Chewy Carrot Cake Cookies

Hello! How are all of you doing during this strange time of our lives? I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and have plenty of toilet paper.

 I have a super simple Easter dessert recipe here that you can make, probably completely with ingredients you already have in your pantry.






I thought it would be fun to try making carrot cake cookies for Easter. The problem is that I am not crazy about a cakey cookie, and the added moisture of the carrots will definitely result in a cakey cookie. UNLESS...

...you leave out the eggs! This solves the problem of too much moisture in the dough and voila! Chewy cookies!

Because of this, they also are great for us poor people with food allergies. They are egg-free, can be gluten free, and can even be dairy if you use coconut oil instead of butter! In that case, they are also vegan, so you can really please EVERYONE with these cookies!

If I would have had more ingredients, I would have liked to add walnuts, raisins, white chocolate chips, shredded coconut, or a cream cheese glaze to these, but, well... you know how it is right now. Make them with whatever you have and enjoy!

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• Chewy Carrot Cake Cookies
• Makes about 2 dozen large cookies
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• 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, softened (or try subbing coconut oil if you need them to be dairy free!)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 cup finely grated carrot (about 2 big carrots)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use this gluten free flour)
• 2 cups rolled (old-fashioned) oats (you can buy gluten free ones here)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Optional: Up to 2 cups add-ins (walnuts, raisins, white chocolate chips, coconut, etc.)
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• Combine the butter and sugars and beat with hand mixer, stand mixer, or whisk until well combined. Add the grated carrots and vanilla and beat just until combined. 
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• On top of the wet ingredients, pour in the flour, then the oats, then the baking soda, powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir the dry ingredients together a bit and then mix them into the wet. Mix until combined. Stir in any add-ins you are using.
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• The entire bowl of dough can be chilled, but I prefer to shape them all first using a cookie scoop. For 2 dozen large cookies, just make one cookie scoop on top of another like a snowman on a parchment lined baking sheet. For 4 dozen smaller cookies, just use one scoop. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a couple hours in the fridge or about 20 minutes in the freezer (just until they are chilled). Once they are chilled, you can also transfer them to a Ziploc bag or a container and keep them in the refrigerator for up to about 5 days or in the freezer for about 12 months. 
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• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375ºF. Place cookies a couple of inches apart on a baking sheet and bake for about 7-11 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Enjoy!