Carrot Cake Cookies
Updated Mar 04, 2025
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These carrot cake cookies with pineapple glaze have all the cozy flavors of a carrot cake, baked into a batch of chewy homemade oatmeal cookies. They’re easy to make and filled with warm spices, chopped nuts, and shredded carrots that melt right into the soft oaty centers.
Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
Who’s a fan of carrot cake and soft, chewy oatmeal cookies? Because these carrot cake cookies are the best of both worlds. They’re loaded with everything I love in a classic carrot cake, including fresh grated carrots, warm cinnamon, nutmeg, and crunchy walnuts. Of course, there’s plenty of wholesome oats and brown sugar in there to ensure these cookies are chewy, and not cakey. Best of all, oatmeal cookies are SO easy to make. Much quicker than baking, stacking, and frosting cake layers!
As someone who loves carrot cake with pineapple, rather than baking pineapple into the cookies, I glazed my spiced carrot cookies with sweet pineapple icing. These make perfect Easter cookies, but I’m sure you’ll find excuses to bake them all year round. I know I have!
In Case You Needed a Reason to Make Carrot Cake Cookies…
- Easier than cake. Baking a batch of carrot cookies is a shortcut to all the cozy carrot cake flavors I love, without the layering, frosting, or slicing!
- Customizable. It’s very easy to add walnuts, raisins, or coconut to the cookie dough for extra texture.
- Pineapple icing. I knew I wanted pineapple in there somewhere. The simple, sweet cookie glaze with pineapple juice adds just enough flavor, without risking soggy cookies from folding in chunks of fresh pineapple.
- One bowl, zero chilling time. This recipe comes together in one bowl, and the dough doesn’t require chilling. It makes these homemade carrot cake cookies as easy to bake and clean up after as they are to eat.
What You’ll Need
Below, I’ve listed my ingredients along with notes and substitutions, so you can make these chewy carrot cake cookies just the way you like. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full details and measurements.
- Butter, softened – Adds richness and moisture, giving the cookies a soft, chewy texture.
- Brown Sugar – The extra moisture in brown sugar helps keep the cookies soft. Dark brown sugar can be used for a deeper molasses flavor. Granulated white sugar also works in a pinch.
- Eggs – Bring the eggs to room temperature first.
- Vanilla Extract – I like to use pure vanilla extract over imitation vanilla.
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour here. Since I first shared this recipe, I have also made these carrot cookies with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
- Baking Soda – Helps the cookies rise and keeps them light. Check the expiration date on your baking soda, and if it’s old or expired, I recommend buying fresh.
- Rolled Oats – I almost always bake with old-fashioned rolled oats. They have the best balance of chewiness and texture. Quick oats can also work, though they aren’t quite as chewy. Avoid instant oats, which are too fine.
- Finely Shredded Carrots – The carrots should be finely shredded. This is quick and easy to do in the food processor, or you can use a box grater.
- Ground Cinnamon, Ginger, and Nutmeg – Spices add warm, classic spice to these carrot cake cookies. You can swap the individual spices with a pie spice blend if you’d like.
- Finely Chopped Walnuts – Optional. Swap walnuts with pecans or leave them out for a nut-free version.
For the Glaze
- Powdered Sugar – Creates a sweet, smooth glaze when combined with the pineapple juice.
- Pineapple Juice – Adds a bright, tropical sweetness that pairs perfectly with carrot cake flavors. Orange juice or lemon juice will also work. If you’d prefer a traditional icing, use milk instead.
Recipe Tips
- Shred your own carrots. Skip the bagged pre-shredded carrots. They’re too thick, dry, and don’t blend well into the dough. Freshly shredded carrots add moisture and texture, while practically melting into the dough.
- No food processor? If you don’t have a food processor to shred the carrots, a cheese grater works just as well.
- Mix-ins. Make these carrot oatmeal cookies your own by adding your favorite cookie add-ins, such as: Chocolate chips, different chopped nuts, coconut, dried fruit, and toffee bits. This can be in addition to or instead of the walnuts included in the recipe; just be sure that the total amount of mix-ins doesn’t exceed 1/2 cup.
- Replace the carrots. I’ve made these oatmeal cookies with shredded apples and shredded zucchini. It’s a great way to adapt them to different seasons!
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Carrot Cake Cookies
Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIES
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ cups rolled oats
- 1½ cups finely shredded carrots
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger, add more if you like
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup finely chopped walnuts, optional
FOR THE GLAZE
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon pineapple juice
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 375˚F and lightly grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar. In your electric mixer's bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar; mix until light and fluffy. Then, beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Combine. Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour, baking soda, oats, carrots, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and walnuts into the butter mixture. Mix until just combined—do not overmix.
- Bake. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough about 2-inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake the carrot cake cookies for 10 to 11 minutes, or until set.
- Cool. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool.
- Make the glaze. Meanwhile, mix the powdered sugar and pineapple juice in a small mixing bowl; whisk until thoroughly incorporated.
- Finish and serve. Drizzle the pineapple glaze over the cooled cookies and enjoy.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Carrot Cake Cookies
My favorite part of this easy drop cookie recipe is that you only need one mixing bowl and a cookie sheet or sheet pan. No fancy equipment, no chilling time. Just mix, bake, and enjoy warm, spiced cookies in no time. Let’s get started!
- Mix the wet ingredients. Start by creaming the softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Once that’s light and fluffy, mix in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients. Next, gently fold in the flour, baking soda, oats, shredded carrots, spices, and walnuts (if using). Stir until just combined. Don’t overmix! I like to use a wooden spoon since it’s sturdier and gives me more control over folding together the stiff dough.
- Scoop and bake. Now, drop spoonfuls of dough onto a lightly greased (or lined) baking sheet. Space them about 2 inches apart. Then, bake your carrot cake cookies at 375ºF for 10 to 11 minutes, or until they’re set and lightly golden.
- Cool. Afterward, let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Add the glaze. Lastly, whisk together powdered sugar and pineapple juice to make the icing, and drizzle it over the cooled cookies. Let the glaze set, and enjoy!
Storage and Freezing
- Storing the cookies. These cookies are fine at room temperature for a day, but if you want them to stay fresh longer, keep them in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Make-ahead & freeze. You can freeze the cookie dough for later. Just scoop it into balls and freeze them on a baking sheet first, then transfer to a freezer bag. You can also freeze the baked cookies (with or without frosting) for easy grab-and-go treats!
What juice is complementary if I cannot have pineapple?
Thank you!
Hi! If you can’t have pineapple, you can swap in orange juice or even apple juice for a similar sweetness and moisture. I would just make sure it’s 100% juice with no added sugar. Let me know if you try it! I’d love to hear how it turns out. ☺️
Can I use gluten free flour?
I honestly don’t know because I have not tested this recipe with gluten-free flour.
This is a great cookie. It has just enough sweetness, but is not overly sweet. Great flavor. It tastes like carrot cake, but less intense. Really nice cookie. Will be making these again. Thank you.
That’s great to hear! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Made for the first time last week – huge hit! I added cardamom and got good feedback about that. Today I’ll make them with whole wheat flour and a spice blend with ginger, allspice, cardamom, pepper and cinnamon. With the carrots finely grated they seem to almost disappear
That’s great! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Great way to use up some carrots from my garden!
Super lazy & easy to make – cookies in no time. This is a keeper for me!
I used coconut set oil as allergic to butter & gluten free cereal mix – came out perfect.