Take your carrot cake on the go with these delicious cookies!
Christmas cookies are a major part of the holiday season. One you shouldn’t have to sacrifice for a vegan diet.
In fact, with so many vegan baking recipes out there, there’s no need to sacrifice cookies any time of the year.
My college has won multiple awards for the quality of its vegan dining options. And those options aren’t just for meals. Our dining hall made sure there were always vegan dessert options. Vegans like dessert too! So while I am not vegan myself, I am no stranger to vegan cookies.
Of course, as anyone who has dabbled in vegan baking knows, vegan cookies are not always flawless imitations of the originals. Sometimes, vegan cookies can even be downright bad.
While banana often features as a key substitute in vegan recipes, this alternative has its drawbacks. For one, not all baked goods should taste like banana. Sure, banana is a delicious flavor. But if we’re all being honest, it’s usually best in, well, banana recipes. Banana bread, banana cream pie, banana pudding, all great places for banana. Chocolate chip cookies? Not so much.
In a perfect world, vegan recipes shouldn’t have to sacrifice texture or taste, but it can be a tough balance to strike. Many vegans just resign themselves to crumbly cookies or banana everything, but it doesn’t have to be that way!
These carrot spice oatmeal cookies manage to pack perfect flavor and consistency into a clean, vegan recipe. No butter, no dairy, and no not-so-subtle banana flavor, either.
Inspired by a holiday classic, carrot cake, these cookies are just as rich and moist as the decadent cake. Part of the trick to this recipe is the carrots themselves, which add moisture. So if you’ve ever wondered why exactly carrot cake has carrots, now you know.
This recipe also uses coconut oil and coconut milk to help achieve a moist, soft cookie. Meanwhile, oats also help these cookies hold moisture and shape. These carrot spice oatmeal cookies also keep things light with ingredients like whole wheat flour and coconut sugar.
Flavored with almond extract, cinnamon, and cloves, these cookies pack all the rich flavor of carrot cake into perfect on the go vegan cookies. And because their texture and flavor is spot on, no one will even be able to tell they’re vegan.
While these carrot spice oatmeal cookies are a perfect vegan option to add to your holiday spread, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy them all year round. Whip up a batch of these cookies anytime and watch everyone’s disbelief when you reveal the secret. Hopefully, you’ll never have to resort to unintentionally banana flavored cookies again.
For more vegan options to add to your dessert bar, check out a few of these other vegan recipes that are sure to impress:
- Vegan Fudge (peppermint fudge perfect for your holiday menu!)
- Chocolate Banana Nut Bread
- Skinny Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Raw Vegan Lemon Cranberry Cheesecake
Carrot Spice Oatmeal Cookies | Vegan Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup oats
- 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup granulated coconut sugar
- 1 cup carrots finely grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and clove. Mix well and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil, coconut milk, applesauce, almond extract, and coconut sugar. Stir until well combined and then gradually add the flour mixture. Continue to mix until just combined. Fold in the carrot.
- Drop the batter by the spoonful (about 1 tablespoon) onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly before serving.
Nutrition Information
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I made them but they were too liquidy to turn into cookies, so I created muffins instead. They still tasted very good though.
Do you think the recipe contains too much liquid? 1 cup + 2 tbsp seems like a lot. Do you think that’s what went wrong?
Hmmm, this recipe only has 1/2 cup of liquid (coconut milk).
Have you tried these with a gluten free flour?
Nancy, We haven’t but let us know if you do. Would love to hear the results.
They have good flavor, kind of like a carrot cake in a cookie form, and the cookies do turn out more cak-ey than cookie-ey if that makes sense. They did seem a tad too sweet for my taste and I will maybe try less sugar next time. It also took longer for my cookies to bake, about 14 minutes.
I am allergic to coconut. What can I substitute for coconut items such as coconut sugar, etc. and still make it clean plant based eating? I’m new to this!
Meg, Here are some ides: Raw cane sugar (would be my optional preference), a little agave or a simple syrup, or maple syrup. You have lots of good choices. Enjoy the plant-based recipes. 🙂