Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing
This is what happens when a carrot cake has babies with a cookie; it's a slam dunk of all the delicious flavours in a carrot cake but in the form of a chewy, melt in your mouth cookie. Drum roll please. Say hello to my Carrot Cake Cookies. These are ridiculously addictive, satisfying and comforting - all the things I love about a cookie. But what I love most is when I see my family and friends eating them, they're like "this cookie tastes exactly like carrot cake, but it's a COOKIE." Oh I know, boy do I know.
If you haven't already scrolled down this page to download the Recipe Card for my Carrot Cake Cookies, I'll let you in on a little secret. These cookies are gluten free. YES. They're a delicious bomb of flavour that is light, and airy, and luscious. Oh, and they are SO much easier to make than a carrot cake. You don't even need to be an icing wizard to make these look (and taste) good.
You'll love this recipe because:
These cookies are so easy to make and you'll most likely have all of the ingredients in your fridge and pantry.
It tastes like a carrot cake but it takes way less time to bake. Hurrah!
Prep time is minimal and during the bake time, you'll actually save time by making your icing and setting it aside while you wait for the cookies to cool down, which takes about 5 to 10 minutes.
The icing is a dream to work with and you don't need any fancy tools to ice these Carrot Cake Cookies - any butter knife will do.
Did I mention this Carrot Cake Cookie tastes exactly like carrot cake, but it's actually a COOKIE?
It has a lot less sugar than a lot of other recipes on the web. Why do cookie recipes need to have so much sugar?!
It's gluten free!
Making these cookies is a breeze. All you do is whip butter and sugars in a stand mixer until the mixture is light and creamy. I dare you not to start licking the spoon already. Add vanilla bean paste and eggs until the mixture is glossy and gooey. Add gluten free flour (I've linked my favourite gluten free flour below), baking soda, and a good pinch of cinnamon and sea salt until totally combined. Then add grated carrot and chopped pecans. Oh yeah baby, and that's it!
Expert tips
I use this Self Raising Gluten Free Flour, which is actually from Coles. It's one of my favourite GF flours to bake with and I use it for all my GF baking recipes. Don't swap this GF flour for another flour, like almond meal or coconut flour; the consistency of the cookies won't be the same and they won't taste as nice as these do. Promise.
I recommend baking these cookies in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes. They should be a lovely golden brown, not a light golden brown. If you feel like the cookies are a light golden brown, cook in 5 minute increments until they are a lovely golden brown.
Once they’re cooked and iced, store them in the fridge.
FAQs
I am dairy intolerant, how can I make these cookies too?
Oh that's easy! Simply swap the cream cheese and butter for a lactose free option. Philadelphia Cream Cheese (also affectionally known as "Philly") is now making a lactose free version, and I am a fan of Nuttelex.
Could I add in more nuts?
Absolutely! Just make sure the total amount of nuts you put into the recipe is 1 cup.
Do I have to have the cream cheese icing?
Yes. Kidding! No you definitely do not need to make the cream cheese icing. But would you have carrot cake without the icing?
Servings
24 cookies
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
This is what happens when a carrot cake has babies with a cookie; it's a slam dunk of all the delicious flavours in a carrot cake but in the form of a chewy, melt in your mouth chewy. Drum roll please. Say hello to my Carrot Cake Cookies.
These are ridiculously addictive, satisfying and comforting - all the things I love about a cookie. But what I love most about this cookie is that when I see my family and friends eating them, they're like "this cookie tastes exactly like carrot cake, but it's a COOKIE." Oh I know, boy do I know.
If you haven't already scrolled down to download this Recipe Card for my Carrot Cake Cookies, I'll let you in on a little secret. These cookies are gluten free. YES. They're a delicious bomb of flavour that is light, and airy, and luscious. Oh, and they are SO much easier to make than a carrot cake. You don't even need to be an icing wizard to make these look (and taste) good.
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Cookie
1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1/2 white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (you can also use vanilla extract)
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour (I highly recommend using this one - please read notes below if you would like to use an alternative gluten free flour)
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of sea salt
3 carrots, grated
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
Cream Cheese Icing
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup cream cheese
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (you can also use vanilla extract)
Directions
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Set it aside.
Mix (1 cup) butter and sugars in a stand mixer on high speed until creamy and lighter in colour. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.
Add (1 tbsp) vanilla paste and eggs, and beat on medium speed until the mixture is glossy and gooey.
Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Mix on low speed to begin with then gradually increase to high speed until all the ingredients are combined. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, and gently fold grated carrots and pecans into the mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
Using a small cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop small balls onto your baking tray. Most standard baking trays will fit 12 cookies (3 x 4). Bake cookies for 30 minutes or until golden brown (not lightly golden brown).
While the cookies are baking, make the cream cheese icing. In your stand mixer, mix (1/4 cup) butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and (1 tbsp) vanilla bean paste until combined. Set aside.
When the cookies are ready, take them out of the oven and gently slide them onto a cooling rack. Wait 5 to 10 minutes for them to cool before icing them. Sprinkle And as always, enjoy!
An extra note:
Extra tips!
I use this Self Raising Gluten Free Flour, which is actually from Coles. It's one of my favourite GF flours to bake with and I use it for all my GF baking recipes. Don't swap this GF flour for another flour, like almond meal or coconut flour; the consistency of the cookies won't be the same and they won't taste as nice as these do. Promise.
When you're cookies come out of the oven, gently slide them onto a cooling rack. Don't let them cool on the sheet of baking paper otherwise they will sweat underneath and become soggy.
This recipe yields 24 cookies, so you can either bake them all together on two baking trays or bake one tray after the other.
I recommend baking these cookies in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes. They should be a lovely golden brown, not a light golden brown. If you feel like the cookies are a light golden brown, cook in 5 minute increments until they are a lovely golden brown.
Store these delicious Carrot Cake Cookies in the fridge!
