Carrot Cake Cookie Bites
The onset of Spring usually means time to make carrot cake. Unfortunately, I don’t always have the time to make my favorite traditional carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (hoping to get the recipe up here soon). So in a pinch, I made these quick carrot cake cookie bites. They aren’t exactly the same as the cake but still have the familiar carrot and cinnamon flavors and an icing drizzle adds a similar cream cheese frosting sweetness.
The original idea for this recipe came from “Baking: From My Home to Yours” by Dorie Greenspan. While this baking book is a new addition to my collection, it’s already well on its way to becoming a classic. This book has won multiple awards, including The James Beard Foundation Book Award. Greenspan has also worked with some of the worlds greatest chefs, such as Julia Child and Daniel Boulud. Although I don’t know Greenspan personally, I’m delighted that she included my grandmother’s “The Art of Fine Baking” as one of her favorite cookbooks in this article on Serious Eats. There’s always a connection in classic cooking and great American foodies!
Getting back to the recipe, I made a few modifications (in addition to changing the name). The original contains shredded sweetened coconut. I included this as optional below but since I made these cookies for a friend that doesn’t care for coconut, I omitted it. I would imagine it adds an interesting sweetness overall. I also added an icing drizzle. As silly as it may sound, these cookies seemed almost too healthy without it.
Carrots may mean spring but carrot cake cookie bites are an easy quick fix for a seasonal cookie craving. The carrot adds moisture to the cookies while raisins and walnuts add texture. Don’t forget to top them off with a sweet drizzle that the kids will love.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup shredded carrots (about 3 peeled carrots)
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (optional)
-  
Icing Drizzle
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.
- Beat butter (on medium speed if using a stand mixer) until creamy and smooth. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes or so, then add the egg and beat for another minute. Beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients in 2 or 3 batches and beat only until they just disappear into the mix. The dough will be very thick. Mix in carrots, raisins, pecans, and coconut (if using).
- Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets in heaping tablespoonful’s, leaving about an inch of space between them; these don’t spread much.
- Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at midway point. The cookes should be light brown and only just firm on top. Carefully transfer the cookies to racks to cool to room temperature.
- Make the icing drizzle:
- Whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.
- Drizzle over cookies using a spoon or piping bag or parchment cone.
- Makes about 32 cookies.