Sometimes I like to tell myself that incorporating healthy things like vegetables into baked goods makes them less bad for you. Seems logical, right?
Well, maybe by the time you add the butter and the sugar that’s not always the case but it sure makes me feel better about stuffing myself with a treat such as these inside-out carrot cake cookie sandwiches.
That’s a mouthful in more ways than one. The cookies have shredded carrots (obvi), raisins, and walnuts (if you so desire; I happen to think nuts [with few exceptions] ruin desserts). They are hardy and cinnamon-y and make your kitchen smell like a cozy fall afternoon. Guaranteed.
The filling is two simple ingredients: cream cheese and honey. I substituted Mascarpone cheese for cream cheese as I have been wont to do lately. It complimented the sweeter cookie quite nicely.
I have tagged these as being appropriate for Thanksgiving. I made them a few years ago for the young ones in case they weren’t into pecan and pumpkin pie like I wasn’t when I was their age, and adults ate them just the same. I mean, who doesn’t love carrot cake?
Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies (recipe found at www.epicurious.com)
Yield: Makes about 13 cookies
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth. Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between. |
Baxter and Main 