Glazed Carrot Cake Butter Cookies

PREP TIME 20

COOK TIME 18

Chilling 50

TOTAL TIME 1 28

20 cookies

These Glazed Carrot Cake Butter Cookies are everything you love about carrot cake packed into a cookie!

Ingredients

For the cookies

½ cup (113g) salted butter, softened to room temperature (see note 1)
½ cup (55g) powdered sugar (icing sugar)
1 ⅛ cups (140g) all purpose flour (same as plain flour -UK OR cake flour)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
¼ teaspoon salt (add ½ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter)
½ cup (40g) shredded (grated) carrots (see note 2)
¼ cup (25g) chopped pecans (optional)

For the glaze

1 ½ cups 170g powdered sugar (icing sugar)
2-3 tablespoons of very hot water

Instructions

Make the cookie dough

Butter mixture: In a large bowl use a spatula to mix butter and powdered (icing) sugar until it turns pale in color and light in texture.
½ cup (113g) salted butter, softened to room temperature, ½ cup (55g) powdered sugar
Flour mixture: In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves (optional) and salt.
1 ⅛ cups (140g) all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon salt
Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then stir in shredded carrots. Add chopped pecans (if using). Mix to form a crumbly dough.
½ cup (40g) shredded (grated) carrots, ¼ cup (25g) chopped pecans
Use your hands or a spatula to mix everything together until you have a soft dough.

Refrigerate the dough

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes (see note 3)

Divide and roll the dough

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide it in 2 pieces. Roll each piece into a log shape of approximately 4 inches (10cm) in length and 1 inch (3cm) in thickness (diameter)

Freeze the log-shaped dough

Wrap the log shapes separately in plastic wrap and freeze for 25-30 minutes.

Slice and Bake

Preheat the oven to 356° F / 180° C (160° C fan)
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Remove from the freezer and unwrap the shaped dough. Cut each log into slices that are ½ inch (1 cm) thick.
Arrange the cookies about 2 inches (5cm) apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden.

Cool

Remove the tray from the oven but leave the cookies on the baking tray for 5 minutes. The baked cookies will be soft when you take it out of the oven but crisp as they cool.
After 5 minutes on the baking tray, the cookies will be firm and crisp enough to transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before topping with the glaze.

Glaze and store

To make the glaze, mix powdered / icing sugar with very hot water.
1 ½ cups 170g powdered sugar, 2-3 tablespoons of very hot water
Whisk well until thick and smooth.
Note: To make the glaze thinner, use more hot water; for a thicker glaze, use less hot water.
Spread the glaze over the cooled cookies then leave to dry and set for at least 10 minutes. Once the glaze is dry and set, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Recipe Notes

1.Butter: Get the butter out of the fridge at least 1 hour before baking. All the ingredients are incorporated much easier and quicker in soft butter. This also prevents overworking the dough, which produces dense instead of crispy cookies.

2. Carrots: Use short shreds of carrot, grated from the tip, for better results, rather than longer strands from the sides.

3.Do not skip the steps of chilling the dough. First after mixing (refrigerated for 20 minutes) and second after dividing and shaping into a log (freezing for 30 minutes) These are important steps. The first refrigeration firms the dough, making it easy to roll into a log. The second time (freezing) cools and firms the log shapes making it easy to slice into disks. See post above for instructions on making the cookie dough in advance

The cookie dough can be prepared up to 2 months in advance!

Mix the dough, let it chill for 20 minutes, and shape it into a log as per the recipe size.
Wrap it tightly in plastic, freeze for up to 2 months.
When you're ready, take it out, and quickly slice the cold dough into disks. Avoid letting it warm up too much, as it'll become soft and difficult to handle.

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