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 just stumbled upon your website from scrolling through Pinterest for healthy desserts. Can I swap rolled oats for the quick? I could always throw them in the food processor to break them up I guess. That’s what I have on hand and didn’t want to run to the store.
It means so much that you’d like to try making these cookies, Jennifer! I’ve actually answered this exact question about old-fashioned rolled oats in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions!), as well as on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page. There’s a link to that FAQ Page 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 cookies if you try making them!
I don’r have maple syrup on hand. What can I use for a substitute?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Elizabeth! I’ve actually answered this exact question in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions!), and I’ve included even more options on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page. There’s a link to that FAQ Page in the bottom of the Notes section – but I know it can be easy to miss! 😉
I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you try making them!
I used a GF all purpose flour (KA) to make these. A really good/soft cookie. I took them to an after event get together and they were all eaten. I think they’d be good with chopped walnuts too. Thanks for the recipe – now I want to take a look at the oatmeal blueberry cookies!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed these cookies, Meri! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. It truly means a lot! 🙂 If you end up making the blueberry oatmeal cookies, I’d love to hear what you think of those as well! And if it’s helpful at all, you can find all of my oatmeal cookie recipes here. They’re one of my favorite things to make, so I have dozens of different flavors! 😉
These look delicious! By any chance, have you ever added a cream cheese frosting to each cookie?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Sarah! You could easily top each cookie with cream cheese frosting once they’ve completely cooled, if you’d like. I have a post about my two favorite cream cheese frosting recipes — maybe that would be useful? 🙂
I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you end up making them!
I loved thiese
Mine turned out chewy
I used 1/4 cup of vegetable puree for an egg subsitute
I baked carrot made carrot curls with potato peeler than chop chop chop
I also added touch of nutmeg!
Also I used 2 tablespooms of olive vegetable oil
Half syrup half honey
Very pleased w
Thanks for the inspiration!
Your a Doll!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies, Wendy! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. It truly means a lot! 🙂 I really appreciate you sharing your recipe modifications too. I always love hearing what tweaks work out!
Hi Amy, Thank you for your response. These were delicious! I actually made 16 cookies total and added 1/8 cup of chopped walnuts to the last half so 8 were plain and 8 had walnuts. I also used your cream cheese frosting #1 and added 1 TBSP to each cookie. These were so good!
I’m thrilled you enjoyed these cookies and the cream cheese frosting too, Sarah! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. It truly means a lot! ♡ I really appreciate you sharing your walnut modification too. I always love hearing what recipe tweaks work out!
Can you use all purpose flour in this recipe?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Suzanne! I’ve actually answered this question on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page, and there’s a link to that FAQ Page 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 cookies if you try making them!
I have searched everywhere on here so I am sorry to ask this if you already stated it but; do these need to be refrigerated?? They are so yummy but it’s so hot here and they are for an event coming up I am hoping they will last. Thanks!
I am looking forward to making these! Can I freeze them?
Well my 3 and 6 year old gobbled them up! LOVED them. It’s more like a cake cookie. My boys love sweet things so I was surprised they liked these as they aren’t super sugary like a chocolate chip cookie. They each ate 4 and I felt no guilt for letting them eat cookies! I may have also eaten 4! Stuck to the recipe exactly.
Can you please tell me how many calories in this cookie.
Hi Amy
This recipe really caught attention. Kudos
So curiously I scrolled through comments. You respond in a great timely manner however I recommend that you tone down your canned response to questions about about I’ve actually covered this on my cookie recipe FAQ YADDA YADDA. It sends a geez dummy connotation to the questioner. A simple Yes, NO, or good question and link to post.