of the butter or cream cheese by cutting it into cubes or slices, then let it sit at room temperature for 10-20 minutes.
Like this cookie recipe? Try some of our others:
- The only oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need.
- The most perfect sourdough chocolate chip cookie.
- Blueberry oatmeal cookies
- Sourdough Breakfast Cookies
- Sourdough carrot cake cookies
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back, comment on the post, and give it 5 stars! Please and thank you. Tag me on Instagram @ablossominglife.
Carrot Cake Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup regular sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup all purpose flour or gluten free 1-to-1 flour
- 2 cups oats quick or rolled oats
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 cup shredded carrots
- 3/4 cup raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 8 oz full fat cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 2.5 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together your butter and sugar using the paddle attachment. When it starts to be crumbly, add in the honey and whip until nice and fluffy, about three to five minutes.
- While the butter and sugar are whipping, add flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, shredded carrots, and raisins to a large bowl. Whisk together until well mixed. Set aside.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract to the wet ingredients and combine on low speed.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through.
- Scoop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes for larger cookies and 10-12 minutes for smaller cookies, or until the edges start to become golden.
- When the cookies are done, allow them to cool on the pan, or transfer them to a wire rack after about 5 minutes. Once your cookies are completely cool they are ready to frost.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Combine butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat until smooth. Add vanilla extract and salt and combine.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined. Increase speed to medium high and whip until fluffy.
- Frost your completely cooled cookies by putting a big dollop on top of each cookie and spreading to cover the top.
Notes
- Do your freshly grated carrots have too much moisture? Just pat them dry with a clean dish towel or paper towel prior to adding them to the dry mix.
- Don’t be tempted to eat one hot out of the oven. These cookies are a bit fragile when they first come out, but they firm up as they cool. Make sure to leave them on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes to set up before you transfer them.
- When making your frosting, we highly recommend sifting the powdered sugar prior to adding it to the bowl. This will reduce lumps and give you a soft, creamy finish.
- For the best results when mixing your frosting together, your cream cheese should be at room temperature.
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