The BEST Brown Butter Carrot Cake Cookies
These chewy carrot cake cookies are honestly my favorite cookie recipe to date and everyone who’s tasted them so far agrees! Seriously, these are so good they might just convert even the most devoted traditional carrot cake skeptics!
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Soft, spiced, and loaded with roasted sweet carrots, they’ve got all the cozy flavor of a carrot cake recipe but in the convenient form of a chewy cookie that stays perfectly soft even after cooling. Browning the butter adds a rich, nutty depth and also helps prevent excess spreading. On the other hand the orange zest brightens every bite, making this browned butter carrot cake cookies recipe just as perfect for spring and summer recipes as it is for fall baking. Making this for summer? Add a couple scoops of your favorite ice cream for ice cream cookie sandwiches!
You don’t have to, but dressing them up with a brown sugar glaze or little royal icing accents is an easy way to make them look extra special for your hostess’ dessert table. And the best part is there’s no stand or hand mixer required, so you can whip up this delicious cookie in under an hour without any fuss!
If you’re a carrot cake lover be sure to check out this carrot layer cake with pecan butterscotch and this no-churn carrot cake ice cream!
Key Ingredients
Carrots. Whole carrots are grated and then roasted intensify the flavor. Roasted carrots also don’t have as much moisture which helps to extend the carrot cake cookies’ shelf life! Avoid pre-shredded carrots as these tend not to be as flavorful.
Butter. Unsalted butter is browned first to toast the milk solids, giving the brown butter a deep and nutty flavor. Browning the butter also removes the water content of the butter in the process, ultimately resulting in cookies that spread less and and thick without having to refrigerate the cookie dough!
Flour. A blend of all-purpose flour and cake flour is used in this carrot cake cookie recipe, similar to my other cookie recipes. The all-purpose flour contributes adequate gluten so the carrot cake cookies hold their shape. The cake flour makes the cookies more tender and soft.
Warm spices. Cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg & cardamom. I opted to omit ground ginger from this recipe since it can be a little too sharp. The ground cardamom offers a flavor similar to ginger but not as harsh and with some additional flavor notes.
Sugar. A combination of dark brown sugar and white sugar are used for this cookie recipe. The brown sugar adds to the warmth of the spices and also makes the cookies softer and chewy.
Cornstarch. Helps the cookies stay soft and chewy even once cooled.
Egg. Acts as a binder for all the ingredients.
Orange zest. Complements the carrot and adds a layer of brightness to the cookies making them perfect to enjoy year-round!
Tips for the Best Carrot Cake Cookies
Roast the carrots! You’re not crazy, your homemade cakes and cookies that use raw carrots do mold more quickly! This is a result of various things (how much carrots, baking time & temperature, ratio to other ingredients etc.) but it all comes down moisture. The added moisture from carrots can speed up molding, particularly in cases like these carrot cake cookies where the treats don’t require refrigeration.
Use a light-colored or stainless steel pan to brown the butter. This makes it much easier to visualize the extent to which the milk solids have browned. Using a dark pan, especially if you’re a beginner increases the risk of burning the butter since you may not notice that the butter has finished browning. Dark & heavy pans, like cast iron also retain heat more effectively so the butter could burn as it continues to cook even once removed from the heat.
Have your mixing bowl ready before you brown the butter. The milk solids will continue to toast even once removed the heat. This is because the pan itself as well as the butterfat retains some heat. To avoid over cooking (burning) the milk solids immediately transfer the browned butter to your mixing bowl containing the sugar and orange zest mixture.
Use a piping bag for an even drizzle. It will give you evenly streaks of the brown sugar glaze and will give you control over the carrot design if you use the royal icing.
Use a kitchen scale. It is the only way to get precise and consistent results with each bake. I like to use grams. Because they are a smaller unit of measurement it is more precise than ounces. I provide measurements in cups for the recipe but please note that these are estimates one cup of flour will vary in weight from person to person.
For best results when using cups for measuring is to spoon the flour and granulated sugar into the measuring cups to avoid packing and then level it with a straight edge (like a knife). Do this unless otherwise instructed – like in the case of brown sugar which should be packed into the measuring cup since it is not as fluid as white sugar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to use browned butter? Yes! Browned butter deepens the flavor of these cookies, adding warm caramel notes. In addition, the water from the butter evaporates during baking which contributes to less spreading during baking and gives you a thicker, chewy cookie!
Can I save the browned butter if I burn it? Nope! Burnt milk solids are beyond saving and will give an acrid flavor to the butter even if you strain the milk solids. If you burn the milk solids the best course of action is to start again with a fresh stick of butter and a clean pan. If you’ve never made browned butter don’t fret! Check out this step-by-step guide on how to get the perfect browned butter!
Do I have to roast the carrots? Yes! Since these cookies have a short baking time (8 minutes) there will still be a considerable amount of moisture in the carrots which contributes to molding in the carrot cake cookies. Roasting the carrots removes some of the water, concentrating the carrot flavor and caramelizing the natural content of the carrots.
How to Make the BEST Carrot Cake Cookies
Step 1. Start by roasting the grated fresh carrots. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spread the grated carrots out on a prepared baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). Roast on the top rack for 10 minutes.
Roasting the carrots will intensify the flavor as the natural sugar in the carrots caramelizes and the water evaporates. It also makes the cookies last longer since the extra moisture can cause them to mold sooner than usual without refrigeration.
Step 2. While the carrots roast, add the dark brown sugar, granulated sugar and the orange zest to a mixing bowl. Rub the zest into the sugar to release the flavor. The mixture should resemble kinetic sand.
Step 3. Brown the butter. Melt the butter over medium heat and allow the milk solids to toast until brown. Be sure to stir constantly with a spatula, scraping the bottom of the pan so the milk solids don’t burn. The butter will sputter at first as the water separates from the fat. Once the sputtering slows, keep a sharp eye on the butter and remove from the heat immediately once the milk solids turn brown.
If you are hearing impaired, you will need to rely completely on sight which is totally fine. First, use a light-colored or stainless steel pan and again, be sure to stir constantly. Since the butter will foam, stirring will help you visualize the color of the milk solids.
Check out this detailed step-by-step guide for more tips & tricks for perfect browned butter!
Step 4. Immediately add the browned butter to the sugar/orange zest mixture from earlier along with the vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Mix with a spatula until it forms a homogenous paste.
Step 5. Add the egg and mix again until completely smooth.
Step 6. In a separate bowl add the roasted carrots to the rest of the dry ingredients (the all-purpose flour, cake flour, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, cornstarch, baking soda and salt). Stir with a spoon to evenly incorporate.
This is to evenly disperse the baking soda so it doesn’t clump together causing uneven rising and a bitter tasting pocket in your carrot cake cookies.
Step 7. Add the flour mixture to the sugar/egg mixture, mixing with a spatula until there are no more dry spots.
Step 8. Using a cookie scoop portion out 8 cookie dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave at least 2 inches of space around each ball of dough to allow for spreading during baking.
I use a standard baking sheet which holds 5-6 cookies without them touching after baking. I recommend having 2 baking sheets as baking the cookies on an already hot baking tray will cause them to spread more and have a darker bottom.
Step 9. Bake at 400°F for 8 minutes on the middle rack of your oven. Once done, allow to cool in the pan. You can enjoy the cookies warm or wait until they cool to drizzle a glaze or decorate. Store in an airtight container and enjoy within 4 days for optimal taste & texture!
Optional Brown Sugar Glaze
Step 1. Add the brown sugar and water to a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 15-20 second increments until the sugar is completely melted. Mix in between each microwave burst.
Alternatively, you can melt the brown sugar over medium heat on the stove top, mixing constantly until dissolved.
Step 2. Add the confectioner’s sugar to the melted sugar and whisk until completely incorporated. If you want to drizzle the glaze on, wait until both the brown sugar glaze and the cookies cool so it won’t be as runny. If you opt to dip or pour the glaze completely over the cookies, do this while the glaze is still warm since it will be more fluid and have a more even spread.
The glaze will form a thin crust on top while it cools; this is fine. If saving the glaze for use later just give it a quick stir to smoothen it out.
Optional Royal Icing For Carrot Decorations
Step 1. Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix until completely incorporated. The royal icing will be very thick but this is to account for some thinning that will happen with the addition of food coloring, especially if you don’t use a gel food coloring.
Step 2. Separate the royal icing into two small bowls. Color one bowl orange for the body of the carrot and the other bowl green for the leaves. Once you have achieved the desired color you can thin the royal icing as needed/desired. It’s important to only add one drop at a time as royal icing thins very easily.
Step 3. Transfer the orange and green royal icing to separate piping bags cutting a tiny opening at the tips to pipe the carrots. For the body of the carrots, pipe in a zigzag pattern in the shape of a skinny triangle. For the leaves, pipe lines outward starting from from the top of the carrot.
When cutting the piping bag it is better to cut less than more and test to see if the thickness is as desired. If not cut another small piece away until the desired piping thickness is achieved.
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Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 115 grams grated carrots ⅓ cup packed or 4 oz
- 100 grams all-purpose flour ¾ cup or 3½ oz
- 90 grams cake flour ¾ cup or 3¼ oz
- 100 grams dark brown sugar ½ cup packed or 3½ oz
- 100 grams granulated sugar ½ cup or 3½ oz
- 113 grams unsalted butter ½ cup or 1 stick or 4 oz
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 medium navel orange, zest only
- ½ tsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
Optional Brown Sugar Glaze
- 60 grams dark brown sugar ¼ cup packed or 2 oz
- 45 grams water 3 TBSP or 1½ oz
- 115 grams confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) 1 cup or 4 oz
Optional Royal Icing for Carrot Decorations
- 1½ tsp meringue powder ½ TBSP
- 2 tsp water
- 75 grams confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
- orange and green food coloring
Instructions
For the Carrot Cake Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spread the grated carrots out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast on the top rack for 10 minutes.
- While the carrots roast, add the dark brown sugar, granulated sugar and the orange zest to a mixing bowl. Rub the zest into the sugar to release the flavor. The mixture should resemble kinetic sand.
- Brown the butter. Melt the butter over medium heat and allow the milk solids to toast until brown. Be sure to stir constantly with a spatula, scraping the bottom of the pan so the milk solids don’t burn. The butter will sputter at first as the water separates from the fat. Once the sputtering slows, keep a sharp eye on the butter and remove from the heat immediately once the milk solids turn brown.
- Immediately add the browned butter to the sugar/orange zest mixture from earlier along with the vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Mix with a spatula until it forms a homogenous paste.
- Add the egg and mix again until completely smooth.
- In a separate bowl add the roasted carrots to the rest of the dry ingredients (the all-purpose flour, cake flour, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, cornstarch, baking soda and salt). Stir with a spoon to evenly incorporate.
- Add the flour mixture to the sugar/egg mixture, mixing with a spatula until there are no more dry spots.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough into 8 balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave at least 2 inches of space around each ball of dough to allow for spreading during baking.
- You will need 2 baking sheets.
- Bake at 400°F for 8 minutes on the middle rack of your oven. Once done, allow to cool in the pan.
- Enjoy the cookies warm or wait until they cool to drizzle a glaze or decorate. Store in an airtight container and enjoy within 4 days for optimal taste & texture!
Optional Brown Sugar Glaze
- Add the brown sugar and water to a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 15-20 second increments until the sugar is completely melted. Mix in between each microwave burst.
- Alternatively, you can melt the brown sugar over medium heat on the stove top, mixing constantly until dissolved.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar to the melted sugar and whisk until completely incorporated. If doing a drizzle wait until both the brown sugar glaze and the cookies. If dipping the cookies or pouring the glaze completely over the cookies, do this while the glaze is still warm.
Optional Royal Icing For Carrot Decorations
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix until completely incorporated. The royal icing will be very thick but this is to account for some thinning that will happen with the addition of food coloring, especially if you don’t use a gel food coloring.
- Separate the royal icing into two small bowls. Color one bowl orange (for the body of the carrot) and the other bowl green (for the leaves). Once you have achieved the desired color you can thin the royal icing as needed/desired. Only add one drop at a time as royal icing thins very easily.
- Transfer the orange and green royal icing to separate piping bags cutting a tiny opening at the tips to pipe the carrots. For the body of the carrots, pipe in a zigzag pattern in the shape of a skinny triangle. For the leaves, pipe lines outward starting from from the top of the carrot.
Notes
- Use a kitchen scale. It is the only way to get precise and consistent results with each bake. I like to use grams. Because they are a smaller unit of measurement it is more precise than ounces. I provide measurements in cups for the recipe but please note that these are estimates one cup of flour will vary in weight from person to person.
- When browning the butter slowed/no sputtering is an indication that the butter is ready/almost ready. If you are hearing impaired, you will need to rely completely on sight which is totally fine. First, use a light-colored or stainless steel pan and be sure to stir constantly. Since the butter will foam, stirring will help you visualize the color of the milk solids.
Check out this detailed step-by-step guide for more tips & tricks for perfect browned butter! - If decorating the cookies, use a piping bag for an even drizzle.
