The Best Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
These soft and chewy Carrot Cake Cookies are the ultimate spring treat! Packed with warm spices, fresh carrots, and topped with delicious cream cheese frosting, they deliver all the best flavours of carrot cake in hand held form. This recipe is a favourite!
Equipment
- 1 Large Baking Sheet
- 1 hand mixer
- 1 Measuring Cups/Spoons
- 3 mixing bowls
Ingredients
The Cookie Dough:
- 1 Cup Butter Softened
- 2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Large Egg Room Temperature
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 + 1/2 Cups Grated Carrots
- 1 Cup Rolled Oats
- 1/4 Cup Pecans Chopped for toppings
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp All Spice
The Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz Cream Cheese Full Fat & Room Temperature
- 1/2 Cup Butter Softened to Room Temperature
- 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together using a hand mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the egg and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula then beat in the vanilla extract.
- Peel and finely grate the carrots. Then add the grated carrots and oats to the cookie dough mixture and beat until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice.
- With the hand mixer on medium low speed, add the dry mixture into the wet mixture and beat until just combined.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough into balls and place them on the parchment lined baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies just start to brown. The cookies should look slightly underdone when you're pulling them from the oven - this is what we want. The cookies will continue to cook a bit as they cool and will help them stay chewy and soft. Transfer to a cooling rack and let the carrot cake cookies cool fully before topping with frosting.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl cream together the softened butter and cream cheese for 2-3 minutes until soft and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl as required then mix in the vanilla extract.
- Add the powdered sugar and beat on medium high until fully incorporated and smooth.
- Add the frosting to each carrot cake cookie with a butter knife, small spatula, or pipe it on for a detailed look. Top with chopped pecans, cinnamon sugar, or extra grated carrot for a splash of orange and enjoy!
Adding the powdered sugar all at once can make a bit off a messy sugar cloud. To reduce the mess, keep the mixer on low speed and add the sugar in smaller batches until mostly incorporated, then up the speed to medium high until smooth.
Notes
Temperature ingredients: Ensure the butter and cream cheese are both softened to room temperature for both the cookies and cream cheese frosting to ensure a smooth consistency.
How to store the cookies: The cookies can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or frozen (without the frosting) for up to 3 months. I would suggest making fresh cream cheese icing for the thawed cookies when needed.