Monday. Monday. Monday. I hope you all had a great weekend and a great Monday! I had a great weekend but it was just very hectic and tiring and fun all at the same time! I have been busy traveling all weekend and did not get back home until after eleven last night; so needless to say I am very tired. Of course I had good intentions to make the cookbook of the month recipe one day last week and write the blog post and have it scheduled to post today (knowing full and well that I would be exhausted today) but that never happened!
So today I made the cookbook of the month recipe and am trying to blog about it before I pass out! Needless to say that since I am so tired I had to go with a recipe that was easy and more importantly one that I had all the ingredients already in my pantry because I did not want to fight the mobs at the store. Because of all these requirements I went with these Carrot Cake-Oatmeal Cookies. Now these cookies were not my top choice to make from this book. Quite frankly there were not my second or third either. I did want to make them but they are/were actually only the 5th or 6th thing down on my list of goodies to make from this cookbook.
Like I said these were easy and I had all the ingredients so that all ready makes them a winner today in my book. These cookies tasted great and reminded me of the the carrot cake my mom used to make (at least once or twice) when I was a kid. Only what I remember of my mom’s carrot cake (the whole two times I have had it) was better (but made from scratch by your mom is ALWAYS better)!
These Carrot Cake-Oatmeal Cookies are a great twist on two classic desserts and whip up is just minutes. They would be perfect for a unique, quick cookie to take to a cookie exchange!
Carrot Cake-Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from Betty Crocker: Christmas Cookie Magazine/Book and bettycrocker.com
Cookies:
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup grated carrots*
1 tablespoon water*
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
Frosting:*
4 oz (half of 8-oz package) cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts, if desired
Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie ingredients until stiff dough forms.
On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart.
Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
In small bowl, mix cream cheese, 1 tablespoon butter, the vanilla and powdered sugar with spoon until smooth. Spread frosting over cookies. Sprinkle with nuts. Store tightly covered in refrigerator.
A few minor changes I made:
– I always substitute milk in baking when a recipe calls for water.
– You can buy pre-shredded carrots but they are usually more expensive and I did NOT want to go to the store. I had carrots already at home, but they were the baby carrot. You can shred the baby carrots but a word of caution: watch out for your finger nail! The baby carrots grate very quickly and before you know it your finger has gotten in the way!
– I also did about 3/4 cup carrots for the added flavor and moisture.
– The frosting tasted great but was a little hard to spread. Next time I will and about 1 tablespoon milk to make it a little smoother.
– The original recipe says that t makes 3 dozen; I only got about 2 dozen.
Leave a Reply