Carrot cake lovers rejoice: your favorite cake has been transformed into a cookie. You’ll get the same cinnamon-spiced cake slathered with tangy-sweet cream cheese frosting—but in portable and sharable cookie form. These treats are big, fluffy, tender and chewy, and they’re about to become your new go-to dessert.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 35 min |
| Active: | 35 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 9 large cookies |
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see Cook’s Note)
- 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup grated carrot (from about 1 large carrot)
- 12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- For the cookies: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Put the pecans on a baking sheet and bake until toasted and brown in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Finely chop the pecans and set aside.
- Meanwhile, whisk the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a large bowl; set aside. Add the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla bean paste and egg and mix until just combined. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add the carrots and pecans and mix until just combined.
- Divide the dough into eight 3-ounce balls (about 1/3 cup for each), roll them until smooth and divide between 2 baking sheets. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
- Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until the edges are just turning golden brown and the middles are set, 22 to 24 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.
- For the cream cheese frosting: Add the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth and combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, add the heavy cream, vanilla bean paste and salt and mix until just combined.
- Top each cookie with about 2 tablespoons of frosting. Dip a small spoon in hot water for 10 seconds, then wipe dry. Spread the frosting with the hot spoon until it comes to the edges and makes a swirl in the middle. Dust with more cinnamon for serving, if desired.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 9 servings |
| Calories | 655 |
| Total Fat | 43 g |
| Saturated Fat | 22 g |
| Carbohydrates | 62 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 39 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Cholesterol | 115 mg |
| Sodium | 368 mg |
Reviews
These cookies are so delicious but the frosting is totally unnecessary and the recipe makes way too much of it. I divided my batter into 12 instead of 8 and the cookies were plenty big. I might even do 15 next time. I left out the nuts and next time might add some golden raisins or shredded coconut – something else to make it more carrot cake-like but they were very tasty as is.
Does this really only make 8-9 cookies and you use 12 oz of cream cheese ?