Carrot Cake Cookies

These soft, spiced cookies are bursting with carrot cake flavor and are topped with a creamy dreamy cream cheese frosting. This is a great recipe if you are craving carrot cake but don’t feel like baking and frosting a whole cake.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword carrot cake cookie recipe, carrot cake cookies, carrot cake cookies with cream cheese frosting, carrot cake cookies with cream cheese icing, carrot cookie recipe, carrot cookies, carrot cookies with cream cheese frosting

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 12

Chill Time 30

Total Time 57

Servings cookies

Calories 305kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg(s) large
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup carrots finely grated
1/2 cup walnuts chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese softened
2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease it.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a medium-sized bowl until well combined. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract, beating well until fully combined.
Gradually add the dry and wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Stir in the grated carrots, nuts, and raisins until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Chill the dough in the refrigerator (covered) for 30 minutes to prevent the cookies from spreading too much.
Using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (if your baking sheet is too small, you can bake them in 2-3 batches).
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cookies are cooling, prepare the cream cheese frosting. In a medium bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, beating until the frosting is smooth and spreadable.
Once the cookies are completely cooled, spread a dollop of cream cheese frosting onto the flat side of each cookie. You can use a knife or offset spatula to spread the frosting evenly.
You can decorate the cookies with ground cinnamon, some finely chopped walnuts, or grated carrots.

Notes

Feel free to omit the nuts and/or raisins from the recipe. You can also substitute with other chopped nuts such as pecans or dried fruit.

Make smaller cookies and sandwich them together with a dollop of cream cheese frosting in the middle to create adorable mini-sandwich cookies.

To make oatmeal carrot cake cookies, simply replace half a cup of the all-purpose flour with old-fashioned rolled oats.

Nutrition