Easy Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 35

Servings: cookies

Calories: 236kcal

Author: Jazzmine Woodard

Soft, moist carrot cake-flavored cookies made from scratch and finished with fluffy cream cheese frosting

Print Recipe

Equipment

1 sheet pan
parchment paper
1 small bowl or cup
1 hand grater or food processor
2 mixing bowls
1 whisk
1 silicone spatula or cooking spoon
1 cookie scoop ⅕ T size
1 stand mixer or hand mixer

Ingredients

For the Carrot Cake Cookies

½ cup raisins
½ cup pecans chopped
1 cup grated carrots about one large carrot
½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature
½ cup brown sugar packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon bourbon whiskey or rum, cognac, or vanilla extract
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

1 ¾ cup powdered sugar sifted
6 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
carrot gummy candies optional

Instructions

Prepare your Ingredients: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place raisins in a small cup or bowl and cover with water then set aside. If working with pecan halves, chop them roughly and set aside.
½ cup raisins, ½ cup pecans
Grate the carrot using hand grater or food processor. Place the shredded carrot onto a few layers of paper towels then ball up the towels and squeeze to pull out as much moisture from the carrots as possible. This prevents your cookie dough from becoming too wet.
1 cup grated carrots
Make the Cookie Dough: Use whisk to mix the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl together until uniform. Whisk in the egg until smooth, followed by the vanilla extract and bourbon.
½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon bourbon whiskey
In another bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and ginger.
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir with silicone spatula or kitchen spoon until it starts to come together then fold in the carrots, pecans, and drained raisins until combined (about 10 stirs). Do not over-mix the dough.
Scoop cookie dough onto prepared cookie sheet, leaving at least two inches space between each ball of dough so the cookies don’t spread into each other while baking. (If the cookie dough is too runny to scoop, chill it in the fridge for about 10 minutes. This can happen if you don’t cool the butter to room temperature after melting it.)
Bake the Cookies: Transfer pan to oven and bake on middle or upper rack for about 15 minutes or until golden brown with set edges. The middles of the cookies will be soft but will firm up as they cool. Allow them to cool on pan for a few minutes then transfer to cooling rack(s).
Make the Frosting: Use stand mixer with paddle attachment fitted or hand mixer to beat together powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth, fluffy, and glossy (about five minutes). Pause mixing to scrape down sides of bowl, as needed to incorporate all the ingredients.
6 ounces cream cheese, 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Once cookies are cool, frost and decorate as desired then serve. To make frosting easy, I like to use a dinner spoon to scoop a dollop of frosting into the middle of the cookie, then spread it out, leaving a lil dip or swoop in the middle for the decoration.
carrot gummy candies

Notes

Preparation

Soaking the raisins is optional but it rehydrates them, making them plump and juicy, which provides a better texture in the cookies.

Modifications

Use plant based butter and cream cheese to make these cookies dairy free. And if you make them eggless by using a flax egg instead, this will make completely vegan cookies.

I personally love all the extras in my carrot cake and carrot cake cookies but feel free to leave the raisins or pecans out. Or add in your favorites like shredded coconut, chopped walnuts, or crushed pineapple. Just be sure to drain the pineapple well.

Storage

Because of the cream cheese frosting, these cookies have to be refrigerated. Place them in an airtight container for the best results. Allow them to come to room temperature before serving or enjoy them chilled. They're actually wonderful when cold and will keep for up to one week!

These cookies will keep for up to three months in the freezer. To freeze them unfrosted, place them in an airtight freezer-safe container with slips of parchment paper or wax paper between each cookie to keep them from sticking together. Freeze frosted cookies face-up on a sheet pan until solid (about four hours) then transfer to an airtight freezer-safe container.

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