Soft carrot cake cookies frosted in buttercream and topped with chopped walnuts. These cookies are easy to make, stay soft for days, and are so delicious!

You might also like these desserts for Easter: carrot cake bars or our easy mini bundt carrot cakes (made with a mix)!

Watch our step by step video!

Carrot Cake Cookies Made With Carrot Baby Food

Last month I shared our recipe for carrot cake bars that are made with carrot baby food which eliminated the need to peel and grate cups of carrots. Our carrot cake cookies are made the same way! 2 jars of baby food poured right into the dough mixture give a beautiful orange color to the dough, moisture, and subtle flavoring. Traditional carrot cake spices like cinnamon and nutmeg are added to round out this delicious cookie.

I frosted mine and sprinkled them with chopped walnuts for a bit of crunch. You can also add a handful of chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts are my favorites for carrot cake) into the dough if you'd like.

These cookies are soft and fluffy and are iced in vanilla buttercream, but I've included recipes for both buttercream AND cream cheese frosting since cream cheese frosting is the classic choice for carrot cake.

This recipe makes 30 cookies. The frosting will set slightly making them easy to store and stack and the cookies will stay soft and fresh for 3-5 days if covered with plastic or stored in an airtight container.

You can scroll down to the bottom of the post for a recipe card that includes all of the ingredients, measurements, and instructions in an easy-to-follow and easy-to-print format.

Carrot Cake Cookie Ingredients

⅔ cup (about 10 Tbsp.) softened butter
1 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 (4-ounce) jars of carrot baby food
1 large egg
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Vanilla Buttercream

¾ cup softened butter
4 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-5 Tablespoons milk (more or less as necessary)

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup softened butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons milk (more or less as necessary)

How To Make Carrot Cake Cookies

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and carrot baby food. Mix with an electric mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment until smooth.
In a separate medium bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Scrape sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and stir until smooth.
Cover dough and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Scoop cookies using a medium cookie scoop (2 Tbsp. size) onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets (6-8 cookies per sheet) and bake cookies for 9-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 2-3 minutes then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Beat frosting ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
Spread frosting over cookies and sprinkle with chopped nuts.