When I was about five or six years old, I encountered carrot cake for the first time. After both the early and late Easter services, my church hosted a little brunch on the patio, and certain members of the congregation signed up to bring either homemade or store-bought dishes for everyone to enjoy.
As soon as we shook the pastor’s hand upon leaving the sanctuary, I headed straight for the line of people waiting their turns to take a plate and start walking down the buffet line of folding card tables. My parents laughed, guiding my younger brother through the throngs of people and following my flouncy floral Easter dress until they reached the end of the line to join me.
As a picky eater back then, I skipped at least half of the platters (deviled eggs? bacon-wrapped asparagus? egg salad? no thank you!) and piled my plate with fresh fruit and as many donut holes as my parents would let me. (The limit was two… I tried to sneak a third. That somehow ended up on my dad’s plate instead.)
I made sure to save room for a sliver of the cake at the very end of the table, but when I reached it, I started having second thoughts… Since I had only eaten chocolate, vanilla, and yellow cakes up to that point in my life, the cake looked really weird to me!
I asked my mom what flavor it was, and she responded, “It’s carrot cake, sweetie. Would you like to try some?” I shook my head—what were vegetables doing in cake?? Were the people crazy? Mom carefully slid a slice onto her plate and still offered me a bite, but when I saw those straggly orange vegetables and walnuts, I stuck with my initial decision… But agreed to a taste of just the cream cheese frosting!
I’ve grown a little braver since then, and now carrot cake is one of my favorite flavors—and it’s nearly tied with chocolate! But since I often lose most of my self-control when it’s around and go back for seconds… and thirds… and third-and-a-half’s… I created these Loaded Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies! They have the same familiar cozy flavors as the classic dessert, with a lot fewer calories, and they also have the perfect built-in portion control.
Yum!
When it comes to oatmeal cookies, you seem to be as big of a Cookie Monster as I am! (Hopefully without that fuzzy electric blue hair…) I’ve created an entire series of clean eating oatmeal cookie recipes, just because you enjoy them so much. You’ve baked them more times than anything else I’ve posted and made them the most popular recipes on my blog—and I can see why! They’re soft and chewy, but they contain no butter, refined flour or sugar…
Which practically makes them healthy enough for breakfast, right??
Just like the other recipes, this one begins with regular ol’ whole wheat flour and instant oats. Instant oats are not the ones that come in those individual-serving brown paper packets! They’re also called “quick-cooking” or “one-minute” oats, and you can find canisters of them right next to the regular old-fashioned rolled oats at the grocery store.
It’s incredibly important to measure both the flour and oats correctly—especially the oats! They act like little sponges and soak up most of the moisture from your cookie dough, so adding too many oats will quickly dry out your cookies and make them taste bready or cakey. Not so good… If you’re anything like me, you like your cookies extra chewy!
To measure, use either the spoon-and-level method or a kitchen scale. I highly recommend the latter! This is the inexpensive one that I own, and I use it to make every single recipe that I post on my blog because it ensures they turn out with the perfect taste and texture every time.
To keep these cookies clean eating friendly, you’ll sweeten them with pure maple syrup. Be sure you use the good stuff! Skip the pancake syrups or sugar-free varieties; both of those contain corn syrup or artificial ingredients, which we’re trying to avoid. You can typically find pure maple syrup right around the oats at the grocery store, and it’s sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs. (I’ve also bought it online!)
Now we can’t have carrot cake without the veggies, right? You’ll want to use freshly grated carrots for these cookies. Don’t substitute the pre-shredded packages you can buy at the grocery store! The carrots in those are too dry and won’t soften enough, whereas freshly grated carrots are still really juicy and easily turn tender in the 12 minutes these cookies spend in the oven.
As for the “loaded” part, you’ll also mix in raisins, walnuts, and diced pineapple! Come to think of it, you could easily add in shredded coconut if you wanted to as well… The sky’s the limit! And if you’re feeling extra fancy, you can also finish them with the {optional} cream cheese drizzle. They’re your cookies, so you should make them suit your tastes!
Ready to bake your own batch?? Once you do, leave me a comment and tell me what you think—or share a picture of them with me on Instagram! I’d love to see your cookies!
| Loaded Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies | | Print |
- for the cookies
- 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
- ¼ 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 (70g) freshly grated carrot (about 2 medium, peeled first!)
- ¼ cup (61g) finely diced pineapple (fresh or canned in 100% juice and drained)
- 3 tbsp (30g) raisins
- 2 tbsp (14g) finely chopped pecans
- for the drizzle (optional)
- 1 tbsp (14g) Greek yogurt cream cheese, softened
- 1 ½ tsp nonfat milk
- 8-12 drops vanilla crème stevia, or to taste
- Whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Gently fold in the carrots, pineapple, raisins, and pecans. 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.
- Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet, and flatten to about half of their original height using a small spatula. Bake at 325°F for 11-14 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- Just before serving, prepare the drizzle by stirring together the cream cheese, milk, and stevia in a small bowl. Transfer the mixture to a zip-topped bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner, and drizzle on top of the cooled cookies.
Instant oats are also known as quick-cooking or minute oats. They come in large canisters, just like old-fashioned oats. They are not the ones in the small flavored packets of oatmeal. To make your own, add the same amount of old-fashioned oats to a food processor, and pulse 10-12 times.
For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free instant oats and the following gluten-free flour blend: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, 2 tablespoons (17g) brown rice flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends will work as well, if measured like this.
Do not substitute store-bought pre-shredded carrots. They are thicker and drier, and they do not soften while baking.
Neufchâtel (⅓-less fat) cream cheese may be substituted for the Greek yogurt cream cheese.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
You may substitute 1 ½ teaspoons of maple syrup, honey, or agave for the vanilla crème stevia. If you use this substitution, omit the milk as well.
For a plain version (and video!), see my regular carrot cake oatmeal cookie recipe.
For videos, more tips, and answers to all other questions, including substitutions, see my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ page.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Can I make these exact cookies with egg replacer powder? Please let me know.
Yes! Ener-G will work great in all of my oatmeal cookie recipes. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of them Prajakta!
It worked out perfectly! Everyone loved the cookies and didn’t know the difference… thank you for a winning recipe!
YAY!! That makes me really happy to hear! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed these cookies Prajakta! 🙂
These look so yummy. Can I add protein powder to this recipe? If so, what adjustments would I need to make?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Anna! Unfortunately, all protein powders behave differently in baking recipes, so I can’t guarantee how that will work out. I have an entire FAQ Page dedicated to protein powders here — perhaps that’ll be useful to you! You can also find all of my really high protein recipes here and my higher protein recipes here. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these cookies!
What is the size of these cookies? If they are a decent size (for the men and kids in the family, that means 3″) Making 15 would be ok. But if they are smaller than that, 15 cookies aren’t going to last more than a day because they’re going to grab 2 or 3 at a time so I will need to double the recipe.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Valerie! These are between 1½” and 2″ in diameter (although their width does depend on how much you flatten them in Step 3). If the men and kids in your family will probably grab two or three at a time, then I definitely think doubling the recipe is a good idea! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you and your family think of these cookies!