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    Home

    Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Frosting

    July 19, 2021 by sara 7 Comments

    Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Frosting pack all the traditional flavors of a classic carrot cake but are super easy to make and are ready to eat in half the time.

    Jump to Recipe
    Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
    Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches are easy and delicious

    I love carrot cake because it's moist and delicious with a heavy crumb and is chock full of nuts and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; and is usually topped with a delightful cream cheese frosting. These Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Frosting do just the trick!

    Some places put little carrot decorations on there too, which is freaking adorable.

    I adore a good carrot cake, but in general I have neither the time nor the patience for making layer cakes.  And I know that carrot cakes can be made as sheet cakes, but half of the fun of a carrot cake is that perfect slice of orangey brown cake with creamy white frosting between the layers and little hints of pecans and raisins peeking out.

    And now that being said, I love this recipe for carrot cake cookies, because sometimes you just don’t want to spend hours creating that perfect layer cake, but you still want all of the traditional flavors of a carrot cake.

    Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

    Some other cookies you'll love:

    • Lemon Cookies with Vanilla Bean Glaze
    • No Bake Cookies
    • The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Ingredients Needed

    • Butter
    • Brown Sugar
    • Eggs
    • Pure Vanilla Extract
    • All purpose flour
    • Baking Powder
    • Baking Soda
    • Cinnamon
    • Salt
    • Carrots
    • Raisins
    • Pecans
    • Cream Cheese
    • Powdered Sugar

    Tips for Making the best Carrot Cake Cookies

    The batter for these cookies is very thick even before you add the carrots, raisins and pecans.  Try not to overmix the batter, as that will result in a tougher cookie.

    Measuring Pecans – the recipe calls for a half of cup of pecans, chopped.  This means measure out a half cup of pecans, and then chop them.  If you chop them first and then measure you’ll actually end up with a much larger amount of pecans by weight because the smaller pieces take up less room in the measuring cup.

    The frosting can be made up to a week ahead of time.  Just let it come to room temperature, and then beat it with a hand mixer for a minute or two to get it fluffy again before using.

    I chose to make cookie sandwiches for this recipe, but you could also just frost the tops of the cookies and have individual cookie servings if you’d like.

    The cookies do not spread much in the oven, so if you’d like a wider, flatter cookie you can spray the bottom of a glass with non-stick spray and use it to press down on the cookie dough before baking.  If you leave it as is, you will have a rounder, taller cookie.

    Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

    Substitutions and Additions for Carrot Cake Cookies

    Light or dark brown sugar will work here.  I almost always use dark brown because it has more flavor.

    White raisins would be AMAZING in the cookies.

    Pecans are traditional, but you could use chopped walnuts if you have them on hand.

    I only used cinnamon, but you could add other spices if you’d like – nutmeg, cloves, allspice would all taste great.  ¼ teaspoon to ½ teaspoon of any.

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    carrot cake cookies on a blue napkin next to a dish of cream cheese icing.

    Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Frosting

    Carrot Cake Cookies pack all the traditional flavors of aclassic carrot cake but are super easy to make and are ready to eat in half thetime.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 24 Cookies

    Ingredients
      

    • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
    • ¾ cup packed brown sugar
    • 1 egg
    • ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
    • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup grated carrots
    • ½ cup raisins
    • ½ cup pecans chopped

    Cream Cheese Frosting

    • 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
    • 4 tablespoon butter room temperature
    • 1.5 cups powdered sugar
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 325.
    • In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until well combined, about 3-4 minutes.
    • Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Add the baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and mix to combine, then add the flour and mix to combine.
    • Gently stir in the carrots, raisins and pecans. Batter will be very thick.
    • Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment. If you want larger flatter cookies, spray the bottom of a glass with non-stick spray and press down on each cookie to flatten it a bit.
    • Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until edges of the cookies are browned and the cookies are set. Cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then remove to a wire cooling rack.

    Cream Cheese Frosting

    • Using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese until well combined.
    • Add the powdered sugar a half cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
    • Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
    • Frost the cookies either individually or add frosting the the bottom of a cookie, and press another cookie on top to make carrot cake cookie sandwiches.

    Notes

    Cookies are best after being allowed to cool completely.
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kate

      December 31, 2021 at 4:42 pm

      I would love to try these cookies but the recipe doesn’t appear. Am I missing something? Snooping list, tips, substations and links to other recipes are but no recipe for these. Would appreciate the recipe. They look scrumptious. Thanks

      Reply
      • Sara Rauckhorst

        December 31, 2021 at 5:55 pm

        Hi Kate! The recipe card is not appearing? I'm so sorry about that - it shows on my end!

        I'll copy the recipe here for you! I hope you love them as much as I do!

        Sara

        6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
        3/4 cup packed brown sugar
        1 egg
        3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
        1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
        1 teaspoon baking powder
        1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
        1/4 teaspoon baking soda
        1/4 teaspoon salt
        1 cup grated carrots
        1/2 cup raisins
        1/2 cup pecans, chopped
        Cream Cheese Frosting
        4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
        4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
        1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
        1 teaspoon vanilla
        INSTRUCTIONS
        To Make Carrot Cake Cookies
        Preheat oven to 325.
        In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until well combined, about 3-4 minutes.
        Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Add the baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and mix to combine, then add the flour and mix to combine.
        Gently stir in the carrots, raisins and pecans. Batter will be very thick.
        Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment. If you want larger flatter cookies, spray the bottom of a glass with non-stick spray and press down on each cookie to flatten it a bit.
        Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until edges of the cookies are browned and the cookies are set. Cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then remove to a wire cooling rack.
        To Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
        Using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese until well combined.
        Add the powdered sugar a half cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
        Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
        Frost the cookies either individually or add frosting the the bottom of a cookie, and press another cookie on top to make carrot cake cookie sandwiches.

        Reply
    2. Pamela Schmidt

      March 19, 2022 at 1:48 pm

      5 stars
      I can hardly wait to try this!!! Carrot cake was our family fav growing up! My older Brother and I have Birthdays two days apart in Oct. It's always been a humous family fact that we were so poor that Mama just baked one Carrot cake for us to share! Lol! I will be sure to take him some of these! Thanks for sharing this recipe! ♡♥︎♡

      Reply
      • sara

        March 19, 2022 at 3:36 pm

        I hope you love them as much as we do!!! My husband's birthday is a week from mine, so I'm completely familiar with having to share birthday parties! 😀

        Reply
    3. Sharon Hensley

      March 21, 2022 at 11:07 am

      Do you have the calorie number, sounds good.

      Reply
    4. Angela

      August 01, 2022 at 12:45 pm

      Could the raisins and pecans be omitted from the recipe? Will the cookies turn out without those ingredients?

      Reply
      • sara

        August 01, 2022 at 4:18 pm

        I think you definitely could, but I haven't tested it that way, so I'm not sure what that would do to the texture of the finished cookie. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out!!

        Sara

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Sara! I’m a photographer, a recipe developer, and a blogger, but beneath it all, I’m just your average home cook.  I’m busy and I don’t always have time to spend hours in the kitchen.  I share quick, easy, and delicious meals that your family will love as much as mine does.  I taught myself to cook by trial and error.  Come along with me and I’ll help you get there too – hopefully with a little less “error” than I had!

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