Get a head start on your spring baking with this fun and delicious twist on carrot cake – Carrot Cake Cookies! Soft and chewy cookies filled with grated carrots, oats, and cinnamon sandwiched with sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting.
This is a fabulous recipe for Easter, Mother’s Day or any Spring occasion. These Carrot Cake Cookies are always met with rave reviews. Prefer a more traditional carrot cake? We have that, too: Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Frosting.
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These cookies are
- Soft and chewy
- Perfectly sweet
- Loaded with oats, carrots, and coconut
- Filled with cream cheese frosting
- Easier to serve than carrot cake (no plates or forks)
Recipe overview
Cookies
Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
Add egg and vanilla extract.
Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
Add oats, carrots, and shredded coconut.
Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Scoop and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes.
Frosting
Once the cookies have cooled, proceed with the frosting:
Beat butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar and vanilla.
Assembly
Spread frosting on the underside of half of the cookies and top with another cookie.
Recipe tips
- Butter should be softened just slightly, but still cool to the touch.
- Do not use carrots packed in water.
- Use a cookie scoop so that all of the cookies are the same size (I use a 2 tsp scoop).
- Make the cookies a little bit on the smaller side (2 tsp works great) since each sandwich includes two cookies and frosting.
- Bake the cookies on parchment lined baking sheets.
- Pull the cookies from the oven when the center is still slightly underdone. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet. This will ensure a chewy cookie.
Grating carrots
It’s important that you grate full size carrots for this recipe. Do not use baby carrots or carrots that are packed in water. They will add too much moisture to the dough.
Grate the carrots using the small holes on a box grater. This ensures that the carrot pieces are fine and they will soften during the short bake time.
When measuring the grated carrots, gently scoop them into the measuring cup. Do not pack them in.
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Recipe
Carrot Cake Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened slightly but still cool
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup old fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats
- ½ cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
- ⅔ cup finely grated carrots, NOT packed, see note
- ¼ cup finely chopped walnuts, optional
Cream cheese frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, plus more, if needed
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Cookies:
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (do not place the cookies directly on the baking sheets, they will spread too much).
- Beat butter and sugars for 1minute until light and creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine, scraping the bowl if necessary.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low until just combined. Add the oats, coconut, carrots and walnuts (if using) and mix until just combined.
- Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.
- Scoop the dough into 2-teaspoon sized mounds and place a couple inches apart on the cookie sheets (make sure they are mounded and not flat). Ensure that the cookie dough mounds are similar in size so that cookies will bake up the same size.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, until golden brown and still slightly underdone in the center. If necessary, rotate your cookie sheets halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Optional (for perfectly round cookies): immediately after the cookies come out the oven place a round glass, bowl, or cookie cutter (larger than the cookie) upside down over the top of the cookie and gently but quickly swirl the glass/bowl/cookie cutter in a circular motion. The edges of the cookie will bump against the inside of the glass creating a perfectly round shape. Note: This only works when the cookies are hot, straight from the oven, and still on the warm baking sheet.
- Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, chilling the dough between batches and allowing the baking sheets to cool completely before adding the next batch of dough.
- Once the cookies have cooled to room temperature, place the baked cookies in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. This will help them firm up and make them easier to handle when adding the frosting.
Frosting:
- Beat cream cheese and butter until well combined. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and creamy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. If the frosting appears too thin, add a little more powdered sugar or place it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up.
- Spread frosting on the underside of half of the cookies and top with another cookie.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
A
Cookies are extremely flat. I did a batch for 13 minutes and they were still underdone and fell apart. The second batch was in for probably 20 min and they do seem to be more firm but I didn’t get enough good ones to make it worth sandwiching them.
Allison
Did you follow the tips in the notes section? Also, they need to cool completely. If you try to pick them up when they are still warm they might fall apart.
gigi
TRying this for first time….pretty awesome! After I shredded my carrots (I only had baby carrots) I let them “dry” a bit spread out in a large bowl. Cookies came out fine, I used a cookie scopp and they barely spread. I baked mine at 350 for about 12 minutes, and let them cool on pan for a minute, then transferred to a wire rack. Still soft but firm enough to fall apart. For icing I only used a cup if conf. sugar b/c I like to taste the cream cheese without it being too sweet. I noticed it was a TAD softer than I wanted it b/c I didnt use all of the conf. sugar, but I was starting to lose that cream cheese flavor b/c the sugar was starting to over power it. It tastes great, but next time maybe I’d add maybe 6oz of cream cheese for more c.c. flavor. Assembled the filling squished out a lot whenI bit down. So I am putting filling in fridge for a bit. GREAT RECIPE thank you
Allison
You’re welcome. Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
Alyson
I’ve made this recipe multiple times over the last few year and it never disappoints. I have found that squeezing some of the moisture out of the carrots is beneficial to the texture along with using pastry flour instead of all purpose flour (1:2, whole wheat to white pastry flours). The end result is a crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside cookie that my family and friends love. Thank you so much for sharing you recipe with us!
Alyson
Also I use the original 1 cup flour per batch.
Allison
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Karen J
I did make some alterations to this, but am still very happy with the way these came out. We are watching our carb intake, so I used King Arthur’s Keto Wheat Flour in place of all purpose, King Arthur’s Baking Sugar Alternative for the regular sugar, and Swerve Brown Sugar for the regular brown sugar. All were 1:1 replacements. I went with just the cookies and didn’t make the filling, but my husband said that will really take them over the top for the next time (and there definitely will be a next time!). These were delicious, not overly sweet, and let us have a treat that didn’t completely derail our eating plan.
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for sharing your changes. 🙂
Dana
These are so perfect! Carrot cake is a favorite in our house and I really liked this sandwich cookie take on those flavors.
Allison
Yay! Thanks!
Gina
Carrot cake is my favorite dessert hands down so I’m completely smitten with these cookies. Love the filling!