Carrot Cake Cookies

Not quite a whoopie pie – I’d call these tasty little bits o’ goodness a closer relation to the Oatmeal Sammich Cookies from September. I was cruising through the food section at The Huffington Post when I came across this post called “Saying Yes to Cravings Carrot Cake Cookies” by Miranda Levenstein.

I used her recipe for the cookies, but opted for my red-velvet whoopie pie cream cheese filling recipe; just because hers called for using 3/4 of the brick of cream cheese and mine used the whole thing – I hate those little pieces of leftover cream cheese sitting around wrapped in foil in the back of the fridge for months and months and months until you finally come across them, all hard and truly brick-like, when you’re only looking for the the mango chutney – but, I digress. I DO like her idea of grating a bit of fresh orange zest into the frosting, and will most certainly do that for the next batch.

INGREDIENTS
Cookies:
•1-1/8 cup all purpose flour
•1 tsp cinnamon
•1/2 tsp baking soda
•1/2 tsp salt
•1/4 tsp ginger
•1/8 tsp nutmeg
•1/8 tsp ground cloves
•1 stick unsalted butter, softened
•1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
•1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar
•1 large egg
•1/2 tsp vanilla extract
•1 cup grated carrots
•1 cup walnuts, chopped
•1/2 cup raisins or currants

Cream Cheese Filling:
•8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
•3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
•2-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
•1 tbsp vanilla extract
•Grated zest of one orange (optional)

Preheat oven to 375º and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

NOTE: when I posted these cookies on my facebook page, I got a LOT of comments, including one from a friend who had bought a ‘whoopie pan pan’ (!). For $13 to $20 you can get a couple of decent baking sheets and at least a roll or two of parchment paper – whoopie pies are shaped that way naturally in the oven and, may I say, I expected better of Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel.

In a medium size bowl whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. At medium speed, beat in the egg and vanilla

Add carrots, nuts (if using), and raisins and mix on slow speed until combined.

Add flour and spice mixture on slow speed until just combined. Do not over mix.

Using 2 teaspoon ice cream scoop (or 2 teaspoons) drop batter on cookies sheets allowing 2 inches between cookies.

Bake 10-12 minutes until cookies spring back when touched lightly. Even adjusting for my oven’s temperature issues, I found these to be pretty much done at the 9-1/2 to 10 minute mark, but that could be due to the lack of nuts.

Cool on pan on rack for one minute then remove from pan and cook completely on rack.

Miranda said this would yield around 46 cookies to make 23 sammiches; again, maybe because I didn’t add nuts to the dough, I got 37 cookies using my 2 tsp cookie dipper thingy, for 18-1/2 sammiches -which worked out, since I had to taste one anyway 😉

To make the filling; beat the cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth, then beat in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla.

Sandwich a heaping tablespoonful of filling between 2 cookies; repeat.

Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.