Carrot Cake Cookies
Carrot cake, renowned for its moistness and delicate cinnamon flavor, takes on a new appearance in the form of shortbread cookies. These delicious buttery Carrot Cake Cookies are a simple and easy recipe. Combining the delightful flavors which makes them perfect for any occasion.
Have you ever thought about Christmas and how it gets all the good recipes, the cookies, cakes, pastries, candies etc. and what does Easter get? Ok lots of chocolate and a tasty Easter Bread and yes I do love a slice of Colomba. But it sure isn’t a Christmas spread!
So I decided I wanted to make an easy cookie that was similar to my favorite Christmas cookies, Shortbread. So good, and made even better with a drizzle of melted white chocolate.
Recipe Ingredients
- Carrots – shredded
- Nuts – finely chopped nuts, I used walnuts
- Flour – all purpose flour with at least 11% protein
- Butter – softened butter
- Salt – if you use unsalted butter then add a bit more salt
- Sugar – powdered sugar
- Vanilla – vanilla extract
- Chocolate – White chocolate
What Is The Best Flour For Cut Out Cookies?
Be sure to use a higher protein flour, at least 11.5, a low protein flour will cause the cookies to spread, and believe me refrigerating the dough will not help.
How To Make A Carrot Cookie Recipe
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon and salt.
In a large bowl or stand mixer beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and combine.
Add the carrots and combine on low, add the nuts and mix to just combine.
Move the dough to a lightly floured flat surface, and gently knead until the cookie dough is combined. Form the dough into a log, wrap the log in plastic wrap and chill.
Remove the dough log from the fridge and cut into slices. Place the sliced cookies on the prepared baking sheet and chill while the oven is pre-heating.
Bake until they start to brown around the edges. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet.
Then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle with melted chocolate or dust with powdered sugar before serving.
What nuts are best to use?
I used chopped walnuts but you could of course use pecans, hazelnuts or even almonds.
Can the dough be made in advance?
Yes it can be made in advance, raw cookie dough will keep for up to 2-4 days in the fridge. Wrap well or place in an airtight container.
How To Store The Carrot Cookies
The baked completely cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerated for up to 5-7 days.
How To Freeze The Cookies
To freeze the cookies, place parchment paper in between the layers of the completely cooled cookies this prevents them from sticking together when they are in the containers for freezing.
Or you can also place the baked cooled cookies on a cookie sheet and freeze them, then move the frozen cookies to either airtight bags or containers. The carrot cookies will last up to 6 months in the freezer.
I love Easter because it is nice, quiet and relaxing. They have a saying in Italian “Natale con i tuoi e Pasqua con chi vuoi” , translated to “Christmas with your family and Easter with who ever you choose”.
So even if Easter is quiet, why not let it share in some of those cookies too? Nothing cuter than a few bunnies. Happy Easter! Enjoy.
More Easter Cookie recipes
- Italian Easter Cookies – Uncinetti
- Easy Bunny Cookies
- Italian Ricciarelli Cookies
- Canestrelli Cookies
Carrot Cake Cookies
Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIES
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (at least 11% protein) (140 grams total, if you double or triple the recipe, double or triple this amount)
- ½-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used ½)
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup shredded carrot
- ¼ cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
EXTRAS
- 3-4 ounces chocolate good quality (I used white chocolate)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon and salt.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, then add the carrots and combine on low, add the nuts and mix to just combine.
- Move the dough to a lightly floured flat surface, and gently knead until the cookie dough is combined. Form the dough into a log approximately 8 inches/21 cm. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for approximately 60 minutes.
- Remove the dough log from the fridge and cut into 21 slices approximately ¼ inch / .70 cm thick.
- Place the sliced cookies on 1-2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, chill while the oven is pre-heating.
- Pre-heat oven to 325F (163C).
- Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until they start to brown around the edges. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle with melted chocolate or dust with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Updated from February 28, 2018.
In the beginning of recipe u say to cook carrots, but in the recipe itself u say add shredded carrots? If u are to cook them how long??
Hi Lou, sorry my mistake, it should be shredded. Thanks Take care!
Am I reading the Ingredients incorrectly? The carrots say chopped and cooked??
Hi Lorraine, sorry about that, the recipe card is correct. I don’t know where that came from :). Take care and have a great weekend!
Where do I find high protein flour? When I searched it, bread flour came up. Would this be used for cookies?
Hi Jen, most all purpose flours have at least 11% protein. You can use bread flour although the cookies will be a bit chewier. Let me know how it goes. Take care!
When you combine the ingredients, do you beat, mix, or cream? Should the butter or egg be room temperature?
Hi Hye Yung, you need to combine the ingredients with your hands and butter at room temperature will combine better, and the egg does not have to be room temperature. Thanks, have a wonderful Sunday.
thank you for sharing these wonderful cookies at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. Watch for your feature on Monday xo
Hi Katherine, thanks so much Katherine, I will watch for it for sure! Have a wonderful Sunday.
How cute! I never would have thought to put carrots in shortbread cookies, but they must be delicious. Pinning to share this.
Hi Andrea, they were really good and went in a flash.