Soft carrot cake cookies recipe with orange glaze

This soft carrot cake cookies recipe with orange glaze is a perfect recipe for Easter.

If you have carrots in the fridge and you are wondering what to do with them, I have a great way for you to use them. Have you ever heard of carrot cookies before? I've never heard about them until recently.

I got this recipe from my neighbor, its from the 1960's. I told him I have a recipe blog and he brought over his moms recipes for me to look through. This recipe collection was obviously something very special to him. Every recipe was typed out by him for his mother with his type writer.

This collection of recipes he shared with me was truly beautiful to look at, he gave me permission to share any of them that I tried out and liked and this recipe happens to be one of them!

This soft carrot cake cookies recipe with orange glaze is loaded with freshly grated carrots that are shredded fine so they can be more easily mixed into the batter.

These carrot cake cookies are like biting into a cloud. They're soft, fluffy and topped with a glaze made of icing sugar and freshly squeezed orange juice. What a combination! Oranges and carrots, who would have thought it would make such an amazing pair!?

My family loves them so much. I asked the kids what they wanted me to bake while they were at school and they chose these. It was the first thing they asked about when they walked through the door after school.

This recipe is a perfect spring time treat or a delicious option to serve on Easter! The colour is so pretty and they'd look great in an Easter basket. These Cadbury egg chocolate chip cookies would also be a great addition to Easter baskets.

Why you'll love these carrot cookies with an orange glaze

• It's like having a piece of carrot cake, but its a cookie!
• Perfect treat for Easter or Easter parties.
• Easy and fun recipe to make with the kids.
• They're unique and everyone will be interested in trying them!

What is in carrot cookies?

Well carrots of course!

Cookie dough ingredients

• Unsalted Butter- Using unsalted butter allows you to control the amount of salt that goes into the recipe. It also adds richness and helps create the soft texture of the cookie.
• White Sugar- Adds sweetness.
• Large Eggs- Provides structure and helps bind the ingredients together.
• Shredded Carrots- Adds a beautiful pop of colour and carrot flavor.
• All Purpose Flour- Creates the soft cake like texture that makes these cookies so amazing!
• Baking Powder- This is the leavening that helps the cookies rise.
• Salt- Enhances the flavors of the cookies.
• Cinnamon- Adds warmth to the cookies.

Ingredients for the icing sugar glaze

• Icing Sugar- This fine sugar is the best for making a smooth icing glaze.
• Orange Juice- Adds a burst of citrus flavor that tastes amazing!
• Heavy Cream- I love using heavy cream in glazes because it gives the glaze a brighter white colour to the cookies then just using regular milk.
• Orange Zest- Optional, adds a bit more flavor and makes the cookies a little nicer looking.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make carrot cookies

1. Step 1: Combine wet ingredients and sift dry ingredients on top.

2. Step 2: Roll into balls and press half way down.

3. Step 3: Bake them and place them on a cooling rack to completely cool.

4. Step 4: Glaze the cookies once they are completely cooled. Enjoy!

Variations for these cookies:

• Top them with cream cheese frosting instead of the orange glaze.
• Try turning them into a sandwich cookie and put cream cheese frosting in the middle.

Storage

Store at room temperature for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container. I have never froze them before as they usually get eaten up VERY quickly. Therefore, I am unsure if they freeze well or not. If you were to freeze them I wouldn't freeze them with the glaze however.

More Easter Recipes

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Soft carrot cake cookies recipe with orange glaze

Recipe by The Happy HomemakerCourse: SnacksCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

32

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

14

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

2

minutes

A delicious cookie recipe for spring or Easter.

Ingredients

• Dough:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

• ¾ cup white sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 cup shredded carrots, shredded fine

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• ¼ tsp. salt

• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder

• ½ tsp. cinnamon

• Glaze:

• ⅔ cup icing sugar

• 1 Tbsp. orange juice

• 1 Tbsp. heavy cream

• optional- zest of an orange

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set it aside.
• Shred the carrots fine, and set them aside.
• In a medium bowl, add in the butter and sugar. Cream together with the hand mixer.
• Add in the eggs and carrots and mix well. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl add in the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon and whisk together.
• Sift the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients using a fine mesh strainer. Mix with a rubber spatula until just combined.
• Roll into 1 Tbsp. balls and place cookie dough onto the baking sheet 2 inches apart.
• Press each ball half way down.
• Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges are slightly browed and the center is set.
• Remove cookies from the pan right away and place them on a wire rack to completely cool before adding the glaze.
• Once cooled completely, mix all the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl besides the orange zest.
• Top the cookies with the glaze using a silicon brush.
• Top with orange zest if wanted and allow the icing to set.

Notes

• Make sure the butter is softened. If its hard you can put it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it a bit, do not melt.
• If you find icing too stiff add another tsp. of heavy cream. You can sift the icing sugar before mixing ingredients as well if you are worried about clumpy icing.