Chewy Carrot Cake Cookies

Just a little something....

We have a rule in our house: you can have as many sweets as you want, so long as I make them. I can't do much about salty snacks, such as potato chips or crunchy pretzel sticks, but I can certainly control the kind of snacking my son and husband do. What is to be done when the desire for a sweet smackerel of something is there, but you don't want to go to the grocery store? You simply use what you have, and - if you're like me - you always have carrots around, especially in the summer when they grow abundantly.

Everyone loves a good carrot cake, and everyone loves a good carrot cake cookie. One usually sees carrot cake cookies topped or sandwiched with cream cheese frosting, but not me. When I want a cookie, I just want a quick little nibble of something sweet that will satiate me until it's dinner time. I don't want anything huge or massively decadent, and I figure the less sugar I have throughout the day the better. 

A quick note about carrots:

If you have clay soil, you'll have difficulty growing carrots. The soil in my own garden is rough, tough, and full of clay, so while I go on my journey of naturally amending it, I have to get my fresh carrots from either friends, the market, or the farm. Carrots are high in sugar so they're great in baked goods. They also are quite high in moisture which is why carrot cake is so deliciously moist! If you want something a little different, though, then this cookie recipe is all for you.

Chewy Carrot Cake Cookies

• 6 oz butter, room temperature (vegan or dairy)
• 7 oz granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 medium carrot, finely grated
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 7.5 oz whole wheat flour
• ** 1/2 c chopped walnuts

This is so easy! Cream the butter together with the sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, using a wooden spoon in a medium-sized bowl. Add the egg and cream until wholly incorporated and quite light. Stir in the remaining ingredients gently, including the carrots. I didn't put walnuts in mine this time, but I have before, and they're quite good.  

Scoop your cookie dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, nice and close to each other, until all of it is portioned. Pop it into the freezer for at least 30 minutes, ideally overnight. Freezing a cookie dough or at least letting it rest for awhile before baking will allow the flour granules to soak up moisture and for the fat in the cookie to take on any flavors you may want them to take on. This is especially good if you felt fanciful and decided to add a little orange zest or vanilla bean to your cookies. 

When you're ready, bake at 325 for 11 minutes and allow to cool completely. You can have them on their own or you can sandwich them with cream cheese frosting to be decadent. I store mine in the cookie jar, which you can screw tight. They'll keep for up to two weeks, but I don't think they'll last that long for you. 

Happy cooking and happy eating! Do you have anything you'd like me to try? Let me know in the comments. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for more fun.