Carrot Cake Cookies with Mascarpone Frosting
You’ll find all of the same carrot cake goodies like carrots, pineapple, nuts and raisins in these spice cookies frosted with mascarpone frosting.
Equipment
- grater with a fine side for grating the carrots
- pastry bag with tips and couplers for making carrot frosting decorations
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Cookies
- 4 oz. butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup finely grated carrots Do this on a handheld grater instead of the food processor.
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple
- 1/2 cup raisins, reconstituted in 1 cup boiling water for 15 minutes and then wrung dry
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 3/4 cup instant oats
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. cardamom
- 1/2 tsp. allspice
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Mascarpone Frosting
- 8 oz. mascarpone
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp. cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Carrot Cake Cookies
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Place softened butter in the bowl of your mixer or a large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add brown sugar and beat until creamy. Add egg and beat well.
- Stir in all remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Using a cookie scoop or a soup spoon, drop dough on to the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes, and then using the back of a flat spatula, press down on the cookies to make them a little bit flatter. Continue to bake for 1-2 more minutes, or until done. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.
- Set aside about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the frosting for making carrot decorations. Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top of each cookie. Then dust some of the cookies with cinnamon or allspice, sprinkle some of them with chopped candied pecans and the rest decorate with a little frosting carrot on top. Or, you can just choose one of these topping ideas.
- To make the carrot decorations, dye some of the remaining frosting orange and some green. Then put the frosting into two separate pastry bags, fitted with a leaf tip or a round tip and couplers to make a cute little carrot on top.
- Store frosted cookies in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator but remove to warm up about 10 minutes before serving.
Mascarpone Frosting
- Place mascarpone in the bowl of your mixer or in a mixing bowl. Beat until fluffy and smooth. Slowly add sifted powdered sugar and continue to beat until well-integrated. Add vanilla and 1 tsp. cream and beat one final time until fluffy.