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These Carrot Cake Cookies are cake-like and soft and completely irresistible when they’re topped with Pecans and Orange Cream Cheese frosting! These are very cake-like soft cookies. If you’re not wanting to make a whole carrot cake, this is a really great option for Easter…hence the name carrot cake cookies.
Carrot Cake Cookies | With Cream Cheese Frosting
I probably should have posted about these carrot cake cookies right when I made them….because let’s be honest. Looking at these photos makes me want to make them and eat them all over again.
They have a vegetable in them, so they’re totally healthy.
When I made them last week, they were part of my cheat meal. I ate one before lunch and then the last seventeen after. {I’m kidding, Mom. I don’t actually eat that many cookies.} But for reals, they can be so addicting, especially topped with an orange cream cheese frosting. *Swoon*
Main Ingredients Needed
You are going to need a lot of baking essentials to make these carrot cake cookies, plus a couple of less common ingredients. Here’s everything you need:
- Butter + Coconut Oil – these two are used for moisture and flavor! If you don’t have coconut oil just replace it with butter (1/2 cup total if replacing).
- Sugar + Molasses – these two create a sweet and rich flavor. Alternatively, you can sub out these two ingredients for 1/3 cup brown sugar.
- Vanilla – for flavor.
- Egg – for structure.
- Flour – this fills out the cookies.
- Baking Powder – this is used for rise and texture.
- Salt – to balance the sweet.
- Cinnamon + Nutmeg – two warm spices that go perfectly with the carrots.
- Grated Carrots – I suggest grating your own carrots instead of buying pre-shredded carrots (which can be a little on the dry side).
- Pecans – these give a super great crunch to the cookies as well as nutty flavor.
For the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream Cheese – creamy tangy goodness.
- Butter – this helps create a smooth frosting. It also helps fill out the frosting.
- Orange Zest – this is where the orange flavor comes from! So good!
- Powdered Sugar – this thickens and sweetens the frosting.
How to Make Carrot Cake Cookies
The cookie dough is made just like any other cookie dough. Cream butters and sugar, add in egg and vanilla, stir in dry ingredients, incorporate nuts and carrots. Blah blah blah….you know the drill. For full details, see the recipe card down below 🙂
Prep
Preheat oven. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
Make Dough
Cream butter, coconut oil, sugar and molasses together until completely smooth. Scrape sides and mix again briefly. Stir in vanilla and egg. Then stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape sides and stir again briefly. Stir in carrot and nuts by hand.
Bake + Cool
Scoop onto prepared baking sheets and bake until edges are brown and cookies have poofed up slightly in the center. Cool on the baking sheet, then transfer to the cooling rack. Cool to room temperature.
Frosting
For the frosting, place all ingredients into a small bowl and whip until smooth. Spread each cookie generously with frosting and top with chopped pecans if desired.
Storing Carrot Cake Cookies
Store Carrot Cake Cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days! Enjoy within a four hour window (this is because of the cream cheese frosting).
More Carrot Cake Recipes to Try!
- Carrot Cake Protein Bites
- Carrot Cake Cobbler
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Carrot Cake Oatmeal
- Carrot Cake Donuts
Come to mama! These turned out better than I expected and that orange cream cheese frosting really livened up this recipe. Really really delicious.
Hope you all get a chance to make a batch of these soon….maybe to have them at your Easter festivities! Have a great day, friends!
Carrot Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup coconut oil*
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar** + 1 tablespoon
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
- 1/4 cup pecans + more for garnish, if desired
frosting:
- 2 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Cream butter, coconut oil, sugar and molasses together until completely smooth. Scrape sides and mix again briefly. Stir in vanilla and egg. Then stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape sides and stir again briefly. Stir in carrot and nuts by hand.
- Scoop onto prepared baking sheets and bake 8-9 minutes or until edges are brown and cookies have poofed up slightly in the center. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. Cool to room temperature.
- For the frosting, place all ingredients into a small bowl and whip until smooth.
- Spread each cookie generously with frosting and top with chopped pecans if desired.
[…] ‘Carrot Cake Pecan Cookies with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting’ […]
[…] 4. Carrot Cake Pecan Cookies with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting :: Lauren’s Latest […]
If I use butter instead of Coconut Oil, do I use that in addition to the 1/4 cup of butter? That would mean 1/2 cup butter. Or, do I just eliminate the coconut oil or butter altogether & just use the 1/4 cup butter?
I guess my previous comment didn’t make it here. I am making these, but need a big batch. is it better to do each batch separately, or can I just triple the ingredients? I am attending a cookie exchange next month. Thank you.
Do you need any adjustments for high altitude (7,000 ft where I live)?
Lauren do you think I could substitute maple syrup for the molasses? That’s not usually something I have on hand and would hate to buy some just to use one tablespoon! Thanks!
Totally!!
They look so delicious, wishing I had at least one if front of me now…but would prefer 10 🙂
I have been baking for 50 years and have just started measuring with a scale. It is great! I think I get a much more accurate measure on dry ingedients such as flour. I have made these cookies twice. Since several comments said they were too thin, I measured by oz. I sifted my flour and 7 oz of sifted was way more than one cup but I went ahead and used the 7 oz. I made the cookies the size of a medium scoop. They were plenty thick but a little dry. Definitely not greasy and stood up really nice. I just made a 2nd batch. I used 5.8 oz. shifted flour and made the cookies with the smaller scoop. PERFECT! So good. I used 2 Tbs Splenda sugar blend and 2 Tbs dark brown sugar. I did not have Molasses but had Coconut Nectar, 1 Tbs. Used extra orange zest. I think this is my new favorite recipe. It takes a lot to say that. I love that it is not terribly sweet but just right.
These look awesome. I am definitely going to try them.
Thank you.
Thank you for this excellent recipe. Perfect cookie for the Holidays.
These have got my husband written ALL over them. I will have to try them out! 😀
I made these cookies and they came out amazingly delicious!! I really love the orange zest in the frosting
can’t wait to try the carrot cake cookies!
Has anyone tried packing and sending these in the mail?
My grandma made these but she made a peanut butter frosting. . They where yummy
Hi Lauren..can I make a cake instead of cupcakes using the same recipe..if yes..then what should be the size of the mould? Thank u for sharing this wonderful recipe! Your photos are really stunning!
Just made these and they were very flat and a little too greasy. Followed recipe exact. Any suggestions??
Do you sift your flour before measuring? Or spoon it into your measuring cup? Usually it’s all in the way you measure flour. It sounds like your dough could have used 1-2 more tablespoons of flour…that usually does the trick.
I wonder how these would using a carrot cake cake mix and adding pecans, and then using your orange frosting??
Mmm. My kinda girl 🙂 would use all coconut oil, coconut or turbinado sugar, and maybe some orange or cinnamon DoTERRA essential oil! I can’t wait to try it!
Mmmmm. My kind a girl
Evidently missed most of my comment. I would use all coconut oil and coconut sugar as someone else mentioned. Very healthy! Then add in some orange and/or cinnamon essential oil!
…oops…sorry. I just scrolled back up and saw that you do have an icon to print just the recipe….although it is very faint which is why I possibly missed it.
These cookies do look pretty yummy. I am totally aggravated though by the fact that I just wasted about 30 pages of prining paper, not to mention the ink. I clicked to print this RECIPE and then walked away from the printer and came back to find not just the recipe but page after page of the blog. It might be a nice thing to set up your blog so folks can just print out your recipes. Thanks!
I have used a box carrot cake mix and added one cup of applesauce and one egg. Bake on 350 for about 9 minutes and frost with the cream cheese frosting! Easy and yummy!!! You can add the pecans too.
Sorry if I didn’t explain enough….take the dry mix, add the egg and applesauce. Drop by tablespoon onto cookie sheet. For another good and quick cookie use a spice cake mix and add egg, applesauce and chocolate chips! My favorite.
Love that you used boxed cake mix, with a little help and they still turned out great.
Thanks for passing this along !
Apple sauce would be good substitute for butter or coconut oil.
For the coconut oil – do you buy refined or unrefined or the coconut oil that resembles regular olive/vegetable oil?
Lauren, do these have to be refrigerated after making?
If they are going to be out longer than 4 hours, then I would refrigerate them.
These look great. I can’t wait to try them. Thanks for sharing!
Your little girl/sous chef is so adorable! Takes me back to cooking with my little ones. Can’t wait to try this – it looks delicious!
I see you are fan of coconut oil, have you ever tried raw coconut sugar? You will get that delicious brown sugar taste of the granulated sugar+molasses but the coconut sugar is so much better… Lower glycemic index etc and the benefits that coconut has to offer.
What size scoop did you use?
two teaspoons
Made this morning for my 2-year-old’s class (and ate one for breakfast). They are delicious!
If I do not use coconut oil, do I substitute ANOTHER 1/4 c. butter for the coconut oil, or just use 1/4 butter as listed?
You would substitute 1/4 butter for the 14 cup coconut oil.
These do sound great! I would like to make them for my daughter’s wedding in October. Do they freeze well? They would make a great Fall cookie as well.
DO NOT freeze these with the cream cheese frosting on them! Cream cheese turns grainy after being frozen. They should freeze fine without any frosting as long as they are wrapped well.
How would it work if the coconut oil was omitted and substituted with crushed pineapple
Do you pack the carrots or just put it lightly in the measuring cup?
Measure the grated carrot into the cup. You can pack it in there and that should give you the accurate measure.
These cookies are delicious. The orange cream cheese frosting tastes great also.
I don’t have coconut oil on hand, do I omit it completely or double the butter?
just double the butter 🙂
[…] I want these […]
These look delicious! As much as I’d like to eat them all in one sitting, I probably won’t be able to, so will they still keep ok for a couple of days?
Yup, just keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. They should keep for up to 4 days.
Mixed all the ingrediants as listed. Put them in the oven to bake. Mine did not rise, they just spead all over the cookie sheet. What did I do wrong or is there an ingredient that isn’t listed here that should be? I look forward to your answer, as me and my husband thought these would be awesome!
How did you measure your flour? Do you sift it at all first?
Mine also went flat. It feels like there is too much oil and not enough flour. Is it necessary to sift the flour first?
You don’t have to sift the flour. I usually fluff mine up with the measuring cup before actually measuring. Everyone measures flour differently, it seems. More flour should prevent them from going flat.
Cookie dough looked nothing like your the posted pics. Mine were also a bit flat. I only baked 4 because the dough looked too wet. They definitely are soft like a cake. For me the cookie isn’t sweet enough.
Do you substitute the entire 1/3c + 1 tbsp granulated sugar with brown sugar or just the 1 tbsp?
The 1/3 cup of brown sugar substitutes for the 1/3 cup granulated + 1 tablespoon molasses.
Did you mean “1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar” or just “1/3 cup granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon molasses”?
You can use 1/3 cup granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon molasses OR 1/3 cup brown sugar. Either will work.
[…] maybe I’d just rather spend my time daydreaming about these. Or this. Or […]
Ohhhhhhh they look so good! I am going to make some for me and try to figure out to make some like these gluten free for my hubby! Thank you so very much!
[…] *belated* Easter. I know I told you Happy Easter on Friday’s post, but I thought I’d just say it again […]
Lauren,
These cookies look so yummy. Pinned
Happy Easter.
Annamaria
These look awesome! Had to pin to try sometime this week! thank you
Swoon…. These are terrific!
On my goodness I would have cried if I lost a batch of cookies to the road! It would probably take a day before I found it funny. But, let’s be honest, it’s pretty funny!
These look wonderful. I might just have to make them today!
These look soooo yummy and perfect for easter! I love the addition of orange zest!
These look awesome! I just made carrot cake cookies and the frosting was missing a little something – orange zest!
I love how these cookies are like little cakes! So yummy looking 🙂