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A side view of a chewy carrot cake cookie showing the frosting and coconut on top.

Chewy Carrot Cake Cookies

Brooke Homec
These chewy carrot cake cookies are the cookie form of everyone's favorite carrot cake. They're a chewy and soft spiced cookie loaded with brown butter, carrots and oats, topped with a brown butter cream cheese frosting and some toasted coconut.
5 from 23 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 57 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 17
Calories 398 kcal

Ingredients
 

Carrot Cake Cookies

  • 1 ½ cups (340.5 g) butter browned and separated for cookies and frosting
  • ¾ cups (165 g) brown sugar
  • ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 large (100 g) eggs room temp
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups (160 g) freshly grated carrots
  • 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1½ teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) nutmeg
  • 2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups (162 g) old fashioned oats

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

  • ¼ cup (56.75 g) brown butter
  • 4 oz (113.4 g) cream cheese room temp
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar
  • toasted coconut for topping

Instructions
 

  • Start by browning the butter. You'll take 1½ cups of butter and melt in a medium saucepan, and then continue to cook past the point of boiling. You will do this over medium heat, past the point of the butter foaming, until it turns a nice golden brown, and has a nutty smell. Make sure you are stirring and watching it, because it will turn from perfectly brown to burnt fairly quickly. Once finished browning, separate so you have 1 cup worth for the cookies and about a ¼ cup for the frosting. Place in the fridge to solidify again. You will want it to become a soft solid again to start the cookie dough, the same consistency as room temperature butter you would use to normally bake cookies.
  • Place 1 cup of browned butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Add eggs one at a time, mix until smooth on low speed, anout 30 seconds each egg. Beat in the vanilla and carrots.
  • Add baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and flour to bowl and mix on low, being careful not to overmix. I usually like to stop mixing when I still have flour remnants around the bowl. Fold in oats.
  • Scoop the dough into large balls. I like to use a ¼ cup cookie scoop. Chill for 2-24 hours.
  • Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Place 6 cookie balls on your baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes. You're looking for a nice golden brown outside rim.
  • Mix the remaining ¼ cup browned butter with cream cheese in a large mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes, or until completely smooth. Mix in vanilla, salt and powdered sugar. Frost the tops of the cookies and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Notes

I like to toast my coconut in a large frying pan with about a teaspoon of butter on medium-low until a light golden brown.
I have given both cups and grams as measurements. Grams will be more precise, especially when measuring flour. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, no problem! Just lightly spoon flour into your measuring cup to insure its not packed in there. Light and fluffy is the key.
If your cookies don't come out a perfect circle, I like to take a little spatula and circle around the cookie to bring in any spots that have spread a little too far.

Nutrition

Calories: 398kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 4gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 343mgPotassium: 83mgFiber: 1gSugar: 37gVitamin A: 588IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 30mgIron: 1mg
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