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.
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!
A says
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 says
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 says
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 says
You’re welcome. Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
Jessica says
Hi there’s just so many comments to read I’m sure someone else has asked this question. Can these cookies be frozen? And how long to defrost and enjoy?
Alyson says
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 says
Also I use the original 1 cup flour per batch.
Allison says
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Karen J says
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 says
I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for sharing your changes. 🙂
Melody says
Swerve brown gives a chart to use to substitute for regular brown sugar. The amounts are not a 1 to 1 ratio, so you added extra but they still came out not overly sweet?
Dana says
These are so perfect! Carrot cake is a favorite in our house and I really liked this sandwich cookie take on those flavors.
Allison says
Yay! Thanks!
Gina says
Carrot cake is my favorite dessert hands down so I’m completely smitten with these cookies. Love the filling!
Kate says
What happens if you grind the oats and the coconut?
Allison says
I’ve only made this recipe as written, but I would guess that they would still turn out.
Mary says
Question. I want to make yr recipe but I can not use coconut. So what can I replace coconut with?
My husband is highly allergic to coconut.
Allison says
You can leave it out. I’d add an extra tablespoon or two of oats just to make sure the dough isn’t too wet.
Britt says
Made these for my holiday party, and they were a huge hit! I wasn’t even left with any to take home with me, so I will definitely make them again! I used the additional 3 TBSP of flour and had no issues with them being flat. I also doubled the cream cheese but not the powdered sugar because I love a double stuffed cookie and prefer more tangy cream cheese frosting.
Allison says
Perfect! Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
Latisha Curry says
Hi, can these be frozen?
Allison says
That should be ok. The texture might change a bit after thawing.