Over a decade ago, a blog friend named Janelle shared her “wannabe pumpkin cookies” recipe with us. It was a brilliantly orange carrot cookie recipe with a wonderfully simple orange glaze. I recently put her recipe to the test, and ended up making a few tweaks – less eggs, some added spices, simple mashed carrots – you get the gist. The result is these delicious dairy-free carrot cookies that remind me of perfect little cakes. We enjoy these cookies as is, but I’ve also included frosting and glaze options for a next level dessert.
These Dairy-Free Carrot Cookies are like Heavenly Bites of Carrot Cake
It doesn’t matter if you’re a staunch chewy or crispy cookie fan, or even if you hate carrots! These cakey cookies will win you over. All you’ll taste is a delightfully sweet, tender treat with warm spices. They’re a bit like bites of carrot cake, but with a definite cookie vibe. I think they’re perfect for afternoon tea, Easter, spring or summer gatherings, or even for Christmas cookie exchanges!
I mash the carrots with a fork, which leaves little bits of carrot throughout, and makes these more reminiscent of carrot cake. If preferred, you can pulverize the carrots a bit more in a food processor.
Special Diet Notes: Dairy-Free Carrot Cookies
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, and vegetarian.
We haven’t tested this recipe egg-free. But if you want a vegan cookie, I would actually try just omitting the egg. It is a fairly moist batter. You can add a splash of water, milk beverage, or aquafaba (for better binding) if it seems dry.
For gluten-free carrot cookies, your favorite gluten-free baking blend should work well, but make sure it has some type of binder, and I would recommend using the egg.
- 1 cup cooked mashed carrot
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup dairy-free buttery sticks, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- If you don't have any leftover cooked carrots on hand, peel, slice, and steam carrots for about 15 minutes, or until very tender. (I use 2 very large carrots, or up to 6 if smaller carrots to get 1 cup mashed. Mash the carrots and measure.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the buttery sticks and sugar with a hand mixer or wooden spoon. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Stir in the mashed carrots, and then stir in the flour blend until combined.
- Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or longer.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Drop the dough by the rounded tablespoonful onto your prepared baking sheets. They will spread a little, but not too much.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until tender but firm. They only turn slightly golden.
- Remove the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Orange Glaze: Sift 1 cup powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add 2 tablespoons orange juice and whisk until smooth.
More Produce-Forward Dairy-Free Cookie Recipes
Applesauce Cookies
Vegan Sweet Potato Cookies
Zucchini Cookies
12 Comments
Could you suggest an egg replacer in this recipe? Looks delicious 😋
Hi Kate, always look right above the recipe for substitution options. For this one, I have: “I would actually try just omitting the egg. It is a fairly moist batter. You can add a splash of water, milk beverage, or aquafaba (for better binding) if it seems dry.” I haven’t tested it yet, but that’s the first test I would do.
I don’t have vegan butter sticks, but I have the tubs of Earth Balance, palm shortening and assorted different oils……which would be the best substitute?
The Earth Balance should work just fine, or I would use 1/2 cup earth balance, 1/4 cup shortening for “fluffier” cookies. The tub stuff works well, but it often causes the cookies to spread a little more, and sometimes overcrisp around the edges. Using part shortening can mitigate this. Shortening adds more fluff and tenderness, less crisp. I hope that helps!
Can canned pumpkin be substituted for the mashed carrots? Thanks.
I don’t see why not! The texture may be a touch different, but overall, it should work fine.
Haha I love the trickery here! And what a great way to get more carrot consumption into your life!
Oh hey: I put these darling carrot cookies on my Talk of Tomato blog too (Brown Bag Blues is going bye-bye): http://www.talkoftomatoes.com/2010/10/jack-lantern-cookies/
Janelle! I’m so glad to hear from you. Yes, we are updating the site one post at a time since switching to wordpress, so this recipe got a facelifted post this week 🙂 I tried to get to Talk of Tomatoes when I redid this, but there was an error message. I was worried that you weren’t blogging anymore. Will change the link-up now!
Thanks for sharing these cookies—and thanks for the reminder. I have a huge pile of carrots and teen sons. These cookies are PERFECT for a soon-to-be afternoon snack. I scarf them down too;)))
I’m on a low fat diet. Usually you can swap out butter or oil for puréed fruit or vegetable, like pumpkin or apple sauce. I thought I might sun some of the butter for more carrot purée. Has anybody tried this? Or maybe apple sauce would work better? I’d go down to only a 1/4 butter or oil, not get rid of all of it.
I think you can swap some, but I would tread lightly since you are already using mashed carrot. They’re likely to become more cakey with the added moisture.