Got a bumper crop of carrots this year? Good news - I've been scouring my vintage cookbooks and updating old carrot cake recipes. And my family loves this old-fashioned carrot cake cookies recipes with cream cheese icing!
Old-Fashioned Carrot Cake Cookies Recipe
Growing carrots in your backyard garden is a rewarding experience. Carrots are chock-full of nutrition. They're also tasty, inexpensive, and easy to grow in a kitchen garden or a larger homestead plot.
Carrots also store well in a dry root cellar. And if you're trying to store your harvest without a root cellar, try this.
Nestle your home-grown carrots in a large box of sand. Make sure they don't touch. This is how my dad used to store our carrots when I was a child in Northern Ontario.
Of course, using the carrots for carrot cake cookies is even better. This is a fun recipe to make with kids, especially if they grew the carrots as part of a homeschool garden. They can grate carrots, measure dry ingredients, and sift the flour too.
Ingredients for Carrot Cake Cookies
This carrot cake cookie recipe makes an old-fashioned sandwich-style cookie. It includes the instructions to make cream cheese icing as well.
Recently we've started baking basic, old-fashioned and vintage style cookie recipes once a week. We found a delicious sugar cookie recipe last week. Next week we'll try an apple cider shortbread recipe.
Psst - looking for another old-fashioned cookie recipe? You'll love Grandma's Molasses Cookie recipe!
Here's what you'll need to make this recipe.
For Carrot Cake Cookie Dough
- ⅔ cup of grated carrots
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup large flake oats
- ⅓ cup coconut flakes (optional)
For Creamy Cream Cheese Icing
1 cup cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup butter
(And by the way, this icing is really good on my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and also my Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake....)
So I've had a few readers ask if they could make this with a different icing. Sure!
Why not? A plain white icing would work. And so could this delicious frangipane almond cream.
Instructions
Set out all your ingredients.
Mix the butter with egg, sugar, and vanilla.
Add carrots and coconut chips. Mix.
Add large flake oats.
Add cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
Mix again.
In a medium bowl, sift flour with baking powder.
Combine flour mixture with carrot mixture.
Use two tablespoons to drop cookie dough on a baking sheet covered with parchment. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Cool.
Mix all the ingredients for the cream. Smear one cookie with cream and cover the second one.
Serve with your favorite hot beverage!
FAQs About Carrot Cake
Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to carrot cake, carrot loaf, and carrot cake cookies.
Can carrot cake be frozen?
Carrot cake (and cookies and loaf) can definitely be frozen. And it will still keep its flavor.
The key is to make sure that the carrot cake is properly wrapped so that it does not dry out. For best results, wrap it in aluminum foil and plastic wrap, and then place it in a freezer bag.
When you are ready to eat the carrot cake, just thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.
Just be sure to eat the carrot cake within a few days of thawing, as it will start to lose its flavor after that.
What can I add to my carrot cake recipes?
Depending on what you have on hand in your homestead kitchen pantry, try a handful of dried fruits or nuts in your carrot cake loaf, carrot bread, or carrot cookies.
Here are a few other options:
- raisins
- dried cranberries
- pineapple
- coconut
- pecans
- walnuts
- almonds
Recipe
Carrot Cake Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- For Carrot Cake Cookie Dough
- ⅔ cup of grated carrots
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup large flake oats
- ⅓ cup coconut flakes optional
- For Cream Cheese Icing
- 1 cup cream cheese softened
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ cup butter
Instructions
- Set out all your ingredients.
- Mix the butter with egg, sugar, and vanilla.
- Add carrots and coconut chips. Mix.
- Add large flake oats.
- Add cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
- Mix again.
- In a medium bowl, sift flour with baking powder.
- Combine flour mixture with carrot mixture.
- Use two tablespoons to drop cookie dough on a baking sheet covered with parchment. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Cool.
Nutrition
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These were absolutely delicious! My husband loves carrot cake and I will be making these again for him!
We loved it too! So simple, yet super delicious. We ate it in a moment. My kids were asking for more, so it's planned to make more for the weekend. Thanks
My daughter loves anything carrots so this recipe was just perfect! So happy that she enjoyed these carrot cake cookies and it's also very easy to make and came out delicious!
This is my new favorite treat for afternoon tea. They're not too sweet, and the hint of cinnamon adds a lovely warmth to the flavor. The kids also enjoyed these cookies. They love the little specks of orange from the grated carrots, and I love that they're getting some veggies in their treats.
These carrot cake cookies had a nice texture and flavor, not too sweet but just right. And adding a handful of chopped pecans gave them a nice crunch, which I enjoyed. They paired well with a cup of tea making it a satisfying snack. Yum!
These carrot cake cookies were pillowy soft! The flavor and spice was perfect. I did end up making sandwich cookies with your cream cheese frosting! Delicious!
These are so much more portable than carrot cake! We took them along on a road trip and they were a hit.
Had to try these since carrot cake is my favorite dessert. All the same deliciousness in a cookie!
I added some pecans to our carrot cake cookies (as you suggested), and they were a hit! They were so mouthwatering and delicious. Kids love the extra crunch (from the pecans). Highly recommended!