Carrot cake cookies are super simple to whip up, totally delicious, and they hit that sweet spot with a mix of spice and everything nice. They’re everything you love about the classic dessert—spiced, sweet, and oh-so-carroty—but in a fun, easy-to-grab cookie format. Perfect for Easter celebrations, snacking, or just because you deserve a delicious treat. So grab your apron, and let’s turn that carrot cake craving into a batch of delicious cookies!

If you can’t get enough carrot cake, make sure to try carrot cake cupcakes and the classic carrot cake itself!

Why Our Recipe

  • Perfect for busy carrot cake lovers, with all the flavors of carrot cake in a soft, chewy cookie!
  • Can be served plain, with frosting, or as sandwich cookies.
  • Easily customizable with mix-ins like raisins, walnuts, or chocolate chips.
Overhead view of a carrot cake cookie with cream cheese frosting on top.

Carrot cake has a lot of different mix-ins that people like to add based on their preferences, and these cookies are no exception! In our ingredient notes, we’ll suggest a few possible add-ins, but just add what sounds best to you, or keep them plain!

Ingredient Notes

Overhead view of a kitchen counter with measured out walnuts, flour, sugar, egg, butter, brown sugar, carrots, and spices.
  • Brown Sugar: Use light brown sugar or dark brown which will give you a chewier texture.
  • Granulated Sugar: Regular white sugar is what helps with crisp edges.
  • Salted Butter: Make sure it’s softened for easy mixing. You can use unsalted butter, just be sure to add an extra 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
  • Egg: Just your standard large eggs will do here.
  • Finely Shredded Carrots: Use the fine side of a grater or a food processor for smaller shreds that blend into the dough. Avoid pre-shredded carrots as they are way too big and often dry.
  • Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract gives the best flavor, but imitation vanilla works too.
  • Baking Powder: This gives the cookies a little lift. Make sure it’s not expired.
  • Salt: Enhances the flavor. If you used unsalted butter, increase to 3/4 teaspoon.
  • Ground Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, and Ginger: These spices are key to that classic carrot cake flavor.
  • All-Purpose Flour: You can also use bread flour.

Fun little Add-Ins

Adding mix-ins to your carrot cake cookies is a fantastic way to customize them to your liking. Whether you’re a fan of chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruit, here’s how to incorporate these tasty extras:

Chocolate chips: These add a nice sweet twist that goes so great with the spices in these cookies. You can add in 1/2 cup of your favorite variety of chocolate chips into the dough.

Walnuts: If you like the crunch that nuts add to desserts, you can add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.

Raisins: These are a classic addition to any carrot cake, and you’ll just add 1/2 cup to the dough. We love the added sweetness and chewy texture that these bring to the cookies.

Just be sure to limit it to no more than 1 cup total of add-ins.

A collage of four images showing ingredients in a mixing bowl at various stages of being mixed together, and an image of cookie dough balls on a baking sheet.

Frosting

Cream cheese frosting and carrot cake are a match made in heaven! We love the sharp flavor of the cream cheese that cuts through the sweetness and complements the spices in the carrot cake cookies. You can use store-bought frosting or make it yourself. We recommend making it thin enough to spread, so you might need to add a little bit of extra milk to your frosting to get it to a good consistency.

Cookie sandwiches are so yummy and fun, and they make these cookies even more transportable. To make these into cookie sandwiches, you’ll just want to get two cookies that are about the same size and then put a generous amount of frosting on the flat side of one cookie, and then press the two together.

A stack of carrot cake cookie sandwiches with cream cheese frosting.

Resting the Dough

If you have enough time, resting the dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking will help enhance the flavor of the cookies, and it will also improve the texture. They’ll turn out great even if you can’t rest them, but trust us—those 30 minutes are worth it!

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 10 days unfrosted or 5 days frosted. All cookies with cream cheese frosting need to be refrigerated! If the cookies are unfrosted, you can store them in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months, then thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the cookie dough to bake the cookies later. Just scoop the dough onto a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Then, you’ll just transfer the frozen dough balls to a freezer-safe bag or container, and freeze for up to 3 months. You can bake them from frozen, but just add a few extra minutes to the baking time.

Reheat cookies for fifteen seconds in the microwave if you prefer them a little warm.