Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies
A delicious wholesome carrot cake breakfast cookie that is made with whole grains, naturally sweetened, and packed with healthy fats and fiber.
Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies
Carrot. Cake. Breakfast. Cookies. All of these words make me extremely happy.
Now combine them into one delicious (healthful and naturally sweetened) breakfast baked good? I’m practically jumping for joy!
I bring you carrot cake breakfast cookies. Aka. your new favorite way to breakfast.
This fabulous recipe hails from Kathryne’s (of Cookie and Kate) new cookbook Love Real Food. I’ve been dying to share this book with you ever since it graced my doorstep last week. But I’ve actually been looking forward to it for much longer than that!
Kathryne and I met in person a year and half ago at a retreat in Utah (and a few months later in Chicago), and she’s just as down-to-earth, thoughtful, and passionate in person as she comes across on the screen. She poured her heart and soul – as well as a great deal of sweat and hard work – into this cookbook and it shows. I’m happy to call her a friend.
If you’re a fan of Kathryne’s blog (and I’m sure many of you already are!), love approachable vegetarian recipes, or are simply looking to incorporate more plant-based meals into your weekly routine, I can strongly say that this cookbook will become one of your go-to resources in the kitchen.
It’s one of my favorite cookbooks in a long time. It’s filled with over 100 wholesome well-tested recipes that you can easily and realistically incorporate into your daily routine.
Kathryne is a stickler (in the best possible way!) for natural sweeteners (honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar), whole grains, and whole foods.
Real food that, first and foremost, tastes fabulous and also makes you feel good. I mean, what’s not to like, right?
As an added bonus, all of the recipes in the book include fun variation ideas, tips, and helpful notes. If Kate has found a way to make something gluten-free, dairy free, vegan, egg free, nut free, or soy free – she’ll tell you how to do it (and has tested it many times to be sure of the results).
While the book is filled with countless savory recipes, I couldn’t help but turn back to these carrot cake breakfast cookies. For starters, I adore carrot cake in all forms (case and point: these carrot cake scones). Secondly, I already had all of the ingredients on hand. [You most likely do too!]
Why You’ll Love This Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookie Recipe:
This recipe was my first foray into the breakfast cookie world and I’m very happy about it. As Kathryne states, these large breakfast cookies taste like carrot cake and are as hearty as a bran muffin. The texture is fairly soft and cake-like.
I know many argue that carrot cake is all about the frosting, but this breakfast cookie proves them wrong. These are made with a combination of quick-cooking oats and white (or regular) whole wheat flour, packed with grated carrot and raisins, healthy fats (pecans/walnuts and coconut oil), and lightly sweetened with honey or maple syrup.
These breakfast cookies make a fabulous breakfast on-the-go, and take very little time to prepare. They could easily be made after dinner one night or on the weekend as an easy prep item for the week ahead. They also work as an afternoon snacking and would be great for travel.
I have a strong feeling that kids would love these too! Cookies for breakfast? It’s an easy sell that you can feel really good about.
If you are have dietary preferences or requirements, be sure to check the recipe notes below on how to make these breakfast cookies gluten-free, vegan, or nut free.
I also included Kathryne’s flavor variation ideas (these can also be prepared with grated apple or zucchini) and method for further reducing the sugar and fat content, if desired.
While I followed the original recipe to the word, I added some unsweetened coconut flakes (simply because I enjoy their texture and had some on hand already!) – reflected in the recipe below, but completely optional. I also included my own gram measurements for fellow scale-lovers.
Don’t forget to get your hands on a copy of Love Real Food. You’ll absolutely love it! Congratulations Kathryne!
Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup (90 g) quick-cooking oats
- 1 cup (144 g) white whole wheat or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1½ cups (175 g) peeled, grated carrots (about ½ lb)
- 1 cup (125 g) roughly chopped raw pecans or walnuts
- ¼ cup (40 g) raisins, preferably golden
- ¼ cup (20 g) unsweetened coconut flakes optional add-in
- ½ cup (170 g) honey or maple syrup
- ½ cup (100 g) melted coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) with a rack in the center position. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger. Whisk to blend. Add the carrots, pecans, and raisins and stir to combine.
- In a medium bowl, combine the honey and coconut oil. Whisk until blended. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined. The dough might be rather wet, but don’t worry.
- 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. Us the palm of your hand to gently flatten each cookie to about ¾-inch thick.
- 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).
- Storage: 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.
How to Adapt These Breakfast Cookies:
- Make gluten-free: substitute 1¼ cups oat flour for the wheat flour. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats and oat flour.
- Make vegan: use maple syrup instead of honey
- Nut free: replace the nuts with ⅔ cup pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds) or omit them altogether
44 Comments on “Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies”
My picky eater and carrot hater kid loved it! Thank you.
One query: could we possibly add egg to the recipe to enhance the nutritional value?
Thanks
Anubha
I’m trying to use what I already have on hand. I’m out of oats. Can I just increase the flour in these or is there something else I can substitute for the oats?
I really wouldn’t replace the oats, otherwise the purpose of the cookies is sort of defeated and the texture would be lost completely.
I may have commented before but this has become a favorite feel good treat. It changes with what I have in the pantry. I’ve added coconut, different nuts but walnuts are our favorite, dried cherries or blueberries, chopped prunes or dates, citrus zest, and of course chocolate chips. I’ve made them with oat flour many times for my Aunt when she was having chemo treatments. Great guilt free nutritious treat. I make the cookies smaller than the recipe calls for. I also usually make a double batch so there is always some in the freezer.
These were amazing. I can’t believe how delicious they turned out. Quick and easy. I used white flour organic – and walnuts and coconut add ins. Thought I would make a glaze for kids but doesn’t need it!!! So good!!
These were very good! I did add an egg for extra protein. The kids loved them, i found them a little sweet for my taste so next time I will cut back on the maple syrup.
I will defiantly try these cookies but do u have recipes for sugar free cookies my husband is diabetic and he loves cookies
Hi! I don’t have any sugar free recipes on my site – sorry about that. If you’re looking for diabetic friendly recipes, there are a bunch of great websites available, but I am not a good resource for those unless you are comfortable with a lot of baking substitutions. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
Love this recipe
Used infused coconut oil and carrot pulp.
Yum! Whipped up 2 batches. One for now, and other batch went into the freezer. These were a nice change from the nut and seed loaded breakfast cookies I usually eat. Thanks for the recipe!
They look so healthy and delicious!
I have all the ingredients in my pantry and I am going to bake these tonight.?
My only concern is that I’ll have to sub canola oil for coconut oil, hope that’s okay.
Don’t think I’ve ever baked cookies without using eggs ?♀️..
Should be totally fine! I might use a light olive oil instead but both will work.
Hey! Can i sub honey/maple syrup for sugar?
I don’t see why not, but it’s not a direct substitute and the moisture level could be different – unfortunately I can’t give specifics since I haven’t tested that! I def recommend sticking with the original recipe, but it’s worth a shot!
There wouldn’t be enough liquid in the recipe to bind everything together
OMG are these delicious! What a wonderful way to start the day!
Instead of 1/2 cup melted coconut oil do you think I could substitute equal measure of vegetable oil or melted butter?
Yes!! You could definitely use vegetable oil for these, but they won’t have quite as good a flavor as the virgin coconut oil complements the flavor of the cookies really well! You could technically substitute melted butter too, but they’ll dry out faster and won’t be quite as moist (but they would offer better flavor than vegetable oil). Hope this helps!
These bars/cookies are awesome! I made a few tweaks to suit my pantry items, and they are a big hit!! Thanks.
So happy to hear that!
I made a gluten free version of these swapping in King Arthur GF all purpose flour; I also used 3/4 molasses, 1/8 th honey, and 1 egg, and 1/4 coconut oil; and i used half apple and half grated carrot for extra flavor. I also topped them with little sugar crystals. These should be great to help sustain me on long work days! So yummy!
The breakfast cookies came out fine. Didn’t have coconut but wish I did. Wondered as to nutritional info and serving size. Thanks!
Do you know if you could use some almond flour and some oatmeal? (for GF version).
thanks
Hi Sue! I’ve included gluten free adaptations in the recipe notes – but here they are! You’ll want to substitute 1 and 1/4 cups oat flour for the wheat flour. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats and oat flour, obviously! I haven’t tried using almond flour in place of oat flour, but I have a feeling the consistency/moisture level would be thrown off without further testing/tinkering. Hope this helps!
I made GF version and after reading reviews, added one flax egg to bind. Also used maple syrup cut to 1/4 cup. Just took them out of the oven and they’re staying together and taste great! Thanks for the recipe!
I just made my first batch of these and tasted one hot off the wire cooling rack–it was delicious and tasted healthy but in a good way. I’d really like to know the nutritional value of a single cookie. BTW, I used a small ice cream scoop and got about 3 dozen 2″ cookies from one batch.
Made the gf version. They were way too wet and crumbly. Could use less nuts and more cinnamon. Overall not really a great recipe, sorry to say.
I made these with the 1/3 apple sauce variation — incredibly quick, incredibly tasty, and great texture. It’s incredible how delicious and easy these are. If they keep pretty well they’re a definite home run!
So happy to hear that! Thanks for coming back to leave your feedback!
Laura, thank you again! I know how much work goes into a blog post, and I really appreciate your kind words about the book. So glad you loved the breakfast cookies. xo!
Thanks so much Kate! I’m so happy for you!
I made these carrot cake cookeis, the gluten-free version. Really tasty! HOWEVER–they are really crumbly. There’s nothing to hold them together so what I ended up with is a container of pieces (I wanted to take them on our roadtrip as a healthy snack, but that’s not going to work out). I was wondering about that as I mixed up the dough, seeing how loose the dough was, and I should have gone with my gut and added an egg or two. I will probably make them again someday and will definitely add 2 eggs for glue.
Hi Shawna! Sorry they crumbled a bit on you! Did you use the same amount of oil and honey/syrup in the recipe? Or fluff, spoon, and level the flour? Perhaps the volume of dry ingredients were higher? Mine were definitely delicate too, but once they were mixed well with the wet ingredients and packed in the cup, they held together once baked well. I wish I could help more, I didn’t make the gluten free version myself but I know Kate tests all of her variations extremely thoroughly. I’ll have to make them GF the next time and see if I can help more!
These look phenomenal! I am new to the breakfast cookie game myself- love that these pack carrots in there too. Can’t wait to snag that cookbook 🙂 !
These look amazing! Did you use honey or maple syrup?
I used honey for my own! But the recipe has been thoroughly tested (by Kate) with maple syrup as well. I would use whatever you have on hand or whatever one you prefer the taste of! Maple syrup is obviously a bit pricier, so that might affect one’s choice too. Thanks for the question Sally!
Thank you! Do you think it would be weird to do 1/2 of each?
(Also, almost 18K views for your broccoli recipe – that’s AWESOME!)
Not at all! Go for it! You might not notice the particular flavor of either as much, but I’m sure it will be equally as delicious.
And oh my gosh!! Thank you so much for the kind words about the broccoli video – I never expected it (it literally took me forever and a day to make, because I had to teach myself how to edit video at the same time, haha), and am so happy people seem to like it. ?
Thank you for putting in the gluten free option!!! I really appreciate that!!!! 🙂
No problem at all! Kate provided those helpful tips in her cookbook notes, and I wanted to include them (all options were tested thoroughly by her) for anyone reading along. I’m actually thinking of implementing similar tips for future recipes, so I really appreciate the positive feedback.
These look delicious! And I can definitely get on board with cookies for breakfast.
Oh my goodness these look so yummy–i’m tempted to stop and pick up some carrots tonight so that I can make them tonight. Orrrr maybe i’ll sneak them into my sunday meal prep. Thanks for sharing!!
I think these would be fabulous when my grand daughter is visiting!!! Love it!
I’m with you, I’m in LOVE with Kate’s book and can’t wait to make every single thing in it! These have been on my list to try, so you are tempting me even more with these. Cheers to Kate and her beautiful new book!