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: A combination of oats, coconut, and brown sugar help make these cookies soft and chewy.
- Perfectly sweet: Brown sugar, granulated sugar, sweetened coconut, and powdered sugar make these cookies deliciously sweet.
- Filled with cream cheese frosting: This delicious treat is two cookies plus a generous portion of sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting.
- Easier than traditional carrot cake: These cookies have a rustic-homemade element that keeps them from being fussy (no fancy layer cake frosting techniques needed). They’re a delicious grab and go treat; no forks or plates needed!
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 60 minutes. Scoop and place dough balls 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.
- Use my tips below for getting perfectly round cookies.
- Love carrot cake? Try our Carrot Cake Bars, too!
Baking with carrots
Type of 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.
Grating carrots: 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.
Remove excess moisture: I recommend briefly squeezing the excess moisture out of the carrots using a clean towel or paper towels.
Measuring: Fluff the shredded and drained carrots with a fork and scoop them into the measuring cup loosely. Do not pack them in.
How to get perfectly round cookies
Option 1: Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven place a round glass, bowl, or cookie cutter (larger than the cookie) upside down over the top of the cookie. 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.
Option 2: Immediately after the cookies come out the oven use the back of a spoon to gently push the edges inward to create clean edges and a perfect round shape.
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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*
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup old fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats
- ¼ cup sweetened shredded coconut
- scant ⅔ cup finely grated carrots, not packed, see note
- 3 tablespoons 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 both sugars for one minute 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 45-60 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 (they will be very delicate). If necessary, rotate your cookie sheets halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Follow notes below for shaping the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheets placed on wire racks. 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, proceed with 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.
- Spread frosting on the underside of half of the cookies and top with another cookie. Transfer to the refrigerator to firm up.
Video
Notes
*Flour:
Fluff the flour with your measuring cup or whisk it to lighten it up. Lightly scoop a heaping portion and level it off with the back of a knife.Carrots:
Type of 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. Grating carrots: 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. Remove excess moisture: I recommend briefly squeezing the excess moisture out of the grated carrots using a clean towel or paper towels. Don’t squeeze them completely dry, just a few squeezes to remove the excess liquid. Measuring: Fluff the shredded and drained carrots with a fork and scoop them into the measuring cup loosely. Do not pack them in.How to get perfectly round cookies:
Option 1: Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven place a round glass, bowl, or cookie cutter (larger than the cookie) upside down over the top of the cookie. 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.
Option 2: Immediately after the cookies come out the oven use the back of a spoon to gently push the edges inward to create clean edges and a perfect round shape.
Serving and storage:
These cookies are best within 1-2 days of making them. Store them in the refrigerator and eat them from the fridge or bring to room temp before serving. Recipe adapted from Cooking ChannelNutrition
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!
Caitlan
Decided to make these cookies because I had a sweet tooth for carrot cake. Absolutely love them!! I did use quick oats because I didn’t see that it said don’t use them but they still turned out great! Thanks for sharing.
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Heidi asbell
As a beginner baker, in your recipe you indicate brown sugar. Is that packed light brown sugar?
Celebrating Sweets
You can use light or dark brown sugar. You’ll want to press/pack it into the measuring cup. Enjoy!
Regina Treml
OMG AMAZING! These cookies are fabulous and the recipe was perfect, we didn’t change a thing! Thank you for blessing us with your talent ❤️
Regina Treml
I forgot to mention that I did use quick oats because I didn’t realize it said not to and it was still perfect! My daughter is very picky about oats and she said that it was the perfect amount and not too much. Thanks again!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Gina Campana
Excellent recipe! ❤️❤️❤️ I always make the recipe as outlined when doing it for the 1st time and then make changes on the 2nd round if it is needed. My husband loved these and so did I. I will definitely make this again. Hopefully, I get to share these with friends when this crisis is over. I was thinking that this could be made gluten free easily. I have some friends that have wheat allergies and it’s good to have some various recipes that are easy to prepare without wheat and not have to make too many modifications. Thank you for the great recipe and tips! Stay healthy!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. Enjoy!
Adam Rice
These cookies are SO GOOD. The only thing I would add is a cookie cooling rack is needed because if you stack the cookies they will stick to eachother.
Celebrating Sweets
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for the suggestion. 🙂
KatherineK
Can’t eat coconut, is there a substitute I can use? Or just leave the coconut out? Hope to bake these very soon.
Celebrating Sweets
You can leave it out. Enjoy!
KatherineK
Thank you! Baking these very soon, look soooo great!
Pat Satterfield
Couldn’t give a rating ,I have a question before I make them.Can you make these and freeze them?
Celebrating Sweets
Yes you can. I prefer adding the frosting after freezing and thawing. You can layer parchment paper between the cookies to keep them from sticking. Enjoy!
Sally Ali
Hi am from Malaysia our country have alot of Fresh coconut can i just use grated Fresh coconut?
Celebrating Sweets
It might be too wet. If so, pat it dry with a towel. Enjoy!
karis
hello i made this recipe and it’s so damn delicious. May i know the shelf life of this carrot cake cookies and how to store them
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
These cookies are best within 1-2 days of making them. Store them in the refrigerator and eat them from the fridge or bring to room temp before serving.
Sameegah
I agree with you everyone needs more cream cheese frosting in their lives. Your recipes are amazing! I love this one as I adore carrot cake just for the frosting so this is great! I live in South Africa and one issue I always have is that out brown sugar doesn’t quite look like yours in America. Ours looks exactly like normal granulated sugar but just lightly golden brown yours seem finer. Does this affect the baking processes?
Allison
Hi! Our brown sugar here is moist (it is granulated sugar that has molasses added to it). The extra moisture does affect the final outcome of baked goods. You could try stirring some molasses or honey into granulated sugar to replicate what we have in the US. Best of luck playing around with it. Happy baking! 🙂