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These Carrot Cake Cookies are soft, tender, loaded with shredded carrots, and topped with a fantastic cream cheese frosting. They taste just like carrot cake but better because they’re individual cookies that are easy to make and share!
Why We Love Carrot Cake Cookies
If it’s springtime and Easter time, you can bet I’m going crazy for all the carrot cake recipes like these soft carrot cake cookies. They are a great way to get that fix without making and baking a whole cake.
They have everything – freshly shredded carrots, cinnamon-spice, chopped nuts, and a dreamy cream cheese frosting to top them off. These are Mel’s favorite cookies! He loves carrot cake anything and gives these five stars. This is a soft and chewy cookie recipe with tons of flavor and cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients in Carrot Cookies
- Cinnamon: for that spice cake/carrot cake flavor
- Unsalted Butter: make sure it’s softened
- Brown sugar: I love the flavor brown sugar adds to these cookies
- Large egg and Vanilla extract: again, typical for cookies
- Shredded carrots: shred your own carrots using a box grater for best results.
- Chopped pecans or walnuts: optional for some crunch
How to Make Carrot Cake Cookies from Scratch
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar on medium speed. Mix in the egg and pure vanilla extract until smooth Add the dry ingredients and mix. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl while mixing. Stir in freshly grated carrots and chopped nuts.
- Scoop two tablespoons of cookie dough to form each ball. Place them two inches apart on a prepared baking sheet. Gently press each ball to flatten them.
- Bake the cookies for 13 to 16 minutes at 350 degrees f. The cookies are done when they are no longer glossy on top. Allow them to cool on a wire rack before frosting.
- Make the cream cheese frosting by mixing all the ingredients in the large bowl of a stand mixer. Frost cooled cookies as desired.
Expert Tips
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop the cookies so they’re uniform in size. Use any size cookie scoop you want.
- Don’t forget to lightly press the cookie ball with the palm of your hand before baking. Don’t flatten too much but they need a little help to get started.
- Swap out walnuts for pecans or omit the nuts entirely!
- Don’t use pre-shredded carrots. Be sure to shred your own so they soften in the oven.
- You can frost these cookies with a knife your piping bag – your choice. I also love sprinkling some chopped nuts or cinnamon onto the top of each cookie for decoration.
FAQ
No, you can definitely leave them plain, but cream cheese frosting is SO good on them!
Yes for sure! Just make the cookies 1-tablespoon size instead of 2-tablespoon size.
Yes you can tint the frosting any color you like. Or dust the tops with cinnamon instead of nuts.
Make sure you press them down a bit with the palm of your hand before baking. These stay puffy and soft – like carrot cake – and don’t spread much.
Carrot Cake Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 ¾ cups (217g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup (150g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (90g) shredded carrots (see note)
- ½ cup (56g) chopped pecans or walnuts
Frosting
- 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 ounces (112g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1½ cups (170g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅙ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a small bowl, whisk flour with baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer 1-2 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until smooth. Stir in carrots and nuts.
- Scoop 2 tablespoon size balls onto cookie sheets 2-inches apart. Lightly flatten with the palms of your hand.
- Bake for 13-16 minutes or until no longer glossy. Cool before frosting.
- To make frosting: beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Slowly mix in powdered sugar then add vanilla and salt. Beat on medium high speed until smooth.
- Frost cookies as desired, top with a dusting of cinnamon or finely chopped nuts.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze (frosted or unfrosted) for up to 2 months.
Recipe Notes
- Be sure to shred your own carrots – don’t use the pre-shredded kind. Also – don’t pack them in the measuring cup.
- You can use walnuts or pecans in this recipe or omit them. Substitute/add raisins if you want!
My dough set up quite firmly, as I’ve been trying to avoid overly soft butter as of late. At about 13 minutes I pulled them out and thought as I tasted them “Hmmmm. A bit dry.” Fast forward after cooling and they were unexpectedly more moist – perfect with the frosting. I may add some nutmeg and/or raisins next time but otherwise these were quite a treat!
I thought these were GREAT! Super easy and very tasty. Making again now for company tonight!!
These turned out great! I plan on making them again tomorrow. Thanks so much for posting.
Will the recipe still work if I replace butter with canola or avocado oil?
I don’t recommend oil in cookie recipes. That said I think it should still work, you will want to use just a little bit less (maybe 7 tablespoons instead of the full 1/2 cup)
These are fantastic! It´s true, the same satisfaction as eating a piece of carrot cake. I grated fresh carrots like you suggested (in my f. processor). My dough was crumbly, but came together nicely with a bit of milk. I baked for 16 minutes. Thanks for posting this fabulous recipe!
Can carrot baby food be used instead of shredded carrots?
Ty
Phyllis
I have not tried baby food in these. If you try it let me know how it works!
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