Just too good for words. I made these originally for my daughter, AmyRae, because she is crazy…about carrot cake. I’m so glad they were everything we wanted them to be and more. If you have a carrot cake lover in your life, don’t wait. Make these. You’ll be a hero for (at least) a day. They’re a deliciously moist, chewy, carrot cake-flavored cookie that you can really sink your teeth into! Scrumptious. What a clever creation…I wish I’d thought of these myself.
Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies
1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbs packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbs granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1 scant cup pecans (3 oz.), chopped (or walnuts)
1/2 cup raisins (I use dried cherries)
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup honey
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets.
Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined.
Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then tranfser cookies to racks to cool completely.
While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth. (Make sure to do this long enough so that mixture is completely emulsified.)
Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.
These look great!