Carrot Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Bitten sandwich cookie placed on top of other cookies

5 from 6 votes

Carrot Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

If you love carrot cake, you will love these soft and cakey carrot cookies as well. Loads of shredded carrots, toasted pecans, a flavorful spice mix, and an irresistibly creamy cream cheese frosting make them disappear in a blink of an eye.

Prep Time30

Cook Time12

Chill Time2

Total Time2 42

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: sandwich cookies

Calories: 732kcal

Author: Sabine Venier

Ingredients

cookie dough

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ⅓ cups freshly, finely grated carrots
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup unsalted, toasted pecans*

frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large bowl, stir flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to combine and set aside.
In another large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined, about 1 minute. Then add the flour mixture and mix on medium-low speed just until it comes together about 30-60 seconds. Mix in the carrots and oats to incorporate. Then add the pecans and mix just until well distributed. Cover and chill for 2 hours until the dough is firm enough to scoop and shape it easily.
Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C (fan oven 330°F/165°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Scoop 2 tablespoon (about 55g) of cookie dough per cookie onto the prepared baking sheets, 4-inch (10cm) apart, and flatten to about ½ inch thickness. Bake one sheet at a time for about 12-13 minutes or until the edges are set and browned, and the top looks matt and dry. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes until they are firm enough to move them. Then transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Once the cookies are cooled, prepare the frosting.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter on medium-high speed until soft and creamy, about 2 minutes. Then add the cream cheese and mix additional 1-2 minutes until well combined and no lumps remain. Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar until creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Fill the cookies with the cream cheese filling and serve. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.**

Video

Notes

*If you toast the pecans on your own, preheat the oven to 300°F / 150°C (fan oven 284°F / 140°C) and place the pecans on a parchment paper layered baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Stir after 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

**Filled cookies need to be stored in the fridge and last up to 2 days. The longer they are in the fridge, the softer and wetter they get because of the moisture of the filling. Unfilled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. The filling needs to be stored in the fridge. That's the way I prefer to store. Just before serving, I fill as many cookies as I want to eat. In this case, they stay fresh for 3 days.

Small batch

This recipe yields 12 cookie sandwiches. However, if you don't plan to eat that many, you could divide the recipe in half. In this case, you end up with 6.

Nutrition