I was in Palm Harbor, Florida recently, and had my first carrot cake cookie – from a local grocery store bakery. It sounded “interesting” – but I wasn’t sure how this delicious cake, would taste as a “cookie”. It was surprisingly AMAZING! I knew I had to create this cookie myself. When I returned home, I dug into my Mom’s original handwritten cookbook, and I found a “carrot cookie” recipe! I don’t recall her ever making it, but the idea was there for sure. Her recipe – as did most from the 60s – contained shortening as the fat. I prefer the taste of butter, so that was a change for sure. Her recipe also called for “canned cooked carrots, mashed” (yuck)! That was going to become fresh grated carrots in my cookie! I also wanted to include the spices that make a carrot cake…. well, a carrot cake! So cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves made it into the mix, as well as walnuts.
The best ingredients in the cookie I had in Florida, were coconut, and white chocolate chips. I included them as well. My cookie came out tasting like carrot cake, but still had the crispy edges of a cookie. They were warm, moist, crunchy, aromatic – they were delicious!
I drizzled these with a cream cheese icing – I’m sure Mom would be proud!
Carrot Cake Cookie Recipe: (my recipe makes 30 – 3 1/2″ cookies)
Ingredients:
3/4 c room temp butter, unsalted
1 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 c packed shredded fresh carrots
3/4 c sweetened shredded coconut
1 c chopped walnuts
1 c Quaker quick oats
3/4 c white chocolate chips
Cream cheese glaze:
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1 oz cream cheese, room temp
1-2 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper.
Combine dry ingredients in a med bowl – flour, baking soda, spices, salt, oats, and white choc chips. Stir together, and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter and sugars. Blend until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time. Blend. Add vanilla, and blend. Add coconut, carrots, and walnuts. Blend just til combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients, and blend just til combined.
Using a medium ice cream scoop, place cookies on baking sheets spacing about 2″ apart to allow for spreading. Bake for about 12 min, until browned around the edges. This will give you a “crispy” edge, so don’t under-bake.
Cool completely. Combine all glaze ingredients – and drizzle each cookie. Allow to dry. Will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 mo.
