Love a slice of carrot cake, then you will love these Carrot Cake Cookies? Give these fruity, nutty cookies a go. The long list of ingredients may look a little off-putting, but they really are very simple to put together. This recipe makes at least 20 cookies, so plenty to keep you going, though be warned, they are moreish so may not last that long.
115g unsalted butter plus an extra tablespoon for greasing
115g soft brown sugar
115g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon table salt
1 free-range egg (lightly beaten)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
55g finely grated (preferably) organic carrots
85g quick porridge oats
55g walnuts, finely chopped
55g dried mixed fruit
Orange Icing
55g cream cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
175g icing sugar 2 drops orange food colouring or 1 drop of red and 1 yellow
Make the Carrot Cake Cookies Batter:
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and grease with the extra tablespoon of butter
Beat the butter and sugar together until light in colour and texture – you will find an electric mixer quicker and easier but you can use a hand whisk too. Beat in the beaten egg a little at a time.
Put the flour, bicarbonate, spices and salt into a large bowl, mix lightly with a whisk. Then, lower the speed of the mixer and add the dry ingredients a few spoons at a time, the more time you take here, the lighter your biscuits will be.
No more mixer now, stir in the grated carrots, oats and finally the dried fruits. Pop the bowl into the fridge for 10 minutes to slightly firm up.
Shape and Bake the Carrot Cake Cookies:
Heat the oven to 190C/ 180C Fan
Take the bowl from the fridge and take a generous tablespoon of the mixture and quickly roll into a ball. Place onto the baking tray, even though these cookies don’t spread very much they will still need at least 5cm between them. Press to gently flatten the cookie, then continue until the tray is full, you may need to make two batches.
Bake for 12 – 14 minutes the cookies should be golden brown. They will still be a little soft but firm up as they cool down, though they will never be hard. Leave the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes, then remove onto a cooling rack.
Make the Icing:
Whisk the butter, cheese and vanilla together. Add the food coloring and whisk again. If the frosting is not orange enough, add a tiny, tiny bit more. Add more colouring if it is too pale. Go for it and decorate as you wish
Recipe Notes:
These cookies freeze really, really well. Open-freeze on a tray (they can be iced or uniced) when frozen pop into a freezer bag.M