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Carrot cake cookies bring all of the flavors of your favorite cake into a more portable format. Bursting with shredded carrot, pineapple, and coconut, these soft cookies are topped with silky cream cheese frosting for the perfect bite.
Carrot cake is one of my favorite desserts. I absolutely adore the J. Alexander’s carrot cake and make it multiple times a year.
So obviously I love taking all of the flavors of one of my favorite cakes and putting them in other desserts, such as carrot cake bread! These carrot cake cookies are my new obsession. They’re soft, slightly chewy, and perfectly cakey.
Why you’ll love this carrot cake cookie recipe
I am really into these carrot cake cookies, and I know you’ll love them, too. Here’s why:
- Amazing texture: These cookies have an amazing texture. The cookie dough itself bakes up to be soft and a bit cakey, similar to zucchini cookies. The added coconut and raisins give a bit of chewiness, too.
- Perfect flavor: This recipe includes all of the best parts of a classic carrot cake: slightly sweet carrots, pineapple, chewy raisins and coconut, warm spices, and tangy cream cheese frosting. They really do taste like carrot cake…just in cookie form!
- No chilling required: No need to chill the dough. Just mix, portion, and bake. Even with letting the cookies cool before frosting them, you can have them ready in just over an hour!
- Great for gatherings: If you’re headed to an Easter brunch or party, take these carrot cake cookies. They travel better than a whole cake does!
Ingredients and substitutions
⬇️ For the full recipe, including ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card below!
- Butter: Make sure your butter has softened to room temperature before you start baking.
- Sugar: I like a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar for the best flavor and texture. If your brown sugar has hardened in the pantry, check out my tips for softening brown sugar.
- Large eggs
- Vanilla: Extract or vanilla bean paste
- Crushed pineapple: Use crushed pineapple in juice and drain the pineapple before using it. You don’t have to press out the fruit until it’s dry; just make sure you drain off as much of the juice as you can.
- Raisins: Technically optional, but highly recommended.
- Carrots: I recommend finely grating these using the small holes on a box grater. Since these cookies won’t bake as long as cake does, finely grating the carrots helps them cook better in the cookies.
- Sweetened shredded coconut: You can just unsweetened flaked coconut, just know that the final cookies won’t be as sweet.
- All-purpose flour
- Spices: Ground cinnamon and fine sea salt round out the flavor of the cookie dough. You could also add a pinch of nutmeg or use pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon if you have some on hand!
- Leavening: A mix of baking powder and baking soda.
The frosting for these cookies is based on my cream cheese frosting recipe. You’ll also need softened cream cheese and powdered sugar for this.
How to make these carrot cake cookies
Using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add in the eggs and vanilla, then the pineapple, raisins, carrots, and coconut.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Slowly add this to the wet ingredients until the dough is just combined.
Use a large cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave about 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake at 350°F for 15-17 minutes, until golden and the tops are just set and no longer look wet or shiny. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the cream cheese frosting using a hand mixer or stand mixer. Spread onto the cooled cookies and enjoy!
Recipe Tip
Use food coloring to turn some of the frosting orange and some green and pipe little carrots onto the top of each cookie!
You could also turn the cookies into carrot cake sandwich cookies by spreading the frosting onto the bottom of a cookie and sandwiching it with a second cookie.
Storage
Store carrot cake cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You don’t want to leave them at room temperature due to the cream cheese in the frosting.
If you want to make the cookies ahead of time, let them cool and then store them in an airtight container. Freeze for up to a month. Thaw, then spread the cream cheese frosting on top before enjoying.
I don’t recommend freezing the frosted cookies, as freezing and thawing can make the frosting split.
Expert tips for best results
- It might seem like a simple step, but always make sure you know how to measure flour correctly before you start baking. Getting this right can make the difference between perfect cookies and a total recipe flop!
- Finely grate the carrots yourself. Don’t rely on bagged shredded carrots from the grocery store—they won’t give you the right texture and you’ll end up with bits of raw carrot in the cookies.
- Let your butter and cream cheese soften to room temperature before baking the frosting. This is the key to a perfectly smooth cream cheese frosting that won’t split!
Carrot Cake Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice drained
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup finely shredded carrots
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
For the frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Stir in pineapple, raisins, carrots and coconut until evenly incorporated.1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup finely shredded carrots, 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the carrot mixture until just combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula to make sure everything is fully incorporated into the batter.2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Using a large (3 tablespoons) cookie scoop, scoop batter onto prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes. Remove pan to cooling rack and allow cookies to cool on pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to the cooling rack to cool completely.
- Repeat with remaining batter.
- Once cookies have completely cooled, prepare the cream cheese frosting.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream together cream cheese and butter until well combined, about 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.4 ounces cream cheese, 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar until thoroughly incorporated and smooth. Add vanilla and mix to combine. Turn the mixer to medium speed and mix for 3-4 more minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Spread frosting onto each cookie.2 ½ cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
