Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cookies
Believe it or not, I didn’t try carrot cake until I was 16, and let me tell you, it was life changing. The warm spices, the tender cake, and that dreamy cream cheese frosting completely stole my dessert loving heart. So of course, when I started expanding my cheesecake cookie series, I knew I had to make a cookie inspired by carrot cake. These carrot cake cheesecake cookies capture all that cozy, spiced goodness in a soft cookie, with a gooey cheesecake center hiding inside, basically everything you love about carrot cake, now in the most delicious, handheld form imaginable!
The Chill Trick for Picture-Perfect Cookies
One little tip that quickly became a must during testing our cheesecake stuffed cookies is cooling the cheesecake filling before baking the cookies. At first, we skipped this step and ended up with cheesecake oozing all over the pan, delicious, yes, but definitely not the neat, picture-perfect cookies we were aiming for. Letting the filling chill first keeps it stable and makes it much easier to work with, so each cookie has that perfect creamy center without any messy mishaps. It’s a simple step, but it’s the real key to getting beautifully formed carrot cake cheesecake cookies every single time.
Funny enough, a lot of people (including me, silly as it sounds) used to think carrot cake was “healthy” and secretly worried it wouldn’t taste that good. Spoiler alert: it is absolutely delicious, and this cookie proves it. While carrot cake might not be health food per se, it’s a reminder that you can make desserts feel a little wholesome without sacrificing flavor. (We’ve even experimented with some seriously tasty, healthier treats that turned out amazing.) The point is, carrot cake deserves all the love, and when you wrap it up in a cookie with cheesecake inside, it’s basically magic!
Why I Measure in Grams (and You Might Want To, Too)
If you’ve ever made the same recipe twice and gotten two totally different results, the measuring method is often the reason.
Professional bakeries almost always measure by weight, not volume. Measuring cups leave room for inconsistency—especially with ingredients that pack differently depending on how you scoop or pour them. A scale removes all of that guesswork.
One of the biggest offenders is sugar. Different sugars (and even the same sugar measured by different people) can vary wildly in volume, but 100 grams is always 100 grams. Measuring by weight gives you repeatable, bakery-consistent results and cuts down on extra dishes at the same time.
A food scale is one of the best (and most affordable) investments you can make for your kitchen if you love baking and want your recipes to turn out exactly the same every time.
Ingredients To Prepare
Before baking, take a few minutes to gather the ingredients below and to ensure that they are soft, chewy, and perfectly spiced!
Once you have all of the ingredients ready to go, you’re officially set up for carrot cake cheesecake cookie success. I always recommend measuring everything out ahead of time so the process is smoother, and you can focus on making the best cookies possible!
Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large carrots
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 block cream cheese
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (convection). In a small bowl, mix room-temperature cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Scoop 1-tablespoon balls onto a parchment-lined plate or tray and chill in the freezer while you prepare the cookie dough.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat room-temperature butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar for 1–2 minutes, until light and off-white. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until fully combined.
- Shred or blend the carrots and then squeeze out excess moisture using a cheesecloth. Fold the drained carrots into the cookie dough.
- Add all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Fold in gently until a soft dough forms.
- Scoop ⅓-cup portions of dough, flatten slightly in your palm, and place a chilled cream cheese ball in the center. Fold the dough around the cream cheese and roll the cookie dough ball in granulated sugar. Place the prepared cookies on a parchment-lined tray.
- Bake the cookies for 12–13 minutes, until edges are set and centers remain soft. For perfectly round cookies, gently swirl a circular bowl, cup, or cookie cutter around each warm cookie to clean up the edges. Let cookies rest on the tray for about 10 minutes before transferring.
- Enjoy fresh, or store in the fridge for up to 8 days.
