Lightened up vegan carrot oatmeal cookies that taste like carrot cake and are perfect for a healthier sweet treat any time of day.
What You’ll Need
- Butter: You’ll need any brand of plant-based butter. I like to use salted butter but if you’re using unsalted butter, you can add a pinch of salt to the recipe. You can substitute softened coconut oil for the butter
- Almond Butter: Any nut or seed butter works here. I feel almond butter works best with the other flavours but you could use peanut butter, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter.
- Brown Sugar: The recipe calls for light brown sugar but you can substitute dark brown sugar or granulated sugar if needed. The brown sugar gives them a more caramelized flavor, like caramelized carrots. Note that the cookies are only lightly sweetened for a healthier treat. For sweeter cookies, add 1-2 tbsp maple syrup. For refined sugar-free, use coconut sugar.
- Baking Powder: Baking powder, not soda.
- Spices: Ground cinnamon and nutmeg lend to to the carrot cake flavour. You could also use a little ground ginger if you like.
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or gluten-free all purpose-flour. Whole wheat flour or spelt flour would also work
- Oats: I used quick oats but you can substitute rolled oats or large flake oats.
- Carrot: The recipe calls for freshly grated carrot. Make sure you finely grate it so you don’t have tough chunks of carrot in your cookies. You want the carrot to easily distribute through the cookies and almost melt into the dough when baked.
How to Make (with Photos)
Step 1: Cream Butter & Sugar
Add the vegan butter, almond butter and brown sugar to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth and homogenous.
Step 2: Add Dry Ingredients
Add the baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and oats to the bowl. Use the mixer to whisk them in until they’re fully incorporated into the butter-sugar mixture.
Step 3: Add the Carrot
Gently fold in the grated carrot until it’s evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Step 4: Bake the Cookies
Form balls of dough about 1 ½ inches in diameter and shape them into a disc using your hands. Place them on your baking tray and then bake them for 10 minutes.
Quick Tip: The cookies will not spread much during baking so be sure to shape them into cookie shapes before baking.
Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5-10 minutes then enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free all-purpose baking flour instead of all-purpose flour.
Yes. To make this recipe nut-free, use sunflower seed butter instead of almond butter.
Yes. You can use whole wheat flour or spelt flour instead of all-purpose flour.
No. If you don’t have an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and almond butter vigorously with a wooden spoon to combine. When you add the dry ingredients, mix with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Absolutely. Let them cool completely then frozen in a freezer bag or airtight container for 2-3 months.
Expert Tips
- It’s important to measure correctly when baking. For best results, please use a kitchen scale and follow the listed amounts.
- The cookies only have 1/4 cup of sugar so they’re not very sweet. For sweeter cookies, add 1-3 tbsp maple syrup to taste.
- The cookies will be fragile just out of the oven. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Additions
- Add up to 1/2 cup shredded coconut.
- Add up to 1/2 cup shredded raisins.
- Add 1/2 tsp ground ginger.
- Add up to 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts.
- Add up to 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds.
- Top with glaze (cool cookies before frosting).
- Drizzle with lemon glaze.
- Top with cream cheese frosting.
How to Store
- Cool completely before storing.
- Room Temperature: Airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Fridge: Airtight container for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: Freezer bag or airtight container for 2-3 months. Thaw at room temperature until softened to your liking and enjoy.
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Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 15 1x
Category: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegan
Description
Soft and chewy carrot cake oatmeal cookies with no eggs or dairy needed! These yummy treats are lower in added sugar and butter for a healthier option.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Using an electric hand mixer, combine the vegan butter, almond butter, and brown sugar together in a medium sized mixing bowl until smooth and homogenous.
- Add the baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, flour, and oats to the mixing bowl. Use the hand mixer whisk in the dry ingredients until they are fully incorporated into the mixture. Scrape along the bottom of your mixing bowl to ensure no pockets of flour or oats remain.
- Gently fold in the grated carrots until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. The cookie dough may seem crumbly after combining the ingredients but will form solid balls just fine.
- Form balls of dough about 1 ½ inches in diameter and press them between your hands to form a disc. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing them from the tray.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Being a healthier option, the cookies are not very sweet as is. If you like some extra sweetness in your cookies, add 1-2 tablespoon of pure maple syrup to the cookie batter during step #2.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 102
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 36 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
Keywords: healthy carrot cake cookies, vegan carrot cake cookies