A crumbly carrot cake – like cookie with cream cheese frosting.
Source: Adapted from a recipe given to me by my neighbor, Cheryl, who says her grandmother has been making it for years.
Yield: About 3-4 dozen
Carrot cake always seems like an autumn dessert to me. I think it’s the cinnamon that does it. But, with Easter and bunnies and eggs, a carrot-based dessert seemed appropriate. My friend and neighbor Cheryl brought me a plate full of these cookies, along with a copy of the recipe, quite some time ago. I stashed the recipe away in my files, and made a mental note to make my own batch sometime, but there always seemed to be something more… I don’t know… chocolate to make. Thanks to the onset of Easter, I finally had a good excuse to mix up the cookie I have intended to bake for months now.
I did make a couple changes to Cheryl’s recipe. I added cinnamon and nutmeg, which seemed appropriate. I also substituted some of the flour for quick oats. The combination of flour, oats, and coconut works quite nicely.
You should have something of a soft dough, which spreads as it bakes into a crumbly, cake-like confection. Be sure to give them a minute or two on the baking sheet before moving them to a cooling rack.
I consider the cream cheese frosting absolutely essential to this cookie! (It’s also my favorite part of carrot cake!) I’m not so great at planning ahead, so I frequently put the box of cream cheese on top of the stove, to soften as the cookies bake. I used my pastry bag to make frosting swirls, but I honestly think a spreading knife would work just fine. Put it on nice and thick!
I didn’t add it to the recipe, but I think they would also be nice with a handful of chopped walnuts, or some raisins or dried currants. Also, if you are not a big fan of coconut, you can leave it out if you increase the oats and flour to make up the difference.
- ¾ cup shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 can carrots
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup coconut
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1 cup flour
- FOR FROSTING:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 2 T. butter, softened
- 1-2 T. milk
- Powdered sugar, about 1 pound
- Cream shortening and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs and blend.
- Drain carrots, and mash well. Add carrots to shortening mixture and stir.
- Add seasonings and dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.
- Drop onto baking sheet and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.
- For frosting, use an electric mixer to beat all ingredients until smooth. Adjust texture by adding more powdered sugar or milk.
- Once cookies are cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting.
If you enjoy this recipe, you might also enjoy:
Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies from Get Off Your Butt and Bake
Pumpkin Nut Cookies from Chocolate Moosey
Carrot Cake Truffles from Scarletta Bakes
This recipe linked up at: Blessed with Grace, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday; Mandy’s Recipe Box, Totally Tasty Tuesdays; A Bowl Full of Lemons, Tuesday Link Party; Naptime Creations, Tasty Tuesday Party; Rook #17, A Little Birdie Told Me; Tomorrow Farm Fiber Arts, Friday Fiber Arts; Baker Street, Blog Hop; Lady Behind the Curtain, Cast Party Wednesday; Gingersnap Crafts, Wow Me Wednesday; Simply Sweet Home, Friday Favorites; Tidy Mom, I’m Lovin’ It; Alli-N-Son, Sweet Tooth Friday;
This is the first time I have heard of carrot cookies, they sound good and look even better! Very cute for Easter!
Yum! I’ve made carrot cake sandwich cookies before and they are delicious. These look really tasty too!
I’m absolutely loving the piped cream cheese frosting!
Pingback: Easter Recipe Round-Up | Jen's Favorite Cookies
Oh man. Gonna hafta pin these suckers!!! Your blog is sooooo nice. I think I have blog envy 😉
~Ruthie
http://ruthieskozikitchen.blogspot.com/
These look really yummy! Thanks for linking up for Friday Favorites. I’m featuring you this week. Come by and grab my featured button if you’d like one!
Thanks, Jerri! I’ll watch for that!
Pingback: Friday Favorites – Week 111