Soft and chewy, this Carrot Cake Cookie recipe has the spiced taste of a carrot cake but in cookie form. Top them with a tangy cream cheese frosting and dive in!
Do you ever have those days where you’re in the mood to bake, but you feel alllll the cookie vibes going on?
Yeah, me too.
Sometimes, I’m craving carrot cake but not necessarily in cake form, and that’s when I reach for these soft cookies.
It's no secret that I love carrot cake. In fact, it's one of my all-time favorite desserts, and I'm basically the #1 carrot cake fan.
So when I made this recipe for carrot cake cookies, I just had to share them. Let me tell you, they do not disappoint!
These are soft and chewy cookies, with all the delicious flavors of carrot cake in cookie form. Plus, they're pretty easy to make - even for beginner bakers.
Why you'll love these Carrot Cake Cookies
The unfrosted carrot cake cookies taste just as good as the cookies topped with tangy cream cheese frosting. That rarely happens!
These cookies have oats in them (hello, fiber!), but you can't taste it. I figure if I can make a cookie recipe a little healthier, I'm game!
It's a great recipe to make any time of year.
Dough can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until you're ready to bake. Cover your batter bowl with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
Carrot Cake Cookie Recipe Ingredients
For the cookie recipe:
Unsalted butter at room temperature - remember to set your butter out before you get started on this recipe
Granulated sugar
Brown sugar
Eggs
Vanilla
All-purpose flour
Baking soda - helps to make the cookies light and fluffy
Salt - activates the baking soda
Spices - we’re using cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg - yum!
Oats - use quick oats in this recipe. If you only have old-fashioned oats you can give them a quick whirl in the blender or food processor to break them down.
Carrots - use a box grater or food processor to grate your carrots. These will have a lot of more moisture than the grated carrots at your grocery store.
Walnuts - these are optional but add a great texture addition. I feel like nuts always get the optional category so if you’re feeling generous, go for it. You can use the leftovers in these chocolate chip walnut cookies!
Frosting Ingredients
It’s totally up to you if you want to top them with the cream cheese frosting. If you can’t decide, you can always add frosting to half the cookies!
To make the frosting you’ll need cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract.
How to Make Carrot Cake Cookies
Preheat your oven.
Cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl until the mixture is light and fluffy.
One at a time, add your eggs. I like to break the eggs in a separate cup in case there's any egg shells incidents that occur. Add the vanilla extract.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
Stir in the oats, carrots and walnuts into the dry ingredients.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold well to mix your batter.
Scoop by tablespoonfuls or use a medium cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies start to brown.
Remove from the pan and let cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool.
The cookies will be super soft when they come out of the oven so be sure to let them sit.
How to freeze baked cookies
After you’ve baked and cooled you cookies, you can place them on a pan lined with waxed paper or parchment paper. Pop them in the freezer until they’ve hardened.
Place them into a freezer safe container with plastic wrap or waxed paper between layers for up to 3-4 months.
*Don’t frost the cookies if you plan to freeze them.
Tips for the best carrot cake cookies
For easy cleanup, line your cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat
If you forget to set the butter out to soften ahead of time use this trick from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
The center of the cookies will be very soft; look for the edges to brown.
Cool the cookies completely before frosting.
Instead of frosting the tops of the cookies, you could put the cream cheese filling between cookies and make them into a cookie sandwich ala whoopie pie style. Those would be a huge hit, too!
How to store leftover cookies
Store cookies in an airtight container.
If you're stacking the cookies, you'll need to place a sheet of waxed paper between layers so they don't stick together.
More cookie recipes
Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
If you make this Carrot Cake Cookie recipe, leave a recipe rating or comment below. I'd love to hear from you!!
Carrot Cake Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
For the cookies
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup sugar granulated
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 ½ cups quick oats
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ¾ cup walnuts finely chopped
Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and vanilla extract and mix well.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir in the oats, carrots and walnuts into the dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold well to mix your batter.
- Scoop by tablespoonfuls or use a medium cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies start to brown. Remove from the pan and let cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool.
- To make the frosting
- To make frosting, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth.
- Whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until well blended.
- Frost or pipe frosting onto cooled cookies. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts if desired.
Notes
- Keep refrigerated for up to one week in a covered container. Do not stack as they will stick together. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Not a walnut fan? Use pecans instead or omit them all together.
- Do not use old-fashioned oats; I recommend quick oats. You can pulse regular oats in a food processor or blender to break down regular oats if needed.
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
