Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies

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Eat cookies for breakfast with this simple recipe for carrot cake breakfast cookies! Loaded with whole grain oats, carrots and nuts for a filling and hearty on-the-go breakfast option.

I don’t know why, but I’ve been obsessed with the idea of carrot cake cookies for a couple years now. I specifically remember having the most amazing carrot cake cookie at the Union Square Greenmarket during a trip to New York.

The whole weekend I couldn’t stop thinking about coming home to recreate the recipe. Lucky for me, my friend Kathryne of Cookie and Kate just released her first cookbook, Love Real Food which happens to have the carrot cake breakfast cookie recipe in it.

Overheat shot of a plate with five carrot cake breakfast cookies.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • They’re hearty, filling and not too sweet.
  • They’re portable and perfect for busy weekday mornings. Make a batch on Sunday during meal prep and have cookies for breakfast all week… doesn’t that sound awesome?
  • All you need are 11 simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry!
  • These cookies are dairy-free and can easily be made vegan!
Ingredients measured out to make carrot cake breakfast cookies: nuts, wheat flour, shredded carrots, oats, coconut oil, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, salt, maple syrup and raisins.

Ingredients Needed

  • rolled oats or quick-cooking oats – rolled oats or quick-cooking/instant oats will both work for these cookies. Instant oats are the most processed of all the oat varieties. They are pre-cooked, dried, and rolled and pressed slightly thinner than rolled oats. For rolled oats, the oat groats have been steamed and then rolled. These are my personal favorite. I like to use Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free rolled oats.
  • white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour – I love using whole wheat flour for added nutrition. It is packed with protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals and is really easy to bake with! That said, you can definitely use all-purpose flour if that’s all you have on hand.
  • shredded carrots – the star of the show here! Feel free to use store-bought grated carrots or peel and grate them yourself.
  • raw walnuts – I love the crunch the nuts add, but feel free to sub in a different nut like pecans or almonds or skip the nuts all together. 
  • raisins – carrot + raisins = best combo ever! They add a hint of sweetness to these cookies.
  • honey – the perfect natural sweetener for these cookies. If you want to keep these vegan-friendly maple syrup is a great substitute.
  • coconut oil – helps keep the cookies moist! Make sure you’re using in the liquid sate!
  • baking powder – to help the cookies rise.
  • ground cinnamon – you can’t have carrot cake without cinnamon!
  • fine sea salt – just a pinch.
  • ground ginger – for a little spice!
6 process photos showing how to make carrot cake breakfast cookies: from making the cookie dough to baking the cookies.

How to Make These Cookies

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger. Whisk to blend. Add the shredded carrots, pecans, and raisins and stir to combine.

Step 3: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients: honey and melted coconut oil. Whisk until blended.

Step 4: Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. The dough might be rather wet, but don’t worry.

Step 5: Drop ¼-cup scoops of dough (an ice cream scoop is perfect for this) onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving several inches of space around each one. Use the palm of your hand to gently flatten each cookie to about ¾-inch thick.

Step 6: Bake until the cookies are golden and firm around the edges, about 15 to 17 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely (otherwise, the bottoms can brown too much).

An over-head shot of a plate of carrot cake breakfast cookies. One of the cookies had a bite taken from it.

Notes + Subsitutions

  • Flour: All-purpose flour would work just fine as a substitute. I haven’t tried a gluten-free version of these cookies, but I bet gluten-free all-purpose 1:1 flour would work well. If you try it, let me know in the comments below!
  • Honey: If you need the cookies to be vegan just use maple syrup instead of honey for the sweetener.
  • Coconut oil: You can use another oil like avocado, olive or vegetable oil instead of the coconut oil. Melted butter will also work well.
  • Walnuts: I prefer chopped walnuts, but you could play around with other nuts! I bet almonds or pecans would be delicious. Feel free to skip them if you need these cookies to be nut-free.
  • Raisin: If you aren’t a raisin fan, you can use chopped medjool dates or skip them all together.

How to Store Leftovers

Store leftover breakfast cookies, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

More Carrot Cake Inspired Treats

More Breakfast Cookies

Be sure to check out all of the cookie recipes as well as the full collection of breakfast recipes on EBF!

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4.41 from 25 votes

Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies

Eat cookies for breakfast with this simple recipe for carrot cake breakfast cookies! Loaded with whole grain oats, carrots and nuts for a filling and hearty on-the-go breakfast option.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 18

Ingredients  

  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, or quick-cooking oats
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 ½ cups peeled grated carrots
  • 1 cup raw pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • ½ cup honey, or maple syrup
  • ½ cup melted coconut oil

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger. Whisk to blend.
    A bowl containing oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger, ready to be combined.
  • Add the carrots, pecans, and raisins and stir to combine.
    A bowl containing carrots, pecans, and raisins ready to be combined.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the honey and coconut oil. Whisk until blended. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. The dough might be rather wet, but don’t worry.
    A bowl with a stream of maple syrup being added to a dry mixture of oats, carrots, raisins, pecans, and spices.
  • Drop ¼-cup scoops of dough (an ice cream scoop with a wire scraper is perfect for this) onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving several inches of space around each one. Use the palm of your hand to gently flatten each cookie to about ¾-inch thick.
    An over-head shot of six cookies spread across a sheet pan, ready to be baked.
  • Bake until the cookies are golden and firm around the edges, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely (otherwise, the bottoms can brown too much).
  • Leftover breakfast cookies will keep, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes

  • Recipe republished from Love Real Food with permission.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 181kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 95mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Breakast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: carrot cake breakfast cookies
Did you make this recipe?Mention @eatingbirdfood and tag #eatingbirdfood!

About Brittany

Hey there, I’m Brittany, the creator of Eating Bird Food, cookbook author, health coach and mama of two littles. Here you’ll find quick and easy recipes that make healthy fun and enjoyable for you and your family!

More about Brittany
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57 Comments

  1. Love the flavor of these cookies! Not sure why mine aren’t staying together? They’re just crumbling apart like granola. Any thoughts?

    1. Hi Brianna – I am not sure why they might be falling apart, did you change anything about the recipe? How was the dough when you were forming it into cookies? How long did you bake them for?

  2. I’m officially addicted. I’ve shared this recipe with everyone I know. And I’ve shared countless amounts of these cookies with my favorite people, including postpartum friends (Feeding people is my love language). I like to use unsweetened cranberries and a mix of walnut and pecan. I opt for the coconut oil and apple sauce options. These cookies are plenty sweet enough. To make myself a high protein batch, I add PB2 and/or vanilla protein powder.

    1. WOO! I am so excited to hear that you are loving this recipe, Angie. Thank you so much for sharing your review + star rating, I truly appreciate it!

    1. Hi Susan – I would not suggest almond flour as a sub for whole wheat flour. If you need to make these GF you could try 1:1 gf flour, I haven’t tried it so I am not sure how these would turn out, but if you give this recipe a try, let me know how they turn out for you.

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