These carrot cake cookies are moist, oatmeal-based cookies that come together in a flash. They are topped with a generous topping of signature sweet cream cheese frosting (and sprinkles, if you’re feeling festive). These bite-sized treats are much simpler than making a whole cake!
I know I just posted a carrot cake recipe a few days ago, but with Easter right around the corner I’m feeling in the mood for all the carrot-based desserts, and I wanted to re-share another older recipe with you.
I was never happy with my original photos for these carrot cake cookies (taken two years ago!), so I’ve pretty much neglected them for some time, despite the fact that they are one of my favorite cookies… even though they are made with carrots.
As with my cheesecake layered carrot cake, I think a lot of that has to do with the copious amounts of cream cheese frosting piled high atop each and every carrot cake cookie.
In fact, when I first set out to make these carrot cake cookies, I was really setting out to make a tasty vehicle by which to transport hefty servings of cream cheese frosting to my mouth.
I think that I accomplished my goal, but to just talk about the cream cheese icing really robs these cookies of a lot of their due credit.
A lot of thought and care really did go into the recipe for this “cream cheese frosting vehicle”. I wanted cookies that were soft and moist (because that’s how carrot cake needs to be), but still sturdy enough to hold said copious amounts of frosting. Enough flavor to be delicious even on their own, without a frosting crown.
And with or without some festively (carrot) colored sprinkles.
It took a few tries to get these just right, but here they are.
As I said, these cookies can be eaten plain (but why would you want to when there’s cream cheese frosting to be made). They have an oatmeal base and a distinct carrot-cake flavor. If you’d like, you can absolutely add raisins to your own cookies (a common feature in many carrot cakes), but as I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t like raisins and so they have been omitted here.
Each bite is like digging into a freshly cut slice of carrot cake, no fork required.
I brought these cookies to work and no one had any complaints about my liberal frosting application.
My co-workers, they get me 😉
Enjoy!
How to Make Carrot Cake Cookies
Carrot Cake Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup butter softened (226g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed (200g)
- ½ cup sugar (100g)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups old fashioned oats (295g)
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (215g)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup grated/shredded carrots (120g)
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (120g)
- ½-1 cup raisins, optional depending on preference (80-160g)
Frosting
- ¾ cup salted butter softened (170g)
- 12 oz cream cheese softened (340g)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar (565g)
- 1 Tablespoons corn starch (this helps the frosting to maintain its shape - it's less likely to make a mess your hands this way!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C)
- Place your butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl and use an electric beater) and beat until creamy, about 1 minute
- Add sugars and cream together until light and fluffy
- Add vanilla and then beat in eggs, one at a time, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl between each addition.
- In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet, pausing periodically to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- With mixer on low-speed, stir in carrots and walnuts/pecans (and raisins, if using)
- Drop cookies by rounded spoonful (about 1 ½ Tbsp scoop) onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Bake 11-12 minutes on 350F (177C). Cookies may appear slightly underbaked at their centers still.
- Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on tray then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely before icing.
For Frosting
- In stand mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese.
- Add vanilla.
- Gradually add in powdered sugar, about ⅓ cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add corn starch and stir.
- Spread frosting onto cookies or transfer frosting into a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 2D tip and pipe on top of cooled cookies.
Nutrition
You Might Also Like:
Cheesecake Layered Carrot Cake
This Carrot Cake Cookies post was originally published 4/13/2015, photos and text have been updated 3/30/2017
Renee'
They were the big hit of the party.
Sugar Spun Run
That is awesome, Renee! I am so glad that everyone enjoyed the carrot cake cookies! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
Wendy Willoughby
The flavor on these was great, but mine completely went flat when baking, literally look NOTHING like yours! I even tried freezing my second round for 10 min… same result. What did I do wrong????
Sam
Hi Wendy! You may have needed to add just a little more flour. 🙂
Daniel Macy
Hello I’m in no way affiliated with this website, the recipe sounds excellent and the website is beautiful. From my baking experience one thing I would highly recommend is since these are in essence a rendition of oatmeal cookies try refrigerating the dough for a few hours and then rolling them into balls and bake until just golden brown around the edges ( typically about nine minutes at 350 in my oven) and look for pillowy soft and well risen cookies! I’m actually making this recipe now and I’m chilling mine for a few hours and baking as I said I do with all my oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies!! Best of luck friends and please feel free to follow me on Instagram Chef_320…my page isn’t nearly as well constructed as this website but I’m a personal Chef from San Diego and I love to make new friends that enjoy cooking baking etc!!
Jo
Any nutrition other than the calories? I know someone who would love these but cant have too much fiber at once!
Sam
Hi Jo! Unfortunately I don’t have a full nutritional breakdown. You can always enter the ingredients on sites like myfitnesspal.com. 🙂
Wona
I’m wondering did you use old fashioned Oates or the 1 minute kind? Seems like the old fashioned might make them too dry.
Sam
Old fashioned oats for these cookies. 🙂
marina
I never made this good carrot cookies!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Michelle Strahan
These cookies are fantastic! I baked them for a Christmas cookie party where all the attendees judge for best tasting cookies. Out of 20 entries I won first place! I highly recommend these!!
Sam
Yay! I am so glad everyone enjoyed them! 🙂
Vickie
I signed up and got the 8 cookie recipe book. I noticed in the Carrot cake cookie recipe the 3rd line is missing the ingredient, it just says 1/2 cup100 g. I assumed it was white sugar and when I checked the recipe here, I guessed right. You might want to fix that in the e-book! I can’t wait to try these!
Sam
Whoops, I absolutely do! Thank you for letting me know, Vickie! I hope you love the cookies!
Tracy Gabriele
So amazing!!!! I made these for Easter and people were fighting over them and trying to hide them from each other! This is the third recipe of yours I’ve tried, and every one has been a huge hit with everyone. Even my picky husband has loved them all!! I can’t wait to try another dessert.
Charliena
Made these for Easter dinner and they were AHHHMAZING! I followed the recipe exactly (including the raisins YUM) and they turned out great. I used my bigger cookie scoop so only got about 2 1/2 dozen cookies and took about 18-20 min to bake. I will definitely be making these again, everyone loved them and requested your recipe. 🙂
Andy
What cute sprinkles! I’ve never seen that kind. What brand are they and where did you buy them?
Sam
Thanks, Andy! I actually found these at WalMart, they’re “Chocomaker” brand 🙂
Mary S.
These are still my favorite cookies ever! I love the sprinkles added on top!
Leela
I made these because my husband loves carrot cake and I didn’t want to mess with making a cake. I used equal exchange semisweet chocolate chips instead of raisins and nuts. Very yummy! He took most of them to work and brought home an empty container and a request for “more, please!”
Sam
I’m so glad that everyone enjoyed the cookies, Lela! Thank you for commenting and letting me know how they turned out, and I love that you used chocolate chips–yum!! 🙂
Stacey
I’m baking 3 doz of these for a friend… any suggestions on how to best package them for transport?
Sam
Hi Stacey! Here’s a great article on how to ship cookies: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2016/11/10/heres-the-best-way-to-ship-cookies/
HOWEVER, if you’re using the frosting, things could get a little messy. I would recommend making the cookies a bit smaller and then making sandwiches out of them (sandwiching the cookies around some frosting) or maybe ship the frosting in a sealed container for the recipient to spread on as desired.
I hope this helps!
Mary S.
These cookies are amazing! Everyone loves them. I recommend letting them sit in the fridge overnight after frosting for the best cookies ever.
Sam
Thank you so much for the sweet comment, Mary! I’m so glad you love them!! 🙂
gamebrain89
At about 7,000 feet above sea level, needed ~3 extra minutes baking time, turned out great otherwise!
Sam
Glad to hear they turned out (I don’t know much about high altitude baking)! 🙂