Spiced Carrot Cake Cookie Creme Pies

Each March, I ask my dear husband, Christopher, what treat he would like me to make for his birthday week, and each year I get the same answer: Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches.

I have been making carrot cake cookies for over a decade. My base recipe was very cake-like; thin, moist, soft, cakey cookies that although were very delicious, needed to be refrigerated to keep them fresh.

Recently I tinkered with my recipe to get this new sourdough-based recipe that stores beautifully (although let's be honest, they disappear before that's really an issue anyway!).

These Spiced Carrot Cake Cookie Creme Pies are a flavor variation of my Salted Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip cookies and my Salted Banana White Chocolate Chip Cookies with the added decadence of cream cheese frosting.

Bring these to your Easter gathering and they will be a hit! 

Helpful Notes Before You Start

• Browned Butter This recipe calls for browned butter, and it’s worth every extra minute. If you’ve never done it before, this video taught me how. A light-colored pan or spatula is key so you can see those little golden brown flecks as they develop.

• Sourdough Starter Discard If you don’t already have a sourdough starter, it takes about a week to make one from scratch. This is my favorite resource — sign up for her Sourdough Starter Feeding Chart and have it emailed to you so you can print it and get started easily. I also love this book if you really want to get into sourdough.

• Cookie Scoops Do you need cookie scoops? No. Did buying them change my life? Absolutely. No sticky hands, perfectly even cookies, and they’re great for muffins or even meatballs. These are the ones we use, and I grab the largest size for this recipe.

• Can’t eat a whole batch? Make and freeze most of the dough! Pull it out and bake when you’ve got a craving.  

Spiced Carrot Cake Cookie Creme Pies

Chris' most requested cookie

Yield: 36 cookies (or 18 cookie sandwiches)

Cookie Ingredients:

• 3 ½ cups all purpose flour

• 2 c old fashioned oats

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt 

• 2 sticks unsalted butter 

• 1 c brown sugar

• ½ c granulated sugar

• 2 c finely shredded carrots (about 5-6 large carrots)

• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk (this is important for texture!)

• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract 

• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• ½ cup sourdough starter (discard or fed)

• 2 cups white chocolate chips 

• Flaky sea salt for garnish (you can also use table salt - don’t skip this!)

Frosting Ingredients: (optional)

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened

• ½ c salted butter, softened

• 3 c powdered sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2 Tbsp heavy cream

Instructions:

1. Brown the Butter 

In a small frying pan or saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. After about 5–8 minutes, you’ll see brown flecks form at the bottom and smell a warm, nutty aroma. Remove from heat immediately and set aside to cool completely. (You can pop it in the fridge to speed this up.) Refer to this video if you want a visual — it’s a great resource.

2. Combine Dry Ingredients 

While you’re waiting for your browned butter to cool, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl. I like to whisk them together for even distribution.

3. Cream Butters and Sugar

Add sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and add the room temperature browned butter. Turn the mixer on low-medium speed and beat until the mixture becomes a very light color and fluffy in texture (usually about 3-5 minutes). 

4. Add Wet Ingredients 

  Add the carrots, vanilla, egg + egg yolk, and sourdough discard to the sugar/butter mixture and mix until well combined.

5. Add dry ingredients  

   Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips.

6. Chill the Dough (optional)

   This dough is drier than our other sourdough cookie recipes. Chilling the dough is optional, but does help give the cookie a chewier texture. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. You can also chill the dough overnight if desired.

7. Prep to Bake

   Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

8. Form Cookies

   Using a cookie scoop or spoon, portion the dough into balls (about 2 tablespoons each) and place 12 of them onto each of the prepared baking sheets.

Pro tip: Don’t let the second batch get too warm while waiting to bake - either keep them in the fridge or wait until your first batch is baked before portioning your second set of dough on ot he 

9. Salt Cookies

Sprinkle coarse salt (or table salt) across the tops of the cookie dough balls before baking.

10. Bake

   Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Due to the oats, this step is the trickiest to get right, as it's easy to undercook these cookies.

11. Make the Frosting 

Add the cream cheese and butter to a medium bowl or stand mixer and beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add 2 tbsp of half and half and beat until light and fluffy.

12. Cool and Frost

Let the cookies cool before frosting. Spread a generous layer of frosting on a cookie and top with a second cookie to create a 'cookie sandwich'. You can also simply pipe some of the frosting on top of a cookie if that's your style!

Note: You can decide to make these cookies without frosting (or even without oats!) and they will still be delicious.

I hope this recipe has given you some spring inspiration to treat yourself. You deserve it. ♥️

Sending you warm wishes from our farmhouse kitchen,