Two weekends ago, my mom started craving carrot cake. She talked about it at lunch, mentioned it at dinner, and finally caved at 9 pm and drove to Safeway to pick up a slice. When she arrived home, she grabbed a fork, plopped down in her favorite armchair, and slowly savored every bite, stopping with enough left to finish the following day.
Although Mom bought me a slice of my favorite 6-layer chocolate cake at the same time, I couldn’t help but stare and hope with all of my fingers crossed behind my back that she’d offer me a taste. That cream cheese frosting… Those soft streaks of carrot… The tender cinnamon cake… It looked mesmerizing!
Despite enjoying every last morsel of my chocolate dessert, I couldn’t get carrot cake off of my mind. I pictured that square during every run (since my path went past the same grocery store) and whenever I stuck my head into the fridge for fresh fruit and veggie snacks.
I seriously contemplated baking my own again, but knowing that my self-control sometimes flies straight out the window with any type of cake, I went with the next best thing…
Cookies! These Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies blew me away, and not just from their built-in portion control. The cozy oats, the comforting cinnamon, the soft carrots… They truly tasted just like carrot cake. Pure bliss in every bite!
Even better? These cookies are really easy to make — and faster than regular carrot cake too!
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HEALTHY CARROT CAKE OATMEAL COOKIES
Let’s talk about the key ingredients that you’ll need to make these healthy carrot cake oatmeal cookies! I based them off of the most popular recipe on my site: my oatmeal raisin cookies. Have you tried those yet? Hands down, they’re the BEST oatmeal cookies I’ve ever eaten. They’re soft, tender, chewy — everything a cookie should be — and countless readers have said nobody believes that they’re lightened up and made without refined flour or refined sugar!
Oats. Like many of my other healthy oatmeal cookie recipes, you’ll use instant oats to make these. They’re also called “quick cooking” and “one minute” oats. They’re not the ones that come in packets with flavors like maple brown sugar and apple cinnamon!
Just like old-fashioned rolled oats, instant oats contain just one ingredient: oats! However, they differ in one key way. Instant oats are smaller and thinner than old-fashioned rolled oats. This smaller size means they soften faster, and that yields the best soft and chewy texture in your oatmeal cookies.
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy carrot cake oatmeal cookies gluten-free, then substitute certified gluten-free instant oats. They work perfectly!
Flour. I opted for whole wheat flour to make these oatmeal cookies. I love how it has more fiber and micronutrients!
Tip: If you’d like to make your carrot cake oatmeal cookies gluten-free, then see the Notes section of the recipe. I’ve included how to do so there!
Cinnamon. It’s a carrot cake staple! I love the cozy flavor it adds to both regular carrot cake and these healthy oatmeal cookies. If you’re a big cinnamon fan (like I am!), I highly recommend this variety. It tastes a bit stronger, sweeter, and richer than regular cinnamon. Many stores have started stocking it, but I generally buy it online here. It’s really affordable — and basically the only kind I now use in my baking!
Unsalted butter or coconut oil. Just a bit! Unlike more traditional cookie recipes that call for ½ cup or more, you only need 2 tablespoons. That really helps keep your healthy carrot cake oatmeal cookies low calorie and low fat!
Tip: Both work equally well, so feel free to use whichever one you normally keep on hand. If you use coconut oil, your healthy carrot cake oatmeal cookies will be dairy-free!
Egg. A common oatmeal cookie ingredient! The egg binds everything together, and it also yields a beautifully chewy texture.
Sweetener. For this version, I swapped out the honey from my oatmeal raisin cookie recipe for pure maple syrup. I love its sweet and cozy flavor in my carrot cake recipe, and I had a feeling it’d work well in these cookies too. Spoiler alert: It was perfect!
Pure maple syrup often comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this). It only contains one ingredient: maple syrup!
Tip: Skip the pancake syrup and sugar-free maple syrup! These contain other ingredients, which can change the way they behave in baking recipes. This is particularly true of sugar-free maple syrup! It’s usually water-based, and that will make your cookies cakey or bready, rather than chewy.
Carrots. Lots and lots of carrots. I love my regular carrot cake positively packed with them — not just a plain spice cake with the occasional fleck of orange — so I took the same approach with these healthy oatmeal cookies. That turned out so well!
For the best taste and texture, use peeled and freshly grated carrots. Don’t substitute store-bought, pre-shredded carrots! They’re also called “matchstick carrots.” They’re thicker and drier, so they don’t soften properly. It only takes a few moments to grate your own, and I promise the results are completely worth it!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY CARROT CAKE OATMEAL COOKIES
Let’s quickly go over how to make the best carrot cake oatmeal cookies! This recipe is easy and straightforward — I promise! — and I also have some tips to ensure your cookies turn out beautifully soft, chewy, and flavorful.
Measure correctly. This is one of the most crucial parts of this recipe! It’s extremely important to measure the oats and flour correctly. Do NOT scoop them directly from the container! Instead, use this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Scooping or improperly measuring can result in up to 1 ½ times as much of either ingredient. That extra amount of flour or oats will change the texture of your cookies, especially the oats! They act like little sponges by soaking up lots of moisture in the dough. Too much of either will dry out your cookies and make them cakey, bready, or dry — but if you measure them correctly, your cookies will be perfectly soft and chewy!
Chill the dough. Chilling is mandatory! It gives the oats time to soak up some moisture and helps reduce spreading. If you skipped chilling, the cookie dough would flatten thinner than a pancake while in the oven and create one huge cookie blob on the baking sheet. Not good! So avoid cookie blobs and chill your dough. Just 30 minutes — that’s it!
Drop + shape. The cookie dough will still be somewhat soft and sticky after chilling, so use a spoon and spatula to drop it onto the baking sheet. Because it only spreads some — but not a lot — you’ll also flatten it a bit to give your cookies a “head start” on spreading.
Tip: These are the spatulas I use. They’re so handy — and really cute too!
Bake + cool. It’s time! Slide that baking sheet in the oven. To ensure these cookies stay soft and chewy, you’ll underbake them ever so slightly. Just by a hair! Pull them out when the centers still feel a little soft and squidgy. You’ll let the cookies cool for a full 10-15 minutes on the warm baking sheet, and the residual heat will finish cooking those centers all the way through without the outsides turning cakey, bready, or crunchy. This is my #1 tip for the best soft and chewy oatmeal cookies! They’ll stay soft for an entire week… If they last that long!
Reshape (optional). If your cookies look a little lopsided and not completely round when you remove them from the oven, then immediately grab a butter knife and gently nudge any misshapen bits back into place. Their sides are still a bit malleable when they’re hot and fresh from the oven, but since these cookies set and firm up within minutes, work really quickly!
I secretly tried hoarding these healthy carrot cake oatmeal cookies, but that plan didn’t stand a chance around my hungry sweet-toothed family. Every time I walked by the counter, another one had mysteriously disappeared from the jar!
Oh well, at least we’re getting some extra veggies in… Right? 😉 And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy carrot cake oatmeal cookies!
Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (measured like this and gluten-free if necessary)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup (room temperature)
- ¾ cup (68g) freshly grated carrots (about 1 smallish medium, peeled first!)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup until thoroughly incorporated. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the carrots. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Using a spoon and spatula, drop the cookie dough into 14 rounded scoops on the baking sheet. Flatten slightly using a spatula. (These cookies don't spread very much!) Bake at 325°F for 12-15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Ultimate Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
♡ Healthy Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Zucchini Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Flourless Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Ultimate Healthy Carrot Cake
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes
…and the rest of Amy’s healthy oatmeal cookie recipes and healthy carrot cake flavored recipes!
unfortunately they turned out dry and bland. I followed the recipe exactly and took your advice on the flour and oats. They definitely didn’t have much moisture when I was scooping them onto the pan. DIdn’t spread at all.
They are OK, but I would have liked them to be sweeter. I think I will make a thin creamcheese icing and dip each of them in that.
That sounds disappointing Marcia! How did you measure the flour and oats — with measuring cups or a kitchen scale? The dough should be very wet, so if it wasn’t, then there were probably too many oats. What did you use for the sweetener? Did you reduce the amount at all?
I just made these and they’re great! I used regular flour since that’s all that I have. I also did half honey and half maple syrup, and I had some leftover fig spread (a tablespoon or two) so I added that in. I ended up with bigger cookies (12 instead of 15) and had to cook them longer which is typical for my oven anyway. They’re the perfect flavor and nice and soft/chewy. Next time I’ll probably try them with raisins or apples…I think it’s a very versatile recipe! Reading through the comments it seems like so many people have been able to adapt it – the sign of a great recipe! Thanks! It’s a winner!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies Andrea! That really means a lot to me that you’d call it a winner — thanks for sharing that with me! 🙂
Absolutely yummy!! I shared these with 3 friends and my parents! So happy to have found you! I made them as posted. Turned out perfect! So good!
Oh my goodness, thank you SO much for your sweet comment Rebecca!! I’m thrilled that you loved these cookies, and it means the world to me that you shared them with so many of your loved ones. Wow!! That’s the best kind of compliment — I’m honored! 🙂
Tried these carrot cake cookies tonight in search of healthier option sweets I could share with my little kiddo. I followed the recipe to a T and was so sad when I scrolled down and read that I should have pulsed my old fashioned oats before making the batter! I thought I had ruined them. To my pleasant surprise they still turned out fantastic!! We could hardly save any because everyone in the house was gobbling them up! Thank you so much and I love oil forward to trying more of your recipes ??
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed these cookies Katrina! That truly means a lot to me. 🙂 I’m so excited to hear what recipe of mine you try next!
I cannot have any oil, butter, or eggs.
Can I swap out a flax egg for the egg? What about applesauce for the oil?
Please respond to my email.
Thanks so much for your help!?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe LouAnn! I don’t have much experience with flax eggs, but I know that Ener-G will work! My brother is allergic to eggs, and that’s our favorite egg substitute. It works perfectly in nearly all of my recipes, including this one! In my recipes, if you choose to use Ener-G, you’ll need 1½ teaspoons of Ener-G + 2 tablespoons of warm water for each egg white, and you’ll need an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil for each egg yolk. Can you have margarine or any other fat? If you substitute applesauce for the butter/coconut oil, the cookies will taste cakey and slightly gummy. The small amount of fat is required to get the proper texture! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these cookies!
I can’t eat anything that has sugar, honey or syrup in it. Could I use powdered stevia and how much?
Your recipe sounds very appealing.
Felicity
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe! I’ve actually covered this on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page, which is linked to in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. It can be easy to miss! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think if you try these cookies!
How much almond flour should I use instead of whole wheat flour?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Paola! I’ve actually answered this question on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page, which is included in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. It can be easy to miss! 😉 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these oatmeal cookies!
Made these today and added mini chocolate chips (per my boys’ request 🙂 ) and they are amazing!! My kids and husband love them and they will be my new go-to! Thank you and will definitely be making more of your recipes!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed these cookies, Heather! That means the world to me that you’d call them your new go-to — and that you want to try more of my recipes! I’m truly honored! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you and your family try next!
Hi Amy,
I am interested in making your carrot cake oatmeal cookies for a wedding reception dessert bar. Can they be frozen ahead of time?
I’m truly honored that you’d want to make these cookies to celebrate such a special occasion, Lisa! 🙂 Yes, these cookies freeze really well once they’ve been baked. I can’t wait to hear what you think of them! And congratulations to the bridge and groom!
I just made these cookies and they are so delicious! If I was cut down the amount of maple syrup to like 1/4 cup would I have to adjust anything else? I’m so happy I found your website! I’m always on the hunt for healthier baking! Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Hailey! I’ve actually done that exact thing in reducing the maple syrup by half here. I recommend following that recipe — it has the exact same flavors but half the sweetness! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what other recipes you decide to try!