Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

_{These Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting feature a light, and fluffy cookie chocked full of carrots and cinnamon and topped with delicious cream cheese frosting.} 

Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Total Time: 35 Minutes Servings: 24 Cookies

Carrot cake is one of my favorites to make for Easter. OH Heck! I make it often because it gets requested a lot by family and friends. It often can be a bear to make. There are many steps to making the most delicious cake in the world. This year would be different.

I was going to turn my carrot cake into Carrot Cake Cookies! Yes, they deserve their own sentence. I hadn’t ever really even thought about them. Until I did. And then I couldn’t stop thinking about them. The idea just sounded too delicious not to give it a go.

Low-key and less stressful is usually the way I like it. Showing my absolute love for carrot cake in a simpler recipe was the way I wanted to go. Do I dare say they are better than the cake? I love them both, so I will let you decide. And you don’t have to choose a favorite, you can have BOTH!

Why You Will These Carrot Cake Cookies

• Deliciously Moist: These cookies are incredibly moist and flavorful, capturing the essence of traditional carrot cake in a portable, easy-to-enjoy form.
• Perfect Balance of Spice: Infused with warm spices like cinnamon and vanilla, each bite is a cozy explosion of flavor that will remind you of your favorite baked goods.
• Cream Cheese Frosting: The rich and tangy cream cheese frosting takes these cookies to the next level, adding a smooth, luscious finish that perfectly complements the sweetness of the cookie.
• Simple to Make: With straightforward ingredients and an easy process, this recipe is perfect for bakers of all skill levels. You’ll have a batch of delicious cookies ready in no time!

Ingredients Needed

Please note that you can print the full recipe with a listing of ingredients below. 

• Carrots – I recommend peeling your carrots before grating them. This will prevent them from imparting a greenish hue on your cookie dough. And yes, I recommend buying whole carrots and grating/shredding them yourself. A cost saving trick.
• Sugar – A combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar gives these cookies a chewy texture and rich flavor. Light brown sugar would work fine, but I like to use a combination of dark brown sugar.
• Butter – Make sure you let your butter stand at room temperature until it is soft. This will ensure that the butter will be well incorporated into your batter. Large chunks of semi-soft butter will not allow your cookies to be uninformed. On that note; never microwave your butter or your cookies will spread too much when baked.
• Nuts – I like using chopped pecans, but you could also use walnuts. They have a similar shape. Whatever you use, make sure they are roughly chopped to coat the edges of your cookies.
• Spices – Including cinnamon and vanilla. These warm spices largely make up the flavor profile of these cookies (and they pair so well with the brown sugar and nuts!).
• Cream Cheese Frosting – You can absolutely make your cream cheese frosting, but for this recipe, I typically just purchase it at the grocery store. It is a time-saving trick for sure.

How To Make These Carrot Cake Cookies

STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 375. Spray a pan with non-stick spray.

STEP TWO: Then, in a large bowl, mix all the wet ingredients. Cream the butter, sugars, and eggs together. Then add the vanilla and mix until well incorporated.

STEP THREE: Mix in the cinnamon, baking powder, soda, and salt. Next, add in the flour and mix well. Lastly, fold in the grated carrots.

STEP THREE: Bake cookies for 13 – 15 minutes. I like to take advantage of using my whoopie pie cookie sheet whenever I can. It makes forming these cookies much easier. You are going to want to bake your cookies just until the edges are golden brown.

STEP FOUR: Remove immediately from the baking pan. Then allow to fully cool.

STEP FIVE. Frost with cream cheese frosting. Then sprinkle pecans around the edges of each cookie. Frosting your cookies does not need to be perfect. All the lines from the frosting create a unique-looking cookie. Imperfectly perfect. 

Other Great Cookie Recipes

Kid-Friendly Easter Sugar Cookies

Easter Rice Krispies Egg Treats Recipe

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Homemade Almond Joy Shortbread Cookies

Easy To Make Everybody Love Elmo Decorated Cookies

Salty Sweet Oatmeal Pretzel Cookies

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. Disclosure Policy