Name: Carrot Cake Cookies
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 120 min
Ingredients: 150 g Unsalted butter (at room temperature); 100 g Granulated sugar; 50 g Brown sugar; 1 Egg (at room temperature); 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract; 190 g All purpose flour; 1 Teaspoon Salt; 1 Teaspoon Baking soda; 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon; 170 g Carrot (peeled and freshly shredded); 230 g Cream cheese (full fat (33%+) e.g. Philadelphia, use it cold); 75 g Mascarpone (full fat (41%+), use it cold); 50 g Powdered sugar; ¼ teaspoon Vanilla extract; orange and green gel food coloring (for the carrot decoration)

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These nut-free carrot cake cookies are the perfect way to sneak in your veggies while satisfying your sweet tooth! Featuring cinnamon-vanilla dough, freshly shredded carrots, and a creamy homemade cream cheese frosting, they're a fun Spring dessert perfect for all ages and occasions!

Best Carrot Cake Cookies Recipe

If you love carrot cake, imagine it in a convenient, handheld form. And I'm not talking about carrot cake cupcakes, but soft, gooey cookies! Like my carrot cake recipe, these carrot cake cookies are 100% made from scratch, featuring a delicious cinnamon-vanilla cookie dough, freshly shredded carrots, and a luscious vanilla cream cheese frosting. Even better, they're also nut-allergy friendly!

This recipe is beginner-friendly, requiring only 30 minutes of prep time. It is also packed with expert tips and tricks to prevent mishaps before they happen, giving you bakery-style results every time. You can prepare the dough in advance or bake a full batch and store it for later, making it super convenient for gatherings or gifting. This may be one of the best carrot cake cookie recipes you'll try!

Katalin's Key Tips On How to Decorate Carrot Cake Cookies to Make Them Extra Cute

Decorating your carrot cake cookies is where you can get creative, creating eye-catching and festive cookies for Spring events like Easter or birthday parties and baby showers!

In this recipe, we'll use food coloring to add vibrant colors to the frosting to make the small carrot decorations on top of each cookie. However, the decorating doesn't have to stop there! You can also sprinkle on chopped walnuts or colorful sprinkles to help add the finishing touches. If piping isn't your thing, you can also use carrot-shaped candies and press them on top of the plain cream cheese layer as an alternative.

Decorating doesn't have to be perfect—it's all about having fun and adding your unique twist to each cookie. Plus, as delicious as these cookies are, they won't last long enough to admire anyway!

This Carrot Cake Cookie Dough is a Gamechanger

The best part of this carrot cake cookie recipe comes from the warm cinnamon and carrot-infused cookie dough!

But before you dive in, you'll need to ensure the butter and egg are at room temperature so they blend into the dough easily. To quickly bring your egg to room temperature, stick it in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes. See my guide on softening butter for tips on how to do so without using a microwave. Always use unsalted butter so you don't add unnecessary salt to the recipe!

Once your eggs and butter are ready, use your electric hand mixer to whip the butter with the granulated and brown sugars until it becomes light and fluffy. Then, add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until well incorporated.

Next, sift your all purpose flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt directly into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Don't skip the salt; it is essential to balancing the flavors! Gently fold the dry ingredients in using a rubber spatula. Then, stir in the freshly grated carrots until evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a cookie or ice cream scoop to portion out 10–12 equal-sized balls of dough, spacing them out on the prepared baking sheets to give the cookies room to spread. I'd say that 5–6 cookies per tray is ideal. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for one hour before baking to help the cookies hold their shape.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C without the fan setting (do not skip this step). Once the dough is chilled, bake the cookies for 16–18 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown.

Once baked, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire cooling rack. The cookies will continue to set as they cool.

My Signature Silky Cream Cheese Frosting

While the cookies are cooling to room temperature, start on the frosting. But first, make sure the cream cheese and mascarpone are very cold to help stabilize the frosting.

Whip together the cold cream cheese and mascarpone, vanilla extract, and sifted powdered sugar using your electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment). Stop whipping when it reaches stiff peaks and has a fluffy, pipeable texture. If you overwhip, you'll break the frosting and end up runny versus thick and creamy.

Now, the Fun Part! Assemble & Decorate

Once the cookies have cooled completely to room temperature, it's time to start the fun part– the decoration!

Start by setting aside about half a cup of the cream cheese frosting for the carrot decoration. Spread an even layer across the top of each cookie using the remaining frosting.

Take the reserved frosting and use high-quality gel food coloring to color one portion green and the other half orange. Transfer each portion into a piping bag with a small round nozzle, then pipe mini carrots on top of each cookie, as shown in the photo.

Serve it fresh, and enjoy!

Want to Bake Ahead? This is How You Do It

I doubt you'll have leftovers of these irresistible carrot cake cookies! However, if you do or want to bake them in advance for an upcoming event, let them cool completely to room temperature, then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.

You can also freeze unfrosted cookies. Once cooled, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to freeze individually (this prevents sticking). Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe container or zip-top bag for up to one month. I do not recommend freezing decorated cookies, as the cream cheese frosting can turn grainy when thawed. Thaw them at room temperature.

Not ready to bake just yet? Here's how to freeze the cookie dough!

Flavor Variations

Add more warming spices such as nutmeg, ground ginger, pumpkin pie spice, or cloves, which pair deliciously with the cinnamon and carrot.

Try one of the many other flavors in my cream cheese frosting recipe instead of the traditional vanilla frosting. For even more fun, sandwich the frosting between two cookies to make carrot cake sandwich cookies!

In addition to shredded carrots, try folding in chopped pecans or walnuts, raisins, mini chocolate chips, toasted coconut, or dried cranberries for a fun mix of textures and flavors. You can even add oats to make carrot cake oatmeal cookies!

Baking With Dietary Restrictions? Check These Links

If you have dietary restrictions, there are ways to adapt these carrot cake cookies but keep in mind that substitutions may affect the final texture and flavor, especially for the cream cheese frosting.

You can replace the all-purpose flour with a suitable alternative (i.e., almond flour) for a gluten-free option. Check out my flour guide for more guidance on which flour works best and how to make adjustments. To make the base cookies vegan, swap the butter for a plant-based alternative and use an egg replacement.

I don't recommend making substitutions for the frosting since there are so few ingredients. However, you can use a high-fat vegan cream cheese and mascarpone alternative if needed.

Refer to my substitution guides for more tips on successfully substituting ingredients when baking.

Some More Expert Tips For Making Carrot Cake Cookies

For the best texture and flavor, use full-fat ingredients, such as European-style butter with 82% fat, cream cheese with 33% fat (i.e., Philadelphia brand), and mascarpone with around 41% fat. Avoid low-fat versions, which tend to contain more water.
When grating the carrots, the finer the shred, the better. If it is too thick, they won't mix evenly and can sink while baking.
For colorful decorations, gel food coloring is the best option, as just a tiny amount gives vibrant results without watering down your frosting (like liquid coloring). Powdered food coloring is another option.
Pay attention to when to use your electric mixer versus a rubber spatula. A spatula is necessary whenever you need to "fold in" ingredients as it is gentler and prevents overmixing (which can make your cookies dry and cakey)!
If your cookies ever turn out unexpectedly flat, refer to my guide on Why Are My Cookies Flat? to learn why and how to fix it next time!

Useful Equipment

For consistently perfect cookies, use a digital scale to measure your ingredients. A digital oven thermometer is also helpful to ensure your oven stays at the right temperature while baking.

An electric hand mixer is necessary to blend the wet ingredients, while you need a rubber spatula to fold in the dry ingredients and shredded carrots.

A wire cooling rack helps the cookies cool evenly and keeps the bottoms from getting soggy.

If you thought these carrot cake cookies were good, you will also want to try these other crowd-pleasers:

For more easy and delicious cookies to add to your cookie jar, check out my roundup with 60+ Different Types of Cookies!

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Carrot Cake Cookies