These stuffed carrot cake cookies are chewy and made with fresh carrots and spices! AND they're filled with cream cheese frosting. Perfect if you love carrot cake, because why not have them in cookie form as well?
They're soft and chewy and have a gooey cream cheese filling in the middle. It's literally a carrot cake condensed into a cookie. Top if off with some flakey salt, and it's game over.
I LOVE the flavour of carrot cake. Especially the raw batter. I first posted a cookie version of these cookies back in 2020 when I first started out my page on instagram.
I kind of experimented a stuffed version last year, but finally locked down and perfected these. It took MANY many tries to get the texture right but it was so worth it.
Here are some more amazing cookie recipes you'll love! My Vanilla Raspberry Cookies, the best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, the most lemony Lemon Crinkle Cookies, and a Lemon Cookie with Raspberry Curd! They're definitely worth a try!
Recipe Testing
My first batch had way too little butter (½ cup) and the cookies were very cakey and puffy. Definitely not it.
My second batch had ¾ cups of butter but the butter to flour and sugar ratio was off. There was too much butter and the cookies spread way too much and the filling completely oozed out and stuck to the pan.
Then I increased the flour and sugar content and the cookie itself was promising but still didn't have that kind of chewy texture I was looking for. And the filling would move all the way down to the bottom of the cookie and leak out a bit.
With all these batches, the filling contained a 2 tablespoons of butter. Which I found was one of the biggest reasons the filling ended up oozing out. There was simply too much fat where it just melted while baking.
I tried a few versions with cornstarch or an egg yolk in the filling to help it set. It helped it set but it was too firm. Especially when it cooled down. I wanted a melt in the mouth feel with the filling. The egg yolk version of the filling baked like a cheesecake and tasted AND has the texture of a cheesecake so that was a no go.
Then I tried out just cream cheese and sugar, and VOILA! It worked! No more filling leaking out! I also increased the sugar and butter to improve the texture and finally landed on the perfect recipe!
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- White sugar
- Egg and egg yolk
- Vanilla extract
- Fresh grated carrots
- Spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
- Baking powder & soda
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- Cream cheese
See recipe card below for quantities.
Equipment
I highly recommend using a cookie scoop to get even sized cookies and to make cookie scooping easier!
I also use a large cookie tray to bake the cookies, to allow them to cook evenly with even airflow and bake many at one time.
Storage & Freezing
Since they contain cream cheese, you want to store them in an airtight container in the fridge, for up to a week.
You can also freeze the cookies once they've cooled after baking in an airtight container. Thaw a few hours before eating or warm up in an airfryer or toaster oven.
Top Tip
- Cool down the butter: Before using, make sure to let the butter sit for a bit to cool down after you melt it. Using too warm butter can lead to greasy cookies
- Remove the moisture from the carrots: Squeezing out the liquid in the carrots prevents excess moisture in the cookies and which would make them too soft and wet.
- Don't overmix: Once the dough is just combined and there aren't anymore flour streaks, stop mixing. Too much mixing will make the cookies tough and dense.
- Filling temperature: Make sure the cream cheese balls aren't too frozen solid while the cookie dough is still soft. Baking it that way can lead to a crater around the filling as the cookies bake and cool because the cookies dough was warmer than the filling and cooked before the filling could come to temperature and melt inside.
- Seal the cookies well: Make sure to seal the cookie from the bottom after adding in the cream cheese. This helps prevent the filling from leaking as it bakes.
FAQ
The cookies probably weren't sealed well from the bottom and the filling managed to seep out whilst baking.
It could also be because the filling wasn't chilled enough and melted before the cookie was able to bake.
Of course! Just chop a handful of them kind of small and mix them in the dough, along with the carrots.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Stuffed Carrot Cake Cookie
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup - unsalted butter, melted* (149g)
- ¾ cup - brown sugar (150g)
- 7 tablespoon - white sugar (88g)
- 1 - large egg
- 1 - large egg yolk
- ¼ teaspoon - baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon - baking soda
- 1 teaspoon - ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon - ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon - ground ginger powder
- ½ cup - finely grated carrots (60g)
- ½ teaspoon - salt
- 1 ¾ cup - all purpose flour (241g)
Filling
- ¾ cup - cream cheese, room temp (168g)
- ¼ cup - sugar (50g)
- ½ teaspoon - vanilla extract
Instructions
- Melt the butter and let it cool down. Add it to a large bowl and whisk in both sugars. Add in the egg and yolk and whisk until combined.
- Place the grated carrots in a paper towel and squeeze out all the excess moisture and discard (or drink) the juice. Add the carrots to the mixture and mix.
- Mix in the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger.
- Add in the baking powder, baking soda and mix until combined.
- Add the flour and mix with a spatula until just combined. Don't over mix it, stop once you don't see anymore streaks of flour.
- Scoop the cookies using a 1.5" or 2" wide cookie scoop and place on a tray or in a large container. Cover and refrigerate for 1.5-2 hours.
- During this time, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Portion into the same amount of balls as the cookies and place in the freezer until the outside solidifies.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Take each cookie and using your thumbs, make a well in the middle and widen and deepen it until the cookie is mostly flattened out.
- Place the cream cheese in the middle and close the cookie around it, making sure it's sealed well and has a bit more of the cookie dough on the bottom side. Repeat with all and place on a large baking pan lined with parchment paper, with at least 2 inches of space between each cookie.
- Bake for about 12-14 minutes, until the bottom is golden and the edges are set. They'll look underbaked but they will continue cooking from the residual heat from the pan. Hit them with some flakey salt right out of the oven and let them cool on the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. They'll be puffy out of the oven, but will deflate as they cool.
Grammie Nona says
These are wonderful! Portable pieces of carrot cake, complete with classic cream cheese frosting in the middle. They take a bit of time but are well worth the result.
Nabeah Wahab says
Thank you so much!! I'm so happy you enjoyed them and thank you for leaving such a kind review!
Shanzae says
Hi this is dumb but can make it without the cream cheese filling? And can i substitute oil for the butter?
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi! This recipe is made to have the cream cheese filling so I haven’t tested it much without it. It should be fine tho! and no I would not recommend subbing oil for butter because the cookies will be too oily and they won't come out the same.
Christine Kolenbrander says
When you say “ Place the grated carrots in a paper towel and squeeze out all the excess moisture. Add that to the mixture and mix.” do you mean, add the excess moisture you squeezed out to the mix? Or add the carrots to the mix but not the moisture that’s squeezed out? Which one do we add in and which one do we leave out?! 🙂 thank you!!!
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi! You discard the moisture and add in the carrots. I clarified the instructions, thank you for asking!
Amber says
Hi Nabeah,
I was wondering if the cookies would still hold up the same if I added chopped pecans and rasins to them? Thanks in advance!
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Amber!
There's no reason for them not to! Obviously not too many where the dough starts falling apart, but 1/2 - 1 cup would be fine I think!
Brandon says
Do you add the pulp from the carrot too or just the juice? If just the juice, can I juice the carrot or will that be too much juice?
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Brandon! No, you discard the juice (or drink it) and use the carrots.
Aliyah says
Hi,
Can I make the dough ahead of time and put the balls in the fridge and the filling ahead of time and put in the fridge. Then assemble and bake the next day to save time?
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Aliyah, I'm sure that should work just fine! The cookie dough might need a little bit of time to warm up just a little to be able to assemble, but it shouldn't be a problem