Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cookies
My mother used to tell me that eating carrots was good for the eyesight. If she had made these Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cookies, I would have gladly eaten my carrots!
When a big slice of carrot cake is just too much, these cookies do the trick. They have all the goodness of carrot cake, with a portion size that fits in the palm of your hand. They are delicious, creamy, and full of vibrant flavor from the orange, vanilla, and carrots.
Recipe notes: I used organic ingredients whenever possible in this recipe – organic carrots, organic butter, organic gluten-free oats, and organic sugar (I used Wholesome). I also used good quality, pasture-raised eggs. Quality ingredients make all the difference!
Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup firmly packed Wholesome Organic Light Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Wholesome Organic Sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
- 2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 cups gluten-free oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- 3 large carrots , grated (about 1 ½ cups)
- 1 cup raisins
For the Filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup Wholesome Organic Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium speed until fully incorporated and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla, orange juice and zest, and mix well.
- In a separate large mixing bowl combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk well.
- With the mixer on low, add half the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture. Add the carrots and raisins to the rest of the flour and toss to coat. Add to the batter and combine with a large spatula. Chill the dough for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
- Shape 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Gently flatten each ball of dough. Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes or until crisp and browned, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- While the cookies are baking, make the filling.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, salt, and vanilla together on medium speed. Turn off mixer, sift in the powdered sugar the mix on low speed until smooth. Place in the refrigerator to firm while the cookies cool.
- Assemble the cookies by spreading about 2 teaspoons of filling on the flat side of half the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies, placing the flat side down on the filling, and gently press the cookies together so that the filling spreads to the edges.
Nutrition
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If you don’t mind, what brand GF flour did you use? Not all brands measure or bake the same. Thank you! Excited to try this soon.
Hi Andrea,
I use my own brand of flour when I bake, but most brands of all-purpose gluten-free flour these days will provide similar results. Here’s the link to mine, if you’re interested :) https://glutenfreeandmore.com/carols-all-purpose-flour
xo,
Carol
When do I put in the oats ?
Oops! Sorry about that. They go in with the flour. I’ve corrected the recipe directions.
Your recipe of ‘gluten-free-carrot-cake-cookies’ looks very yummy, My kids love it. Thank you for sharing it.
I made these for my coworkers gluten free girls and they did a happy dance after one bite. They requested more this weekend.
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I followed the recipe to the letter. The dough wasn’t looking quite right to me so I baked an initial batch of 12 cookies. They were the driest, crumbliest cookies I have ever made. I also tasted more orange than ‘carrot cake’. I did not want to toss the rest of the dough since ingredients are so expensive, so I made a few modifications to the rest of the dough. I blended a half of a 20 oz can pineapple tidbits with juice with one very ripe banana and a half cup of sour cream, added another 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Mixed well and baked according to the recipe’s directions. They came out much better, moister and with a taste more similar to carrot cake. Next time I will probably skip the banana since that lent a bit more sweetness than required.