With crisp edges and chewy centers, these carrot cake cookies have just the right balance of spices.

Total Time 22

Our tasty carrot cookie recipe is definitely a keeper. You'll love these chewy oatmeal cookies spiced with ginger, nutmeg, and cloves with a shredded carrot!

carrot cookie recipe - carrot cake cookie with one bit taken out. a tray of cookies and bottle of milk in the background

These cookies are everything you love about carrot cake, in a hand-held size! I'm particularly partial to all things with cinnamon, nutmeg, and other warm spices. Toss in some cream cheese or easy vegan royal icing (optional) and I'm totally sold on this recipe. I think you're going to love it, too!

I don't really have any willpower when it comes to sweets. That's one of the reasons that I really love making cookies. I can have my sugar fix, but it's a small treat. This carrot cookie recipe is a particular favorite because it's a tad bit healthier than some of my other cookie recipes.

Tips for Making Carrot Cookies:

Butter - let the butter soften at room temperature until slightly softened, do not microwave.
Carrots - use only freshly grated carrots as store-bought "matchstick" carrots are too thick for this recipe.
Quick Cooking Oats - if you only have Old Fashion Oats on hand, add the oats to a blender and pulse 4-5 times before adding to the mixer.

How to Make Carrot Cookies

Preheat oven to 375-degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
With a stand or handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugars together at medium speed until light and creamy.
Add eggs one at a time and beat just until incorporated followed by vanilla, scraping down the sides as needed. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients. The dough will be thick and you will have to finish mixing by hand.
Stir in carrots, oats, and pecans by hand just until incorporated – the dough will be very thick.
Scoop dough using a 1- ½ inch tablespoon scoop, roll into balls and drop 2” apart.
Flatten the tops slightly. (If you don’t have a 1-½″ cookie scoop, use what you have and adjust cooking time accordingly.)
Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until cookies are lightly golden around the edges (take care not to overcook or they won’t be as soft).
Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Store the cookies in an airtight container and they will last about 1 week or so. I love using these boxes and layering the cookies between sheets of parchment paper. (You can find more products I love here on the Juggling Act Mama Amazon Storefront.)

How do you freeze cookies?

You can freeze frosted or unfrosted Carrot Cake Cookies, but for best results, I suggest freezing them without the frosting and adding it after they thaw.

Place frosted or unfrosted completely cooled cookies on a baking sheet without touching.
Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze cookies until solid.
Wrap each cookie individually in plastic wrap and add to a freezer bag and seal.
When ready to eat, remove the desired amount of cookies from the freezer bag then remove from plastic wrap so condensation doesn’t form.
Let Carrot Cake Cookies thaw on the counter for 15-20 minutes.

Recipe Variations

One of the things I like about making cookies is that once you have the base batter down, you can change up the mix-ins. You don't want to add in too many things, because you'll end up with a dry cookie.

This carrot cookie recipe calls for 1 cup of nuts so keep in mind that your mix-ins should equal no more than 1-¼ cup total. Here are some other ideas:

Swap out some or all of the pecans for chopped walnuts or slivered almonds.
Add 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed or wheat germ for added nutrition.
Dried cranberries or golden raisins are delicious in these cookies also.

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By the way, if you like these cookies, you have to check out our Best Carrot Cupcake Recipe!

Close up of a Carrot cookie on a burlap square.

Carrot Cake Cookies

With crisp edges and chewy centers, these carrot cake cookies have just the right balance of spices.

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5 from 1 vote

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: carrot cake cookies

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 12

Total Time: 22

Servings: cookies

Calories: 153kcal

Author: Ang Paris

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Ingredients

COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature*
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup shredded carrots
2 cups quick oats, not old-fashioned whole oats
1 cup finely chopped pecans

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING (optional)

4 oz. Cream Cheese at room temperature****
4 tablespoons butter at room temperature****
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups Powdered sugar
Milk as needed

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

COOKIES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
With a stand or handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugars together at medium speed until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat just until incorporated followed by vanilla, scraping down the sides as needed. Set aside.
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature*, 1 cup packed brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients. The dough will be thick and you will have to finish mixing by hand. Stir in carrots, oats and pecans by hand just until incorporated – dough will be very thick.
1 cup shredded carrots, 2 cups quick oats, not old-fashioned whole oats, 1 cup finely chopped pecans
Scoop dough using a 1 ½ inch/1 ½ tablespoon scoop, roll into balls and drop 2” apart. Flatten the tops slightly. If you don’t have a 1 ½″ cookie scoop, use what you have and adjust cooking time accordingly.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until cookies are lightly golden around the edges (take care not to overcook or they won’t be as soft). Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

In a large bowl beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides as needed.
4 oz. Cream Cheese at room temperature****, 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature****, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat in powdered sugar on low until combined then increase speed to medium-high and beat until thick and creamy, 1-2 minutes.
2 ½ cups Powdered sugar
Add milk, a tablespoon at a time to reach desired consistency.
Milk as needed
Frost cookies once completely cool and garnish with chopped pecans if desired.

Equipment

Notes

*Do NOT microwave butter or your cookies will be too soft and spread when baked. Let butter soften at room temperature until slightly softened.

**Use only freshly grated carrots. Use the small holes on a box grater to grate the carrots. Do NOT use pre packaged matchstick carrots as they are too thick.

***Old-fashioned whole rolled oats will NOT work in this recipe, but if that’s what you have on hand, you can make your own quick oats by adding whole oats to food processor and pulsing 4-6 times or until they resemble the consistency of quick oats. ****Do NOT microwave butter or cream cheese to soften for frosting or it will be too runny. Let soften at room temperature.

HOW TO FREEZE CARROT CAKE COOKIES

You can freeze frosted or unfrosted Carrot Cake Cookies.

Place frosted or unfrosted completely cooled cookies on a baking sheet without touching.
Place baking sheet in the freezer and freeze cookies until solid.
Wrap each cookie individually in plastic wrap and add to a freezer bag and seal.
When ready to eat, remove desired amount of cookies from freezer bag then remove from plastic wrap so condensation doesn’t form.
Let Carrot Cake Cookies thaw on the counter for 15-20 minutes.

Nutrition

Please Note: I am not a registered dietician. Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and portion sizes.

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