Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies

These Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies are a sweet treat packed with the wholesome goodness of carrots, oats, and peanut butter! These chewy cookies are naturally sweetened with maple syrup, making them a guilt-free dessert or snack!

The Best Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies Recipe

I am of the humble opinion that carrot cake is one of the absolute best cakes out there. I know I can’t be alone, right?

Sometimes I want the delicious flavor of carrot cake without the effort of baking a cake and without all the calories! That is where these healthy carrot cake cookies come in.

They have all of the amazing flavor of carrot cake, but with wholesome, filling ingredients that will keep you satisfied and full! You can enjoy these cookies as an easy breakfast, snack, or dessert!

I like to make a batch at the beginning of the week and keep them on hand to kill any cravings that come my way. They are also great for kids who need a sweet treat, they won’t even realize it is actually packed with nutrients!

INgredients Needed

• Bananas: Use some ripe bananas for perfectly sweet cookies!
• Old Fashioned Oats: I like to use old fashioned oats here. You can use quick oats too, but the carrot cookies will be a slightly different texture!
• Peanut Butter: Use creamy peanut butter for the best texture. If you don’t like peanut butter, use a different nut or seed butter!
• Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a classic spice used in carrot cake!
• Maple Syrup: These healthy carrot cake cookies are naturally sweetened with maple syrup.
• Raisins: Raisins add an extra layer of texture and natural sweetness!
• Carrots: Of course, you need carrots for carrot cake cookies! Freshly shredded is best!
• For the Frosting: For a healthier cream cheese icing, simply mix together cream cheese, greek yogurt, maple syrup, lemon juice, and vanilla extract!

How to Make healthy carrot cake cookies

1. Preheat & Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mash Bananas: In a large bowl, add in the bananas and mash using the back of a fork or muddler.

3. Mix: Next, add in the oats, peanut butter, cinnamon, maple syrup, raisins and shredded carrots. Stir to combine. Portion out large tablespoon size cookies, I usually get around 12 cookies!

4. Bake: Use the back of a fork to press the cookies down to flatten them. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies look set.

5. Cool: Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing them. The cookies are fragile when they are soft!

6. Make the Frosting: While the cookies are cooling, make the optional cream cheese frosting. In a medium bowl, combine softened room temperature cream cheese, yogurt, maple syrup, lemon juice and vanilla. Whisk to combine. If the cream cheese or yogurt is not room temperature the mixture may clump up. Continue to whisk until smooth and creamy.
7. Frost: Set aside until you are ready to frost your cookies.

Tips for Success

• Let them cool before frosting! These easy carrot cake cookies are going to be fragile before they are cooled, so try not to touch them until they are completely cooled!
• Feel free to swap ingredients! You can definitely omit or swap out ingredients here. If you don’t like raisins, feel free to omit them. Or you can swap out the peanut butter for any nut butter you like!
• Use ripe bananas! If possible, it is best to use ripe bananas here. They are more easy to smash and they are also sweeter. However, if you have regular yellow bananas, they will still work!

More Healthy Treats to Try

• Flourless Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
• Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
• Carrot Cake Energy Bites
• Copycat Kind Granola Bars
• Breakfast Cookies