Vegan Carrot Spice Cookies
All the flavors of carrot cake in an easy to make vegan carrot spice cookie! Tons of flavor, lots of carrots, and nut and nut free options included.
I love carrot cake and I love cookies, so it only seemed right to bring the two of them together into these carrot spice cookies. They are perfect for Easter, fall, and winter. Basically all year long. Totally rich and chewy, packed full of texture from the carrots, oats, raisins, and walnuts (or pumpkin seeds if you need to keep them nut free!), and the little drizzle of icing on top really sets these cookies apart.
My family loves these cookies and they always get eaten up quickly no matter what time of year I make them. I hope you love them, too.
Totally vegan, dairy free, egg free, and nut free with the use of pumpkin seeds!
Ingredients
Here is a quick rundown of what you’ll need to make these cookies. For the full list with amounts, please see the recipe card below.
- Ground Flax Seeds + Boiling Water: This makes the flax egg for these cookies. It’s important that you use boiling water to really activate the flax and give you the best results in your cookies.
- Vegan Butter: Use your favorite stick vegan butter. Just don’t use the kind from the tubs as they have a different water:fat ratio.
- Brown + White Sugar: The combination of white and brown sugar gives a depth of flavor and sweetness that can’t be beat!
- Vanilla
- All Purpose Flour + Oats
- Carrots: Can’t make the carrot spice cookies without them! I recommend that you grate the carrots yourself and don’t use the pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store.
- Spices: Cinnamon and ginger combine with Orange Zest to make the cookies taste just like carrot cake.
- Walnuts or Pumpkin Seeds: Walnuts are traditional but if you need to make these tree nut free, I recommend unsalted pumpkin seeds! Roughly chop the pumpkin seeds to give the cookies a little crunch in each bite.
Instructions
Make sure to check out the recipe card below for the full recipe and ingredient list.
Preheat the oven and line 3 baking sheet with parchment paper. Set them aside while you make the dough.
Start with making the flax egg. Add near boiling water to the flax seeds and stir together. Set this aside for 5 to 10 minutes to gel.
Next, grab the room temperature vegan butter and add it to the bowl. Pour in the sugars and mix on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. The butter should be light and fluffy.
Then, add the flax egg, the vanilla, carrots, raisins, and orange zest. Mix these wet ingredients together.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients: the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger.
Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until a dough forms.
Finally add in the oatmeal and walnuts. If the dough is a little wet, add a tablespoon of flour. If the dough is a little dry, add 1 tablespoon of your favorite non-dairy milk.
Using a cookie scoop, portion out 1 tablespoon sized dough balls and place onto the prepared trays.
Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes.
Let them rest for 10 minutes on the hot tray before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
Optional Frosting
Just like carrot cake, these cookies taste a little sweeter with an icing drizzle. It’s totally optional, but I think it really elevates these cookies.
In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar with ½ tablespoon of water. It should be thick. Drizzle over top of the cookies and serve.
Tips
- For this recipe, I recommend that you use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl with a hand mixer. This is so you can really get the vegan butter and sugars to cream together for that fluffy final texture in the cookies.
- Grate the carrots to be fine and small. You don’t want to use the large carrots that are pre-shredded from the grocery store as they can be too stringy and are rather dried out.
How to Store
Countertop: These cookies are best enjoyed in the first 5 days after baking if kept in an airtight container on the countertop.
To store them before baking, make the cookie dough and portion it into the dough balls. Freeze the cookie dough for 1 hour on a cookie sheet in a single layer, then transfer to a longer storage freezer safe container. These will keep frozen for up to 3 months. To bake from frozen, add an additional 3 to 5 minutes of baking time.
To freeze them after baking, place the fully baked and cooled cookies into a freezer safe container. Layer parchment paper or wax paper in between each layer of cookies. These will keep for up to 3 months. Make sure to fully thaw them at room temperature before enjoying them after being frozen.
Cookie Recipes
I hope that you totally love these vegan carrot spice cookies! They are just the perfect unexpected cookie that everyone I share them with totally falls in love with. Enjoy!
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Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- Mixing spoons
- measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- baking trays
- parchment paper
- Cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup oatmeal
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup walnuts optional swap for pumpkin seeds to make nut free
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Set aside.
- Make the flax egg. In a small heat proof bowl, mix the ground flax seeds with boiling water. Mix well and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes to gel together.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl with your hand mixer, or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the butter with the white and brown sugars on medium speed for about 2 to 3 minutes. You want this to be light and fluffy. Add the flax egg mixture, shredded carrots, raisins, orange zest, and the vanilla extract.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: All purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing on low speed, and making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are mixed together. Add the oatmeal and walnuts (or pumpkin seeds if making nut free). Let it mix together one more time.
- Transfer. Scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking trays using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, or using a tablespoon.
- Bake. Bake the cookies for 14 to 16 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown in color and have crisp edges. Remove them from the oven and let them rest on the hot cookie trays for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
- Optional Frosting. In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar with a half tablespoon of water. Drizzle over top of the cookies.
Notes
- How to Store
- Countertop: These cookies are best enjoyed in the first 5 days after baking if kept in an airtight container on the countertop.
- To store them before baking, make the cookie dough and portion it into the dough balls. Freeze the cookie dough for 1 hour on a cookie sheet in a single layer, then transfer to a longer storage freezer safe container. These will keep frozen for up to 3 months. To bake from frozen, add an additional 3 to 5 minutes of baking time.
- To freeze them after baking, place the fully baked and cooled cookies into a freezer safe container. Layer parchment paper or wax paper in between each layer of cookies. These will keep for up to 3 months. Make sure to fully thaw them at room temperature before enjoying them after being frozen.
Nutrition
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