I love carrot cake with cream cheese icing! Who doesn’t?
When I found this recipe I couldn’t resist making a cookie that resembled a cake. Brilliant! I knew I had to give this recipe a try.
My favorite part of this cookie is the addition of the oats. It adds a wonderful texture and a nice layer of flavor. They look and taste just as appetizing.
This is an easy recipe. The hardest part is gathering all the ingredients, so I suggest you do this first. It makes it much faster to have them measured out and organized when you need them.
This recipe is courtesy of Martha Stewart. The original recipe suggests that you could use goat cheese or cream cheese. I decided to stick with the cream cheese since it was always my favorite part of the cake. I also changed some of the directions in a way I thought would be easier for you to follow.
These cookies are wonderful! They look bakery-made and taste home-made as they should.
Go ahead and give these a try. I know you will be happy you did.
Ingredients for the Carrot- Cake Thumbprint Cookies
1 stick unsalted butter, melted, plus 1/2 stick, room temperature, set aside for frosting
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup packed finely grated carrots (about 3-4)
1/4 cup golden raisins, chopped
3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 ounces fresh cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. apricot jam
In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown and granulated sugars and egg yolk.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon and salt.
Stir dry mixture (flour) into the butter mixture to combine. Mix in oats, carrots and raisins.
Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
Roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and around in the pecans to coat.
Space balls 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven.
Press an indentation into the center of each cookie with the end of a wooden spoon.
Bake 10-12 minutes more until golden brown on the bottoms.
Let cookies cool.
In a bowl, beat the remaining 1/2 stick of butter and confectioners sugar on medium until smooth.
Beat in cream cheese until combined.
Swirl in apricot jam.
Fill the center of each cookie with cream cheese mixture.
Happy Baking and ENJOY!
It’s that simple!
