It’s carrot cake…but like, cookie style.
This carrot cake cookie recipe is easy to make and it’s a perfect light dessert. They’re good for almost any occasion but they’d be a great idea for this upcoming Easter weekend.
Ingredients
Cookie Ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Frosting Ingredients
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Recipe
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl – whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl – mix together the butter and brown sugar until combined. Add the egg and vanilla then mix until batter is smooth.
- Add small bowl ingredients into the large bowl. Mix together until then add the carrots and pecans. Mix until combined.
- Spoon 2 tablespoon sized balls onto your cookie sheet. Leave roughly 2 inches in between each cookie.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes.
- While cookies are baking, begin to make the frosting.
- In a small bowl – mix together the butter and cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on medium-high until the frosting is thick and smooth.
- Frost cookies after they have cooled then top with pecans.
Special Notes & Tips
- Carrots – Actually shred your carrots. The store-bought ones will be too dry. Shredding your carrots will make the cookies moist and taste way better. Shredding sounds like a pain in the ass but it’ll only take you an extra 5 minutes, it’ll be worth it.
- Cookie Size – There isn’t a science to it. 2 tablespoons of batter for each cookie is an eye estimate. I don’t roll them into perfect balls. I scoop then plop them onto the cookie sheet. Some people roll them into balls then flatten them for a certain shape, I don’t.
- Toppings – I use pecans but you could also do walnuts or no nuts at all. You could also sprinkle cinnamon on top too. Maybe get a little crazy…try nuts and cinnamon together! Whatever floats your boat.
- Baking Time – I usually pull my cookies out a minute before every recipe says too. I like the edges a little hard and a soft middle. That’s just my preference. Most carrot cake cookie recipes say to pull them at 13 minutes but I do 12 minutes. If your cookies are smaller though then you may want to check on them around 10-11 minutes. A good rule of thumb is to pull them when you see the edges are golden brown then stick a toothpick in the middle. There should be little to no batter when you pull out the toothpick.