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Carrot Cake Oatmeal cookies on a cooling rack topped with cream cheese frosting and chopped pecans.
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5 from 7 votes

Carrot Cake Cookies

Carrot Cake Cookies are a delicious oatmeal and carrot cake cookie base topped with browned butter cream cheese frosting and chopped pecans. Everything you love about carrot cake is a perfect cookie form!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time13 minutes
Cooling Time30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Keyword: carrot cake cookies
Servings: 12 Cookies
Author: Karli Bitner

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Cookies

  • 1/2 cup salted butter softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup rolled oats* blended into oat flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup grated carrots hand grated with a fine cheese grater

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 tbsp salted butter
  • 4 oz cream cheese softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 pinch salt
  • milk optional

optional toppings

  • chopped pecans
  • brown sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with either a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the salted butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for 1 minute, or until light in color and fluffy in texture.
  • Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the egg and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
  • Add the flour, blended rolled oats (into a rough oat flour), baking soda, cinnamon, salt and grated carrots to the mixer. Mix until a soft dough or thick batter forms.
  • Scoop your cookies out using a #24 scoop, or portion the cookie dough into 3 tbsp portions
  • .Bake at 350° F for 13-15 minutes or until the cookies spread, flatten and the centers of the cookie no longer look wet. The cookies will start to ‘crack' a bit as they are ready to come out of the oven.
  • Allow the cookies to cool on the pan completely.
  • While the cookies are baking and cooling, brown the butter for the frosting.
  • Add the butter to a small pan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter turns a golden color and gives off a nutty aroma.
  • Immediately pour out of the pan (scraping off all of those golden bits from the bottom) and into a bowl.
  • Allow the butter to cool down and then place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes or until the butter is back to a solid form.
  • To make the frosting, mix the brown butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer on low until completely smooth and mixed together.
  • Slowly add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, allowing the mixer to slowly combine the ingredients before adding in more powdered sugar.
  • Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, mix in the vanilla and pinch of salt.
  • Add a small amount of milk to adjust the consistency of the frosting, if needed. (I never add milk to my cream cheese frosting)
  • Spread the frosting on top of each of the cookies and top with some chopped pecans and a sprinkle of brown sugar, if desired.
  • Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

*you can use oat flour if you have some on hand, I like to just roughly blend old fashioned rolled oats and toss that into my cookies because I don't keep oat flour at home regularly. 

Nutrition

Calories: 345kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 306mg | Potassium: 62mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 442IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg