Moist cookies filled with coconut, oats, walnuts and carrot! The perfect cookie for spring!
It’s that time again…Mystery Dish time!
I seriously love this challenge. It has made me grow so much as a cook and baker and blogger. Every time we get a new set of ingredients for the month, I get really excited and start thinking of all the possible combinations and recipes.
This month, Kat from I Want Crazy picked the ingredients. She chose:
- Boxed Cake Mix
- Peeps
- Oats
- Ginger
- Honey
- Wine
- Shallots
- Coconut
- Shrimp
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Kiwi
- Dried Fruit
- Cinnamon
And she told us we had to use at least three of the ingredients!
The first thing that stuck out to me was the coconut and the shrimp. I thought coconut shrimp with a dipping sauce would be fabulous!
But then I bought the shrimp and like, 5 days passed and I came up with every reason possible to NOT make coconut shrimp. I always do that! Whenever I think a recipe sounds too hard to make, I put it off for days. Eventually the shrimp went bad and I threw it out! #failOkaaaaay…moving on to option #2 – COOKIES!! I paired up oats, cinnamon and coconut to make some cookies. And with Easter around the corner, why not throw some carrot in there too?!
Cookies are so fun to take pictures of! I get giddy when I make a batch knowing I get to take pictures of them. These carrot cookies are super moist and cinnamony (is that a word??). They’re not the world’s sweetest cookie, which is nice actually. My husband preferred them without any glaze. I liked them with a little drizzle. My kids?? They wanted to dunk it in the glaze like milk, haha!
Get ready for next month my friends, because this lady is in charge of the mystery ingredients! 😉 I can’t wait!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 cup quick oats not instant
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup coconut oil or 2 sticks butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated carrot 3-4 carrots
- 1/2 cup flaked coconut
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- powdered sugar
- milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon and oats. Mix well and set aside.
- With a mixer, beat together sugars and coconut oil in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Add carrots, coconut and walnuts; blend until combined. Batter will be a lumpy.
- Add flour mixture and blend at a low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes. Watch them so they don't brown too much! Immediately transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
- If you want your cookies a little sweeter, blend a small amount of powdered sugar with a small amount of milk in a bowl. Add milk or powdered sugar until to the perfect consistency you like. Drizzle it over the cookies and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Check out what my mystery dish friends made this month:
1.Coconut Shrimp with Thai Chili Ginger Sauce by Joyful Healthy Eats
2.Sangria Poached Pears by Baking a Moment
3.Baked Mini Carrot Cake Donuts by Culinary Couture Blog
4.Funfetti Cookies with Peeps Marshmallow Frosting by I Dig Pinterest
5.Carrot Oatmeal Cookies by Yummy Healthy Easy
6.Gooey Oatmeal Cranberry Bars by I Want Crazy
7.Honey Lime Coconut Oatmeal Cookies by Blahnik Baker
8.Chocolate Almond Date Balls by The Well Floured Kitchen
9.Tropical Kiwi Fruit Muffins by The Pajama Chef
10.Nesting Peeps Cupcakes by The Dessert Chronicles
11.Carrot Cake Cookies by Chez CateyLou
Other Mystery Dish Recipes:
Pesto Pita Bread Pizza – February Mystery DishRed Velvet Beet Cupcakes – January Mystery DishHealthy Granola Parfait – December Mystery Dish
Kat @ I Want Crazy says
I totally bought shrimp in hopes to make something but waited too long 🙂 But these cookies look amazing and so I’m happy you went with cookies; I would be all about the glaze!
Jen says
I’m glad I didn’t do the shrimp because Krista did and her pics were so gorgeous! Thanks for hosting this month, Kat! I had so much fun!
Cate @ Chez CateyLou says
Cookies > Shrimp anyway! These look delicious! We were totally on the same page this month. I love the oats in your cookies – yum! Can’t wait to see what you come up with for us next month!
Jen says
I know, right Cate?! Cookies beat out everything! I can’t wait to host next month, woot woot! LOVED your cookies this month!!
Mary Frances @ The Sweet Tooth Life says
Oatmeal cookies are probably my favorite. Adding carrots puts then over the edge! These are so pretty and look delicious!
Jen says
Thanks Mary Frances!! These really are to die for! Thanks for stopping by!
Meriem @ Culinary Couture says
Your pictures are GORGEOUS! I can’t wait to see what you give us to work with next month!
Jen says
Thanks Meriem!! I’m sort of embarrassingly excited about hosting next month! 😉 I love this challenge! Have a great week!!
Dani says
Your kiddos definitely have the right idea. Dunk them! A little extra glaze doesn’t hurt, right? 😉
Charlotte Moore says
YUM!!! I make cookies with oatmeal, all whole wheat flour, and sucanat instead of sugar. I add orange zest, coconut, cranberries, and walnuts sometimes. I think I may try adding carrots. This sounds great.
Jen says
That sounds so good, Charlotte!! I need to try sucanat. Do you replace the sugar with the same ratio or do you need less of it? Thanks for stopping by today!
Liz says
Thank you, Jen. Have a good weekend!
Andi @ The Weary Chef says
I love these cookies!! I can’t wait to make them. When you told me about oatmeal carrot cookies, you forgot to mention the coconut. YUM! What a great recipe, Jen. I love the fonts you used on the first photo too. Beautiful job 🙂
Allie | Baking a Moment says
Your photos are so pretty, Jen! I can see why you’re excited to take them when they come out this pretty 😉 I love that I can see all the bits of carrot in there, and the glaze is so tempting! Such a yummy treat! Pinned 😀
Kim @ Hungry Healthy Girl says
What cute pictures! I can see why you wee looking forward to photographing them. Love the addition of a veggie in a cookie…. at least they’re somewhat healthy! 😉
Julie @ Julie's Eats & Treats says
Loving all the carrot cake in blog land lately! These look delicious. I’d take after you kids with the whole milk glaze dunking 🙂
Crystal says
Yummy! They look delicious!! Thanks for the recipe!!
Tonia says
I’m pretty sure these could totally be a meal! You’ve got your grains and your veggies with a little protein thrown in!
Christine @ idigpinterest.com says
Jen these look incredible! I’m like you…I get overly excited about taking pictures of cookies. Just something extra fun about them. I can’t wait to see the list of ingredients you come up with for next month!
Chantal says
Hi Jen
This is a so good way to accomodate carrots. I’am thinking of doing the same with sweet potatoes.
I just discover your blog. I really like it.
Chantal
Jen says
Thanks Chantal! Oooh…sweet potato cookies are a great idea! Thanks so much for stopping by, have a great week!
Megan - The Emotional Baker says
I love the bright pieces of carrot in these. I bet they are delicious, too. Can’t wait to try a big batch 🙂
whatjessicabakednext says
These cookies look and sound absolutely divine!
Sarah K. @ The Pajama Chef says
i’ve never had carrots in cookies, and now two of you make carrot cookies for this month’s mystery dish. how fun!
Zainab @ Blahnik Baker says
These cookies look amazing!! I love that you added carrots 🙂 I need to take cookie-picture lessons from you. I seriously dislike taking pictures of them that’s why I don’t have that many on the blog. I can’t wait for next month’s ingredients from you!
Jen says
I hate taking pictures of a slew of other things but for some reason, cookies are my fave! Uh, and those Honey Lime Coconut Oatmeal Cookie pics are GORGEOUS – so whatever! Your pictures are always stunning! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Jaren (Diary of a Recipe Collector) says
These look fabulous, and I think I could get away with eating them for breakfast! What a fun challenge!
Jen says
Yes carrots = breakfast to me! 🙂 You’re so sweet, Jaren! Thanks!
Anna (Hidden Ponies) says
What gorgeous springy pictures, and I love all the ingredients in these! Pinned – definitely a must-try.
Jen says
Thanks Anna for stopping by and for the pin!! You’re so sweet!
Cathy@LemonTreeDwelling says
Yummmm! These are so perfect, Jen!
Jen says
Thanks Cathy!!
Gretchen @ Two Healthy Kitchens says
You did a great job!! Those cookies look delightfully delicious! And yes, cinnamony is totally a word! 🙂
I would be scared out of my mind with these mystery ingredients! It’s like Iron Chef … Blog Style! I probably would have thought about a coconut shrimp with a ginger sauce, but then chickened out as well. Yes. #ultimatefail
Jen says
Haha, thanks Gretchen!! You’re so sweet! Thanks for stopping by!
Krista @ Joyful Healthy Eats says
Totally agree with you, this Mystery Dish challenges me every month and has made me grow as a cook, baker, and blogger.
Love this recipe Jen, I’m a total fan of carrot cake and would have never thought of making it into a cookie. Genius! PS kinda glad you didn’t make the shrimp cuz mined would have paled in comparison to your gorgeous pics.
marcie says
These cookies make me just want to run into the kitchen and make them! One of my favorite flavors of cake in an oatmeal cookie sounds just too good to be true. Pinning to try!
danielle says
I am so glad you decided on cookies because now I get to pin this awesome recipe 🙂 saw this on time to sparkle and had to come by and check it out.
Jen says
You are so sweet, Danielle!! Thanks so much for stopping by and for the pin! Have a great week!
Connie says
I’m new at all of this…even baking. Was wondering if you could use a Carrot Cake….cake mix to make cookies if so what would I do different? Just want to try before making homemade cookies. Please don’t think bad of me.
Jen says
Hi Connie! I think you’ll love these cookies: https://www.yummyhealthyeasy.com/2012/11/easy-low-fat-cool-whip-cookies.html They use cake mix and cool whip – SO easy and delicious! That would be a good place to start with baking! Thanks for the comment!
Veronica says
These look amazing. What would you recommend if you don’t have any walnuts or coconut? Also, what is this mystery thing and where could I get more info? I’d love to try to participate in something like that 🙂
Jen says
You could use pecans or another kind of nut and try omitting the coconut. I think it would come out fine! I’m sort of a coconut addict so I always have that around. 🙂 Thanks for your comment! Have a great weekend!
Aubrey says
Pinned these this morning, made them this afternoon – oh my word! I think they are the most perfect cookies I’ve ever made. The softness and consistency is heavenly. They are delish and not too sweet. I might for-go the topping. Thanks!
Jen says
YAY!! Thanks Aubrey!! So happy you liked them!
Danielle says
These came out great!! Even my picky eater loved these!
Jen says
Yay!! Glad you and your picky eater loved them! 🙂
Candice Cribb says
Is this more of a moist cookie or it has some crunch
Jen says
Hi! It’s kind of a mix – moist on the inside with crispy edges! SO good!
Pat says
Due to a food allergy (can’ t have wheat) I was wondering if I could substitute brown rice flour for the white whole wheat flour? I have gluten free multipurpose flour that I can use.
Jen says
Hi Pat! I’ve never tried using brown rice flour in these or GF flour but I’m thinking the GF flour would be perfectly fine to substitute! If you do give them a try using either flours, let me know how they turn out! Thanks for the comment!