Carrot Cake Bird’s Nest Cookies

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You'll love the flavor and look of these Carrot Cake Bird's Nest Cookies!

I’m all about making cute little cookies and cakes for different seasons.  With spring finally here and Easter coming up I knew I needed to make something that screamed spring.  After all, winter has been so long this year.  It hasn’t been the snowiest winter on record but man has it been cold.  Plus every time it gets warm the next day the temperature plummets and it snows.  Craziness!

I’ve made several types of bird’s nest cupcakes, cakes, and cookies before but these one are the ultimate because they are Carrot Cake Bird’s Nest Cookies.  How fun is it that not only do they look like spring but they taste like spring too?  The carrot cake flavor actually makes me think of Easter since bunnies eat carrots so this would be a great Easter sweet as well.

I thought that the cookies may be a little more like cake then a cookie but they weren’t.  They were made with carrots, walnuts, and coconut which really gave it that carrot cake flavor but tasted like a cookie.  There are also several spices in it as well as two types of sugar.  I used Dixie Crystals for both the granulated sugar and the brown sugar.  The outside of these cookies were crunchy while the insides were soft and chewy.  They really made delicious cookies.

These Carrot Cake Bird's Nest Cookies are great for spring or Easter!

In addition to just the cookie there is a filling to these as well.  It’s a cream cheese filling which is the traditional cake carrot frosting so it’s perfect for these cookies.  I used low fat cream cheese and Dixie Crystals powdered sugar to make it.  Then I used little chocolate eggs to go in the center of the cookies and they looked just like bird’s nests!

Carrot Cake Bird's Nest Cookies

These cookies were so good.   Spiced carrot cake cookies filled with sweet cream cheese frosting and crunchy chocolate eggs make for a texture and flavor explosion plus they are just really fun cookies!   I can’t wait to make these for Easter dessert.

You'll love the flavor and look of these Carrot Cake Bird's Nest Cookies!

Carrot Cake Bird's Nest Cookies

Yield: 2 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Carrot cake cookies are spiced and crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on this inside. They are filled with a creamy cream cheese frosting and topped with chocolate eggs.

Ingredients

For the cookies:

  • 1 1/3 c. flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
  • 1/3 c. Dixie Crystals sugar
  • 1/3 c. Dixie Crystals brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 c. finely grated carrots
  • 1/4 c. toasted walnuts, chopped
  • 1 1/2 c. shredded sweetened coconut

For the filling:

  • 2 oz. low fat cream cheese, softened
  • 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 c. Dixie Crystals powdered sugar
  • Chocolate eggs

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Mix and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
  4. Add the carrots and walnuts and mix well.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
  6. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and then roll in the coconut. Arrange them one inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press a teaspoon into the middle of each cookie.
  7. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the coconut is golden brown.
  8. Remove from oven and cool completely on the baking pans.
  9. Meanwhile, make the filling by beating the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl until fluffy.
  10. Mix in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
  11. Place the filling in a zip top baggie and pipe into the center of each cookie. Top with 3 chocolate eggs.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine, January/February 2019.


I can't get enough of these Carrot Cake Bird's Nest Cookies

Monday #SpringSweetsWeek Recipes

 

24 Comments

    1. My husband also does not do coconut. We can put them in a room together without dessert and then we can eat all these cookies!

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