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 piece, 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 flies straight out the window with any type of cake, I went with the next best thing…
Cookies! These 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… Pure bliss in every bite!
I based this cookie dough off of the most popular recipe on my site: my blueberry oatmeal cookies. Have you tried them 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 butter, refined flour or refined sugar!
For this version, I swapped out honey for maple syrup because I love its sweet woodsy flavor in my carrot cake, and I also added more cinnamon (it’s a carrot cake staple!) and carrots. Lots of grated carrots. I used one smallish medium carrot, but if you have a larger one and a little extra leftover, throw that in too. It won’t hurt the cookie dough at all!
There are two very important parts of this recipe.
1) Measure the oats correctly! Do not scoop them directly from the canister. Instead, measure them like flour with the spoon-and-level method. Scooping results in 1.5 times as many oats. Since those oats act like little sponges by soaking up all of the moisture in the dough, adding extra will completely dry out your cookies and leave them crumbly.
2) 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!
To ensure the cookies stay soft and chewy, we’ll underbake them ever so slightly. Just by a hair! Pull them out when the centers still feel a little underdone, and let the cookies cool for a full 10-15 minutes on the warm baking sheet. This allows the centers to finish cooking through without the outsides turning crisp and crunchy. The cookies will stay soft for an entire week—if they last that long!
I tried hoarding these Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies, but that 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 our 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 oatmeal cookies!
My newly released Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook is full of sweet and healthy recipes like these oatmeal cookies! Buy your own copy here!
| Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (measured like this and gluten-free if necessary)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat 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
- ¾ cup (68g) grated carrots (about 1 smallish medium, peeled first!)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, 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 dough for at least 30 minutes. (If chilling longer, cover with plastic wrap, ensuring it touches the entire surface of the cookie dough.)
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Drop the cookie dough into 14 rounded scoops on the baking sheet. Flatten slightly using a spatula. (The 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.
To make your own instant oats, pulse 1 cup of old-fashioned oats in a food processor 5-8 times.
For the gluten-free flour, I used as follows: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) brown rice flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like this one!) will also work, if measured like this.
Melted margarine may be substituted for the coconut oil or butter. Regardless of which is used, be sure that the egg is at room temperature before whisking it in. A cold egg added straight from the fridge would rapidly cool the fat source, resulting in small blobs of semi-solid coconut oil, butter, or margarine.
Honey or agave may be substituted in place of the pure maple syrup.
If the cookies are still really flimsy after cooling on the baking sheet for 15 minutes and threaten to break apart, let them cool completely on the baking sheet. That won’t let them crisp up too much, and they’ll still stay soft for an entire week!
For all other questions regarding the recipe, including ingredient substitutions, please see my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ + Video page.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
I was wondering if you could add raisins to this recipe? Or chopped walnuts or pecans or all three? 😁
Yes, absolutely! I’d recommend ¼ cup of raisins and 2-4 tablespoons of diced nuts (either walnuts, pecans, or a combination of both!).
If you have the time, then I highly recommend hydrating your raisins first. It makes them plump and juicy, and it gives them an even better texture! To hydrate your raisins, add them to a microwave-safe bowl, cover them with water, and cover the top of the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Let them sit for 10-15 minutes (or while you measure and mix together the rest of the ingredients). Thoroughly drain the excess liquid before folding them into the cookie dough.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies, Tina! 🙂
My family recipe for raisin cookies involves boiling the raisins first and it makes all the difference in the world! 🙂
You’re the first person I’ve “e-met” who actually does that with their raisin cookies, Tina! 🙂 I’m excited you think it makes a big difference. People are sometimes a little skeptical when I mention it, but I really do think it’s true!
When making raisin cookies I always do a little egg and than vanilla extract and let set in the fridge for an hr or two. It makes them so good!
HOLY MOLY these are amazing!! Saving as a favorite! Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies, Ariel! That’s the best kind of compliment, if you’d already call this recipe a favorite. I’m honored! 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know!!
1/2 cup of maple syrup seems like a lot for so few cookies. Is this correct? Could you use maple flavoring instead?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Tom! Yes, the amount of maple syrup is correct. You need ½ cup of maple syrup (as the sweetener!) for 15 cookies, or 1 ¾ cups of dry ingredients (between the oats + flour).
However, if you’d prefer cookies that aren’t as sweet, I have a “breakfast” version of these oatmeal cookies that uses half the amount. Those have the sweetness level of muffins or scones, rather than true “dessert” cookies. Here’s a quick link to that recipe: carrot cake oatmeal breakfast cookies!
Maple extract (if that’s what you mean by “maple flavoring!”) cannot be substituted for the maple syrup. However, I’ve provided other alternatives for the maple syrup in the Notes section, as well as on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page. There’s a link to that FAQ Page in the Notes section. I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂
I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you try making them!
Your page has far too many ads and pop ups to wade through.
Hi Amy,
This looks so good! Is there a way that I can make this recipe eggless?
Thanks,
Ravina
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Ravina! My favorite way to replace the eggs is with Ener-G. (One of my family members is allergic to eggs, so I have a lot of experience with it!) It’s a flavorless, shelf-stable powder that keeps for ages. It works perfectly as an egg replacer in nearly all of my recipes, including this one! For my recipes, use 1 ½ teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons warm water for each egg white, and you’ll need an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil {or Earth Balance, if you’re vegan!} for each egg yolk.
Alternatively, you can use ¼ cup (56g) of unsweetened applesauce to replace the egg, but your cookies won’t spread at all while baking.
I’d love to hear what you think of these oatmeal cookies if you make them!
Yum! What a great idea. I always have a bunch of carrots to use up.
I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you end up making them Keira!
Yum! My husband LOVES carrot cake. This would be a great treat for him.
I’d love to hear what he thinks of these cookies if you bake them for him, Stephanie!
hi! I was wondering if I could use buckwheat flour or millet flour instead of whole wheat flour for the carrot cake cookies?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Ava! I haven’t tried using buckwheat flour. However, I’ve included an option that uses millet flour in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions!). I know it can be easy to miss! 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of these oatmeal cookies if you try making them!
Hi Amy, the cookies turned out great although a little too sweet for my liking. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth…I typically reduce the sugar content in my recipes. How do you propose I half the maple syrup without impacting the texture? I definitely plan on making these again. Thanks! Erika
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Erika! I actually have a “breakfast” oatmeal cookie version of these cookies here. It has half the sweetness of these “dessert” oatmeal cookies (but the same texture!), so maybe that recipe will be a bit more to your liking? 🙂 If you end up making the breakfast version, I’d love to hear what you think of those cookies!
Looks good. Can I use regular oatmeal instead of instant?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Robin! I’ve actually answered this exact question in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions!) and on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page (there’s a link to that in the Notes section too). I know it can be really easy to miss though! 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of these oatmeal cookies if you try making them!