Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Glaze
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat together the coconut oil and coconut sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the almond flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon to the wet ingredients. Mix until well incorporated. Fold in the grated carrots and toasted pecans. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (can be prepared up to 48 hours ahead of time). After refrigerating, use a cookie scoop to form cookies and press down slightly. Bake for 14-16 minutes or just beginning to turn golden brown around the edges. Beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer until softened. Add the maple syrup, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Alternatively, combine all ingredients in a small food processor and pulse until smooth. Transfer the cream cheese glaze to a small piping or Ziplock bag. Snip off the end of the bag and drizzle over cooled cookies. Serve.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat together the coconut oil and coconut sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the almond flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon to the wet ingredients. Mix until well incorporated. Fold in the grated carrots and toasted pecans. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (can be prepared up to 48 hours ahead of time). After refrigerating, use a cookie scoop to form cookies and press down slightly. Bake for 14-16 minutes or just beginning to turn golden brown around the edges. Beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer until softened. Add the maple syrup, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Alternatively, combine all ingredients in a small food processor and pulse until smooth. Transfer the cream cheese glaze to a small piping or Ziplock bag. Snip off the end of the bag and drizzle over cooled cookies. Serve.
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil room temperature
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 2 1/4 cups (9 oz.) blanched almond flour
- 3/4 cup grated carrots (squeeze out the extra moisture)
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped and toasted
- 2 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- 1 tablespoon milk (i used almond milk)
- Carbohydrate 0.820780639081894 g
- Cholesterol 20.4263333333333 mg
- Fat 14.70205778391 g
- Fiber 0.100255552630954 g
- Protein 0.298023333333333 g
- Saturated Fat 10.9006308830817 g
- Serving Size 1 1 cookie (20g)
- Sodium 55.8401527778037 mg
- Sugar 0.72052508645094 g
- Trans Fat 1.04611651147288 g
- Calories 133 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Beat together the coconut oil and coconut sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Add the almond flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon to the wet ingredients. Mix until well incorporated. Fold in the grated carrots and toasted pecans. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (can prepare up to 48 hours ahead of time).
- After refrigerating, use a cookie scoop to form cookies and press down slightly. Bake for 14-16 minutes or just beginning to turn golden brown around the edges.
- Beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer until softened. Add the maple syrup, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Alternatively, combine all ingredients in a small food processor and pulse until smooth.
- Transfer the cream cheese glaze to a small piping or Ziplock bag. Snip of the end of the bag and drizzle over cooled cookies. Serve.
Bakers frequently err by adding freshly grated carrots directly to dense doughs without removing excess liquid. Grated root vegetables release substantial moisture that alters structural integrity during baking, turning soft cookies into steamed cakes. Squeezing the shreds firmly in a clean kitchen towel resolves this issue entirely before mixing them with blanched almond flour and coconut oil.
Almond flour lacks gluten, meaning it cannot trap gases the way wheat flour does. Fat acts as the primary tenderizer here, while the egg provides necessary binding proteins to hold the crumb together. Chilling the dough for a minimum of sixty minutes solidifies the coconut oil, preventing excessive spreading on the sheet pan while baking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Toasting raw pecans before chopping them releases trapped essential oils and deepens the overall flavor profile through Maillard reactions. Chopping the nuts uniformly ensures they distribute evenly alongside the carrots without breaking the structure of individual scoops. Pressing each portion down slightly before baking guarantees even heat penetration since dense nut-and-flour mixtures do not level on their own.
Softening the cream cheese completely at room temperature prevents lumps from forming when incorporating maple syrup and milk. A small food processor handles this quantity efficiently if a stand mixer is unavailable. Once smooth, transferring the mixture to a zippered bag allows for controlled drizzling over the cooled surface without requiring specialized pastry equipment.
