Name: Soft Carrot Cake Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 42 min
Yield: 24 cookies
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups Finely Grated Carrots, loosely packed / about 6-7 medium carrots; 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour; 1 tsp Baking Soda; 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon; 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg; 1/2 tsp Salt; 1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature; 1 cup Granulated Sugar; 3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, lightly packed; 2 Large Eggs, room temperature; 3 tsp Vanilla Extract; ½ cup Chopped Pecans, optional; 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, browned and cooled to a solid state; 8 oz Full Fat Cream Cheese, room temperature; 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon; 2 tsp Vanilla Extract; 4 cups Sifted Powdered Sugar

This easy Carrot Cake Cookies recipe lets you enjoy carrot cake as a cookie! Every bite is an incredibly soft, cake-like cookie loaded with finely grated carrots and warm cinnamon and nutmeg, topped with a rich brown butter cinnamon cream cheese frosting. They’re a crowd-pleasing sweet treat for sure!

Brown butter cream cheese frosted and unfrosted carrot cake cookies with a sprinkling of chopped pecans around some of the cookies on a dark wood background.

Carrot cake is one of my favorite desserts in spring and again in fall, like my Single Layer Carrot Cake or my Super Moist Carrot Cake Cupcakes! That got me thinking about a cookie version, because why not? Top them with my brown butter cream cheese frosting, and you will be in heaven!

These soft carrot cake cookies are truly simple to make, thanks to my Ankarsrum Assistent Original Stand Mixer and its vegetable cutter attachment fitted with the medium coarse grating drum. The vegetable cutter also includes a slicing drum and a coarse grater drum. The mixer and attachment are really easy to use (there’s a slight learning curve at first), the mixer is easy to move around (much lighter than a KitchenAid), and the vegetable cutter keeps your hands from turning orange the way a hand grater does. I speak from experience!

If you want to see more of what the Ankarsrum Assistent Original Mixer and its attachments can do, check out my Lemon Cheesecake, Fluffernutter Cookies, Easy Blender Chocolate Mousse, Dulce de Leche Ice Cream, and Honey Butter Dinner Rolls!

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Cookies

You will need the ingredients shown below to make these easy carrot cake cookies. The items in the bulleted list are the key ones that need a bit more explanation.

Unsalted Butter. If you like, use brown butter instead of regular unsalted butter for even more flavor in these carrot cake cookies!
Carrots. Fresh carrots that have been rinsed, dried, peeled, and grated work best for these cookies. Skip the bagged matchstick-style carrots or ones labeled “shredded,” since they’re too thick. If you use baby carrots, pat them dry before adding them to the vegetable cutter, since they hold more water than full-size carrots. With the Ankarsrum vegetable cutter, the medium grater drum works well. You can also use the fine grater drum, which is sold as a separate set.
Cinnamon. I went with King Arthur Indonesian cinnamon here. It tastes sweeter and milder than regular or Vietnamese cinnamon (the kind I used in my Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins), but feel free to use whatever you already have. Penzeys Spices sells this variety too.
Pecans. You can swap in chopped walnuts or leave the nuts out completely.

Brown Butter Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

You’ll need these ingredients for this rich brown butter cinnamon cream cheese frosting. If you don’t plan to use much frosting on the cookies, you can easily halve the recipe.

Brown butter cream cheese frosting ingredients in various size bowls labeled as powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, brown butter, and cream cheese on a white marbled background.

Cream Cheese. Use full-fat cream cheese in brick form (not the spreadable kind in a plastic tub), and let it come to room temperature.
Brown Butter. If you prefer regular cream cheese frosting, use regular unsalted butter in place of brown butter. You can make the brown butter ahead of time, then bring it to room temperature before starting the recipe.
Cinnamon. Use regular, Indonesian (as above), or Vietnamese cinnamon in this frosting, or leave it out. I do suggest keeping it in, since it adds more depth to the brown butter frosting.
Powdered Sugar. Sift this before you start the recipe.
Vanilla Extract. Rounds out all the warm flavors in this brown butter cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

For amounts and step-by-step directions, see the recipe card below.

Directions

Here is a brief overview of how to make these easy carrot cake cookies. See the recipe card below for the full printable recipe, in US customary or metric measurements.

Quick Tip: Before you start, rinse, peel, and pat the carrots dry. Then use your Ankarsrum Assistent Original Stand Mixer and vegetable cutter attachment with the medium coarse grating drum (or a handheld grater) to grate the carrots into a small bowl (Images 1 and 2). You’ll need 6-7 medium carrots.

Whisking all-purpose flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large glass bowl on a white quartz background.

Step 1. Whisk the dry ingredients together. I sift the all-purpose flour into the bowl first, then add the baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and salt (Image 3). Whisk until well blended with no streaks of cinnamon left (Image 4).

Mixing butter and sugars together, then adding in the eggs and vanilla extract in an Ankarsrum mixer on white quartz background.

Step 2. Mix the wet ingredients. Start by creaming the unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar until light and fluffy, like sugary, creamy clouds (Image 5). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until smooth (Image 6).

Adding grated carrots to carrot cake cookie dough mixture in an Ankarsrum creme light mixer on white quartz background.

Step 3. Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Add the whisked dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix on low until partly combined. Stir in the grated carrots (Image 7) and chopped pecans. Keep mixing just until the flour streaks disappear (Image 8). The dough will be thick and sticky.

Quick Note: Chilling this dough isn’t required, but you may want to if the butter got too soft and mushy when creamed with the sugars. I suggest a test bake of one cookie. If it spreads a lot instead of holding a nice dome shape, chill the dough for at least one hour.

Scooped carrot cake cookie dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and baked carrot cake cookies frosted with brown butter cinnamon cream cheese frosting topped with chopped pecans.

Step 4. Scoop the cookies and bake. I used a #30, 1-ounce, or 2-tablespoon cookie scoop. Leave about 2 inches between cookies for spreading (Image 9). If you like, top with more chopped pecans, then bake for 10-12 minutes at 350ºF. Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack. Once fully cooled, spread on the brown butter cinnamon cream cheese frosting and add more chopped pecans if you like (Image 10).

Quick Note: These easy carrot cake cookies have a soft, cakey texture (the word “cake” is right in the name) and a slightly domed top. The bottoms and bottom edges turn a golden brown.

Storage

Unfrosted carrot cake cookies keep in an airtight container for up to three days at room temperature or up to five days in the fridge. At room temperature, the tops may get a little soft and sticky, the way cupcakes can. That’s normal, since they’re basically little cakes.

Frosted carrot cake cookies should be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. You can eat them chilled or let them sit out at room temperature for about 15 minutes.

Freezing

You can freeze this cookie dough before baking. Make the recipe, scoop, and place the dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or a silicone mat), then freeze until solid. Move the dough balls to a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to 1 month.

Bake the cookies as usual (no need to thaw), adding 2-3 minutes to the baking time. Let them cool, then frost with the brown butter cream cheese frosting.

Carrot cake cookies frosted with brown butter cream cheese frosting and some topped with chopped pecans with a small bowl filled with chopped pecans to the side on a dark wood background.

FAQ

Do I need to chill carrot cake cookie dough?

No, you don’t have to chill the dough, but it’s recommended for an hour if the butter gets too soft and mushy when creamed with the sugars. Once the dough is mixed, you can bake a test cookie. If it spreads a lot, pop the dough into the fridge.

Can I omit the chopped pecans from the carrot cake cookie dough?

I love a little pecan crunch in my carrot cake, but I know not everyone does (or they have an allergy), so it’s totally fine to skip them!

More Cookie Recipes to Enjoy!

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If you try this Carrot Cake Cookies Recipe or any other recipe on my site, please leave a star rating and tell me what you thought in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!