Carrot Cake Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

Cookie:

• ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, browned
• ½ cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• ⅔ cup (75g) finely grated carrots, blotted to remove excess moisture
• 1 ½ cups (215g) all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ cup (55g) chopped pecans

Icing:

• 1 – 8oz cream cheese block (room temperature)
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

STEPS:

• 1. First brown the butter.
  2. First prepare the carrots. Grate the carrots using the finer size of your box grater. Spread the shredded carrots onto a plate in an even layer and then place a paper towel on top and apply gentle pressure until the towel as absorbed the moisture. Repeat this 2 more times with clean paper towels. This process of absorbing excess moisture from the carrots will ensure that you don’t add too much extra water to the cookie dough.
  3. Combine the cooled brown butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar and whisk until combined. It will look more like wet sand than a pale and aerated mixture. Add the egg and whisk it in until evenly incorporated, smooth and creamy-looking. Mix in vanilla. Add the grated, blotted carrots and mix until well combined.
  4. Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly. Add this into the bowl with the wet ingredients and it in gently. Fold in pecans. Do not over-mix.
  5. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  6. Use a 1 ½-oz cookie scoop to portion cookie dough and roll into smooth balls. Place them onto lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Let them cool on the trays for 2 minutes before transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
  7. To make the icing, beat the cream cheese and sugar using a hand mixer until smooth. Gradually add milk ½ teaspoon at a time to thin it out so you can easily pipe it. You should only need about 1 teaspoon or so of milk.
  8. Place one third of the frosting into two small bowls and the rest of it into another bowl. Add a few drops of food dye to color one bowl orange, and the other one green. Pipe one carrot on top of some of the cookies and sprinkles on others.