My junior year of high school, one of my best guy friends devised an elaborate plan to surprise his girlfriend for the anniversary, complete with roses, a fancy dinner, and a special dessert. Early in the afternoon of their date night, I went with him to the mall to pick up the sweet treat: a giant chocolate chip cookie cake from Mrs. Fields.
That was the first time I had ever seen or heard of a cookie cake. I thought there were just cookies… and cake… separate. But as soon as I peeked inside of the big red box at the oversized cookie staring up at me with frosting piped around the rim, I fell in love. So many chocolate chips! And that humongous gooey center!
I started asking for cookie cakes for nearly every occasion after that: the spring orchestra concert, my brother’s honor roll ceremony, school finishing for the summer, my birthday… I’d carve off sliver after sliver when I thought nobody was watching. It was a lot less noticeable when I snuck two extra bites of a cookie cake than it was with regular cookies!
When I left for college, my obsession died down. The dining commons set out huge platters of gooey, warm, freshly baked cookies at dinner every night, and as buffet-style all-you-can-eat meals, I gladly obliged.
But after baking skinny pizookies a few months ago, my excitement over larger pan-baked cookies resurfaced. So to finish off Carrot Cake Week, I made you this Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookie Cake! It’s warm, cozy, and the ideal sweet treat to finish off your Easter meal!
This recipe is based off of the most popular one on my blog: these carrot cake oatmeal cookies. Have you tried them yet? They’ve been pinned over 100,000 times, and hundreds of readers have raved about how soft and chewy they are. Seriously… They’re addictive and don’t taste healthy at all!
But the catch? They actually are! Yes, this recipe is clean-eating friendly. It contains NO butter, refined flour or sugar. Your taste buds and your waistline will thank you! It uses entirely whole wheat flour instead (gluten-free blends work too!) and is sweetened with maple syrup, which adds to the warm, cozy feeling that the spices provide.
The best thing about this cookie cake? Other than being able to sneak extra slivers, of course… (Not that I’d know or anything!) Because it’s baked inside of a cake pan, the cookie dough doesn’t need to chill, so you get to eat dessert that much sooner!
Tip: I prefer a springform pan because you can easily remove its sides when it’s time to serve, but a regular cake pan works too.
If you baked the carrot cake cupcakes from two days ago (you at least put them on your baking list, right?), then you already have cream cheese frosting left over. It’s the perfect amount to pipe around the outsides of this cookie cake! Lots of cute little dollops, plus enough to write “Happy Easter” across the center if you’re a big frosting fan.
Time to dig in!
| Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookie Cake | | Print |
- for the cookie
- 1 c (98g) instant oats (measured correctly & gluten-free if necessary)
- ¾ c (90g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 1 ½ tsp (5g) baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp (3g) ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp (1g) salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp (5mL) vanilla extract
- ½ c (120mL) maple syrup
- ¾ c (68g) grated carrots (about 2 smallish medium, peeled first)
- for the frosting
- ½ c (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 4 oz fat-free cream cheese (half of one block)
- 1 serving (7g) fat-free, sugar-free instant cheesecake pudding mix
- 2 tbsp (3g) granulated sucralose (or other sweetener, to taste)
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and lightly coat a 9”-round springform or regular cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- 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.
- Spread the cookie dough evenly across the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake at 325°F for 17-20 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature in the cake pan.
- While the cookie bakes, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the yogurt, cream cheese, pudding mix, and sucralose with an electric mixer on low speed for 2 minutes, or until thick. Chill for at least 2 hours before piping on top of the cooled cookie cake. (If chilling longer, cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap or foil.)
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 c (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (17g) brown rice flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, and ½ tsp (1g) xanthan gum.
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 maple syrup.
There will be leftover frosting. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
More carrot cake recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Cream Cheese Swirled Carrot Cake Bars by Crème de la Crumb
♥ Carrot Cake Bars by Roxanna’s Home Baking
♥ Soft Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Glaze by Averie Cooks
♥ Soft Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies by Comfort of Cooking
if one was to swap out the maple syrup what would the sugar equivalent be…the same or less…and I would use brown sugar…I just don’t like maple syrup…
thanks….
Yes, you can use brown sugar instead of maple syrup Shelley! You’ll need the same amount (½ cup) plus ¼ cup of milk (any kind will work!). I hope you enjoy the cookie cake!
thanks…..I will be printing this and making it soon…
My pleasure Shelley! I’m excited to hear what you think of it!
This carrot cake cookie cake sounds SO good, and ooks absolutely scrumptious! After 9 years of baking in the kitchen, you’d think I’d have tried something “carrot cake”already, but I haven’t! Pinned!
Thanks for your sweet comment and pin Mandie! 🙂 It’s never too late to try a new flavor! I had actually never had coffee until a little over a year ago, and I went most of my life without anything red velvet too. Kind of funny to think about that now!
Can we substitute the egg with something else?
I haven’t tried it myself, but other readers have had luck with mashed banana, unsweetened applesauce, and flax “eggs” Gagan!
I So prefer big cookie cakes – less work if you ask me, and no chilling is always a plus. I just wish y kids ate carrot cake – I’ll be forced to eat the entire cookie myself
I completely agree Heather! I’d rather have a cookie cake than cookies just about every time. But it’d be dangerous to have around without anyone to share it with… Hopefully your kids come around to carrot cake soon!
Ok. Its official. I am in love with your blog! I have not made anything yet, but have my baking list ready for this weekend! I have been searching for the perfect food blog. One that my family can enjoy too. I am constantly making healthy recipes, but they never satisfy and my parents refuse to eat it. This blog looks perfect. You make everything healthy, but not scary healthy. I am so happy that I finally found the perfect blog!
You’re so sweet Katelyn — I’m truly touched by your kind words! I really hope you enjoy the recipes you try, and I can’t wait to hear what those are! 🙂
This looks amazing. Do you think I could add protein powder to them?
Thanks Stephanie! I’ve never tried protein powder in this recipe before, but you’re welcome to try. You’ll need to reduce the amount of flour if you do add protein powder. I’d love to hear how that turns out for you!
Oh, here is the cake I tried quite awhile back and my whole family enjoyed it so much!! It was gobbled down in one sitting!!! Thank you for all that you do. It is greatly appreciated!
If only I could figure out what white whole wheat flour is in Australia. It appears that we cannot get it. I have searched everywhere including health food shops who haven’t heard of it either. I have been trying white spelt flour instead lately as is it the closest I can find to a healthier version.
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed this recipe too, Kim! I did some research into what white whole wheat flour is called in Australia. From what I gathered, Australia grows more white wheat than the US, so chances are that at least some of the whole wheat (or wholemeal, as I’m assuming it’s called!) flour is actually what we’d consider “white whole wheat” here in the US. The flour should look lighter in color, more towards white than tan. For example, I used regular whole wheat flour in this cinnamon roll recipe, but I used white whole wheat flour in this pound cake recipe. Can you see the difference in color? So if your wholemeal flour is closer to the pound cake color, then it’s probably what we’d consider “white whole wheat!” 🙂
Hi Amy,
Oh I didn’t realise you didn’t have many options in the US. We have so many different ones!! The whole wheat looks the same as our wholemeal. The white whole wheat flour does look a bit like our White Wings All purpose Flour, it uses whole wheat grain or even our Macro White Spelt Flour. The latter has a bit more nutrients. We can get white and wholemeal spelt flour and the both have very similar nutritional values.
At least I have an answer for my friends who I share links to your recipes with. We have all tried to figure it out ?❤
YAY!! I’m so glad we found our answer!! It would be so much easier if countries used the same terminology… 😉 I’ll have to see if one of our fancier grocery stores carries spelt flour. I’d love to play around with it, after what you’ve said!
Hi Amy,
I hope you can find spelt flour! Apparently the nutritional value is slightly better protein wise, pretty good for diabetics and also does not contain as much gluten so for those with only a mild intolerance, may be able to tolerate it. Please don’t take my words as medical facts though because I’d really hate to provide false information. It is more expensive than normal flour but our shelves are almost always empty! Everyone is buying it, particularly the white version. A lady who owns a local health shop told me it’s the only flour she uses in any baking recipes now. Take care sweet friend and I simply cannot wait for your Carrot Cake loaf. I’m processing the carrots to make those divine cookies again as we speak! I think I may turn orange ?
Thanks for all of the information, Kim! 🙂 With how many carrots I’ve been eating lately, it’s a miracle that I don’t have leafy things sprouting out of my head and roots from my feet… 😉
Sounds good ! Can I share this recipes on my fb?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Heng! You’re welcome to share a link to my recipe on your Facebook account, but due to copyright reasons, my legal team won’t allow for my recipes to be republished in full in other places. Thanks so much for checking! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this cookie cake if you try it!