Best carrot cake cookies! These cookies have light and fluffy cream cheese frosting on top of moist carrot cake cookies.
These easy carrot cake cookies are cakey but moist carrot cookies. They have all the wonderful flavors of classic carrot cake with their warm spices and delicious cream cheese frosting, but they’re so much faster than making a whole cake.
I like to top the cookies with a layer of light and fluffy cream cheese frosting, but the cookies are also delicious on their own.
The cookies make a quick Easter dessert for carrot cake fans. Give them a try, and you may add them to your Easter table!
“OMG!!! These are the BEST cookies!! The cream cheese frosting is crazy good!!” – Chelsea
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Flour: To properly measure the flour, weigh or sift/stir the flour to break it up. Lightly spoon into the measuring cup and level.
- Spices: The cookies are lightly spices to let the carrot flavor come through. If you like your carrot cake to be more of a carrot-spice cake, I suggest doubling the given amounts on the spices.
- Oil: A neutral oil, like vegetable or canola oil, works well.
- Carrots: I grate the carrots with the small holes on the box grater. This lets them blend into the cookies without giving you chunks of carrot.
- Pecans: Feel free to use chopped walnuts or omit the nuts if you prefer.
- Coconut: If you like a less sweet cookie, feel free to use unsweetened coconut.
How to make carrot cake cookies
Here you’ll find step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe is given below.
Step 1: In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt).
Step 2: With an electric mixer (either hand mixer or stand mixer), beat the oil and sugars together in a large mixing bowl until light and creamy, about 5 minutes.
Step 3: Beat in the eggs and the vanilla until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 4: Stir in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined. The dough will be thick at this point.
Step 5: Stir in the grated carrots, nuts, and coconut.
Step 6: Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, drop about scoops of carrot cake cookie dough about 2-inches apart onto a prepared cookie sheet.
Step 7: Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until the cookies spring back when pressed gently.
Step 8: Remove from the oven and let the baked cookies cool on the sheets for at least 5 minutes.
Step 9: Transfer to wire rack to cool to room temperature before frosting.
Step 10: Using a piping bag to pipe or spread a generous amount of cream cheese frosting over the top of each cookie, if using.
Recipe Tips!
- Baking sheet preparation: It’s important to line the baking sheets because the cookies will stick otherwise.
- Carrots: Don’t squeeze any moisture out of the carrots. The moisture helps to make the cookies soft.
- Frosting: If you’re looking for an alternative to cream cheese frosting, my whipped buttercream frosting is a great choice! It’s an old-fashioned frosting that is light and fluffy but isn’t too sweet.
Recipe FAQs
You can! I recommend freezing the cookies and then frosting the cookies once they’ve thawed.
Sure! You can add raisins in place of the chopped nuts or along with the nuts.
No, the cookies are great without any frosting. You can also dust the cookies with a bit of powdered sugar if you prefer.
Storage
Store the cookies in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The cookies will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored in the fridge.
More carrot recipes!
Carrot Cake Cookies
Equipment
- Mixer
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup neutral oil like vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups finely grated carrot
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans optional
- 1/2 cup flaked sweetened shredded coconut optional
- Cream Cheese Frosting optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
- With an electric mixer (either hand or stand), beat together the oil and sugars until light and creamy, about 5 minutes.
- Beat in the eggs and the vanilla until combined.
- Stir in the flour mixture just until combined.
- Stir in the carrots, nuts, and coconut.
- Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, drop about batter about 2-inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until the cookies spring back when pressed gently.
- Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheets for at least 5 minutes.
- Transfer to wire cooling rack to cool to room temperature before frosting.
- Top each cookie with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting, if using.
Notes
- Flour: To properly measure the flour, weigh or sift/stir the flour to break it up. Lightly spoon into the measuring cup and level.
- Spices: If you like your carrot cake to be more of a carrot-spice cake, I suggest doubling the given amounts on the spices.
- Oil: A neutral oil, like vegetable or canola oil.
-
Carrots: Don’t squeeze any moisture out of the carrots. The moisture helps to make the cookies soft.
- Pecans: Feel free to use chopped walnuts or omit the nuts if you prefer.
- Coconut: If you like a less sweet cookie, feel free to use unsweetened coconut.
- Nutrition values are for cookies only and are estimates.
Nutrition
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cookies adapted from Serious Eats. Originally published 4/18/14.
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Comments & Reviews
Chelsea says
OMG!!! These are the BEST cookies!! The cream cheese frosting is crazy good!!