Easy Carrot Cake Cookies with Cake Mix
If you are a carrot cake lover, these easy Carrot Cake Cookies with cake mix are for you! A soft and sweet carrot cake cookie is topped with the perfect amount of tangy cream cheese frosting for the best carrot cake cookie…EVER!
Table of Contents
I love the spices and the texture of a good carrot cake. So when it came to making it into a cookie, I wanted to be able to achieve all of that in one bite.
Using a spice cake mix gives the cookies the perfect amount of flavor and adding freshly grated carrot, along with chopped pecans made the texture just right.
All this easy recipe needed was a fabulous cream cheese glaze which was easy to make. It is also used on these Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake.
The end result is a chewy cookie with warm spices that are perfect for carrot cake lovers! These Carrot Cake Mix Cookies are so darn good!
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Tips & tricks to achieve the most delicious cookies of your life!
What goes into this Recipe
- Spice Cake Mix: Using a box of cake mix for the base of these cookies gives you all of the wonderful spices and you can add fresh carrots.
- Sour Cream: A bit of sour cream in the cookie dough helps to give the cookies extra moisture and flavor.
- Vegetable Oil: This ingredient helps give the cake mix carrot cake cookies a chewy texture. Melted butter can be substituted in its place.
- Grated Carrot: Be sure that you are using finely grated carrot so that it mixes evenly into the dough. It adds a fresh touch and is also used in these Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls.
- Cream Cheese: Using room temperature cream cheese in the glaze creates a wonderful contrast between the sweet cookie and frosting.
- Powdered Sugar: Gives the glaze sweetness that pairs well with the tang of the cream cheese.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Add-In Ideas
There are so many simple ingredients that go wonderfully in a carrot cake.
Add a quarter to half cup of raisins, chopped pecans, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, or dried pineapple.
How to Make Carrot Cake Cookies with Cake Mix
- Begin by finely grating the carrot. This will help give the cake both a wonderful texture and taste. Add the grated carrot to the dry cake mix, oil, egg and sour cream in a large mixing bowl.
- Use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the ingredients until you have a thick gorgeous cookie dough.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop mounds of dough onto a prepared baking sheet that has been lined with a silicone mat {or parchment paper}.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 9-11 minutes or until the cookies are just starting to set up. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet.
- Once the easy cake mix cookies are completely cooled, combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together until smooth. Microwave until the glaze is pourable. The texture should be thick enough to spread over the top of the cookies easily.
- Take a heaping teaspoon of glaze and spread it out over the top of each sheet cake cookie. Sprinkle the glaze with chopped pecans {if desired} and then allow the cookies to set up.
Expert Tips
- Grate your own carrots. There are pre-grated carrots in the produce section of the grocery store but you will want a finer texture.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop cookie dough. This keeps all of the cookies the same size and allows them to bake evenly.
- Do not over bake the cookies. Bake the cookies until they are set on the edges but it looks a little under baked in the middle.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet. The residual heat from the baking pan will help to set the cookies up perfectly.
- If you do not want to microwave the frosting into a glaze, don’t. Spread the homemade cream cheese frosting onto the top of the cookie instead.
Storage & Freezing
Store- These cookies should be stored in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese frosting. Keep them in a good airtight container, a freezer bag, or wrap tightly in plastic wrap. They will keep for 4-5 days.
Freezing- You can freeze carrot cake mix cookies with or without the glaze for up to 3 months.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can buy a box of carrot cake mix. Most cake mixes have dried carrot in them and they will rehydrate BUT adding fresh carrot to a spice cake mix is my favorite combination.
Either will give you a chewy carrot cake cookie.
No problem! You can make one with a yellow {or white} cake mix and spices you have in the pantry.
Combine the yellow cake mix, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon allspice and 1/4 teaspoon ginger {or cloves} and you have a spice cake mix.
I really recommend shredding the carrots yourself because the pre-shredded kind tends to be thicker and dryer than freshly grated.
The best part of making cookies with cake mixes is the convenience! The end result is a softer cookie than those made with traditional dry and wet ingredients. These are super easy cookies without all the extra ingredients!
Do you love cake Mix cookies? Try these recipes…
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Easy Carrot Cake Cookies with Cake Mix
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 box spice cake mix {13.25 ounces}
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons sour cream
- ¾ cup finely grated carrots
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 8 ounces cream cheese {softened}
- ½ cup butter {softened}
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Topping
- ¼ cup chopped pecans {optional}
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine cookie ingredients in large bowl and mix until completely incorporated. NOTE: Dough will be thick.
- Using a medium sized cookie scoop {or heaping tablespoon}, scoop cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, remove from oven and let cool completely on cookie sheet. Repeat until all of the dough is baked.
Cream Cheese Glaze
- Combine the glaze ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Warm in the microwave until it is pourable but not runny. Spread a heaping teaspoon of glaze on the top of each cookie and spread out. Top with chopped pecans {optional} while the glaze is still wet.
- Allow the cookies to set at room temperature until the glaze is set and serve. Store cookies in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
