These Easy Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies are going to put a spring in your step! This simple recipe takes minutes and the results will melt in your mouth. If you're looking for a batch of cookies to make for the winter/spring holidays (Easter, Mother's Day, Christmas, and more) or for any other special occasion, this family-friendly recipe is worth a try! Everyone in your home will love these carrot cake cookies and no one will guess they're both vegan and gluten-free friendly!
Carrot Cake Cookie Ingredients
- Carrots: Grated carrots are essential in any carrot cake recipe. They are a delicious and healthy way to add flavor and texture to these vegan carrot cake cookies.
- Butter: To keep these carrot cake cookies vegan-friendly, we use melted vegan butter in this recipe. If you are not vegan or dairy-free, feel free to use regular butter. Melted coconut oil is another healthy alternative to vegan butter.
- Flax Eggs: To keep these carrot cake cookies vegan and healthy-ish, we use flax eggs instead of regular eggs to bind the cookie dough together. Flax eggs are made by mixing flax seed meal and warm water together. This will create a gel-like texture that is perfect for binding together our cookie dough. Flax seed meal is also full of fiber, healthy fats, and makes our cookies more filling!
- Milk: To keep these carrot cake cookies vegan, we use non-dairy milk such as almond milk or oat milk. If you are not vegan or dairy-free, feel free to use regular 1% milk, 2% milk, or whole milk.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract adds flavor to our cookies.
- Baking Powder: Baking powder to give these cookies a little lift!
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar cuts some of the sweetness in our cookies and gives them that classic carrot cake flavor.
- Spices: We use a blend of carrot cake spices to flavor our cookies. You will need cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
- Brown Sugar: We recommend using organic brown sugar, coconut sugar, or purecane sugar free substitute in this recipe. You can also use organic cane sugar. Thank you to our sponsor, purecane, for helping us create these delicious vegan carrot cake cookies!
- Flour: Feel free to use regular all-purpose flour or gluten-free all purpose flour. To make these a little healthier, you can use oat flour.
For The Cream Cheese Frosting
- Powdered Sugar: Use regular powdered sugar or purecane powdered sugar substitute.
- Cream Cheese: Use vegan cream cheese or regular cream cheese.
- Butter: Use softened vegan butter or regular butter.
How To Make Carrot Cake Cookies
Step 1: Preheat the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Grate your carrots into a medium sized mixing bowl.
Step 2: Prepare your flax eggs by mixing warm water and flax seed meal together. Set aside until a thick gel forms (about 2 minutes).
Step 3: Mix the grated carrots, sugar, melted vegan butter, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, flax eggs, baking powder, and spices together. Add the flour and mix until a thick cookie dough is formed.
Step 4: Use a spoon to scoop the carrot cake cookie dough onto the lined baking sheet. Gently use your hands to form them into balls.
Step 5: Bake the carrot cake cookies in the oven until they are golden. While they bake, use an electric hand mixer or whisk to mix the vegan cream cheese frosting. Set aside. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire cookie rack before frosting and serving warm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! I would recommend trying this recipe for Super Moist Vegan Carrot Cake!
They're certainly healthier than most cookies! They include flax eggs, can be made sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and are relatively low calorie! Definitely a healthier treat to enjoy when you're craving something sweet!
We recommend storing these cookies in an air tight container on the counter for 2-3. Remember that refrigeration tends to dry out baked goods, so we don't recommend storing in the fridge.
Carrot Cake Cookies
Equipment
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
- medium mixing bowl
- whisk or fork for mixing
- small bowl for flax eggs
Ingredients
Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies Ingredients
- ½ cup melted vegan butter
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 2 tablespoon flax seed meal
- 4 tablespoon warm water
- 1 tablespoon oat or almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup brown sugar, coconut sugar, or ⅓ cup purecane sugar substitute
- 1 ¼ cup regular or gluten free all purpose flour or oat flour
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- ¾ cup powdered sugar or purecane powdered sugar subtitute
- 2 tablespoon softened vegan butter
- 2 oz vegan cream cheese
Instructions
Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare the flax eggs by mixing the flax seed meal and the warm water together in a small bowl. Set aside for 2 minutes until a gel forms.
- In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to mix the grated carrots, melted vegan butter, flax eggs, almond milk, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar or purecane brown sugar substitute. Then, add the flour and mix until a thick cookie dough forms.
- Use a spoon to scoop the about 2 tablespoon of cookie dough onto the baking sheet. Repeat until the baking sheet is full and the cookies have about 1 ½ inches of distance between them. You may need to do 2 batches. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until they are golden. You should have about 20 cookies.
- Allow the cookies to cool on a wire cooling rack. While the cookies cool, use an electric hand mixer or whisk to mix the vegan cream cheese, softened vegan butter, and powdered sugar together until a thick cream cheese frosting forms. If the frosting is too thick to drizzle, add 1 tablespoon of almond milk and whisk. Drizzle the icing over the warm cookies and serve.
Nutrition
The recipes on Peanut Butter and Jilly can easily be adapted to fit a vegan lifestyle, a gluten-free lifestyle, or both depending on the ingredients you use. Please review the ingredients lists carefully and refer to our recommendations in the Notes of the recipe card to make this recipe compatible with your needs. Nutrition information provided is an estimate, and will vary based on specific brands of ingredients used and cooking methods.
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