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These Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting are a MUST for carrot cake lovers! You will love the frosting. So many delicious flavors in one little cookie!
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If you are a carrot cake or a cookie fan, you are going to LOVE these carrot cake cookies! The cream cheese frosting on the top is so yummy! We have made these with raisins and without, and both ways are really good. Plus, there’s just something wonderful about taking carrots and making them into cookies! Best kind of veggies 🙂
Are Carrot Cake Cookies Healthy?
As much as you want to think the carrots in these cookies will magically make them healthy, that’s not really the case. It has all the shortening, flour and sugar that you’d expect from a regular cookie. However, with the rolled oats, carrots and raisins, this is a more filling cookie. So perhaps your craving for something sweet will be satiated more quickly. Even if they don’t, moderation will help you enjoy this yummy treat, even if they can’t be considered “health food.”
Ingredients in Carrot Cake Cookies
For the cookies:
- Shortening
- Brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
- Quick oats
- Flour
- Shredded carrots
- Raisins – optional
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
For the frosting:
- Cream cheese – softened
- Butter – softened
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
Frequently Asked Questions
Although the name implies CARROT, there really isn’t that much carrot-y flavor. What you really taste is the rich and sweet brown sugar, the warm cinnamon, the nutty nutmeg, and the spicy ginger.
It is unsure where the exact country of origin that carrot cake came from, but it is agreed on that it had its start in the Middle Ages when sugar was scarce so the people used carrot as a sweetener substitute. It seems that carrot cake has been a treat enjoyed around the world for a long time!
Not necessarily. Due to the high sugar and fat content, it isn’t healthy by any stretch of the imagination. BUT, the good news, carrots are a good source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, potassium, and antioxidants, so maybe carrot cake has the slightest advantage over something like chocolate cake.
Read next:33+ Easy Dessert Ideas
Round Out the Plate
These Carrot Cake Cookies are a great addition to any plate of goodies to share with family and friends. Here are a few other cookies you might want to consider adding to the plate:
- Graham Cracker Cookies with Coconut taste like the Samoa Girl Scout Cookies at a fraction of the calories, and the cost.
- Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies are gooey, fudgey with toasted marshmallows on top. You will want to lick the sticky off your fingers. They’re that good!
- Easy Peanut Butter Cookies are a satisfying after school snack. It hits the sweet spot, with some protein to make it filling.
- Very Best Lemon Bars are a tart, lemon layer cookie with a dusting of powdered sugar. Delicious!
How to Make Carrot Cake Cookies
Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Kitchenaid Mixer
- Baking Sheet
- Slip Mat
Ingredients
Cookie Ingredients
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3 cups quick oats
- 1 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (1 cup carrots and ½ cup zucchini also works)
- 1/2 cup raisins optional
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 tablespoons butter softened
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 to 1½ pounds powdered sugar
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer or large bowl with hand beaters, mix shortening, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and milk together.
- Add in remaining cookie ingredients and mix at a low speed until blended.
- Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls using a spoon or cookie scoop onto a cookie sheet.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Blend cream cheese, butter, milk, and vanilla together.
- Stir in powdered sugar until frosting is smooth and creamy.
- When cookies are cooled, scoop the frosting into a ziploc bag and cut a small hole in one of the corners. Pipe some of the frosting mixture onto the top of each cookie.
Notes
- These cookies make the perfect Easter treat!
- Add chopped walnuts for a nutty crunch.
- Add chocolate chips for a little something sweet.
Nutrition Information
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I have taken these to parties & they are always a hit!! Finger desserts are always the best & when your cookie tastes like one of your favorite desserts, you know this recipe will be saved in my favorites!
Yum! These turned out so good! Thanks!
I totally prefer these over the cake! Small, soft, & the right amount of carrot taste!
Saw the recipe this morning and made them this afternoon. They are incredible. This recipe will be added to my Christmas ones. By the way, I used gluten free all purpose flour and it worked perfectly. Thank you so much!
Great taste to these cookies. Don not try to make them larger than the tbsp that the recipe calls for or they fal apart and don’t bake as well. The frosting required about 2 cups of powdered sugar and this was more than enough for the batch, delicious!
Wow! My husband wil love these!! Thanks for sharing!