Carrot Cake Cookies
Soft, moist, and packed with carrots and shredded coconut, these cookies taste just like carrot cake. And by that, I mean they are DELICIOUS!
They're almost too cake-like to be called cookies. They're ultra soft and moist just like you'd expect carrot cake to be. They are like perfect little discs of cake!
It's officially springtime, thank the Lord! Not like I really have anything to complain about.. I've been using the AC in my car for the past month or so. California doesn't really have real winters. At least not where I live.
A few weekends ago I went on this beautiful hike through what felt like the middle of nowhere with my mom and sister. We were surrounded by rolling hills and fields of wildflowers. It was "bust out into the Sound Of Music worthy". It was the middle of March, still considered "winter", and lucky for us, that day we had a record-breaking heat wave!
85 degrees, 6 miles, and an awful farmer's tan/sunburn later, I was in full denial of this thing called winter. And total disbelief of how bad our drought is. If you don't think this drought we're in is that bad, just go to the nearest lake and take a look for yourself. It's amazing how bad it really is when you see the changes in the past years. It's a little scary.
But I digress. Spring is here, and that means CARROT CAKE COOKIES! What we're all here for, right?
Nothing makes carrot cake even better besides cream cheese frosting.
Put it on thick, like Mac lip gloss. (anyone?)
These cookies can be mixed up with whatever add-ins you like. Raisins? Coconut? Pineapple? Walnuts?
I have shredded carrots and shredded sweetened coconut in the cookies. You can omit coconut, or add in any extras you prefer. You can also make it fun and add the toppings on top of the frosting so everyone can have it their way!
One thing I definitely recommend when making these is soaking up the excess moisture from the shredded carrots. I shredded them into a large measuring cup and pressed down with paper towels (I used 2) to soak up all the moisture. This helps keep them from watering down the cookie dough!
Carrot Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tea. salt
- 1 tea. baking soda
- 2 tea. cinnamon
- 1/2 tea. nutmeg
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup grated carrots, with the excess moisture soaked up with a paper towel
- 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
Cooking Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Beat butter and sugars on high until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, until combined.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add dry ingredients, 1/3 at a time, mixing until incorporated.
- Mix in shredded carrots and coconut.
- Refrigerate dough fro about 30 minutes, until firm but not solid.
- Using two spoons, drop spoonfuls of dough onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven when they are almost all the way cooked, when the centers still look slightly wet.
- Let cool completely on the pan before removing.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 8 oz. block cream cheese, softened
- 4 oz. softened butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tea. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tea. salt
Cooking Directions
- Beat butter and cream cheese until combined.
- Add butter and salt and mix.
- Slowly add in powdered sugar and beat to combine.
- Spread over completely cooled cookies.
