I recently saw a recipe online that looked and sounded so interesting I had to stop what I was doing, stand up and go to the store for ingredients right then. I had to start baking them immediately. I ended up being late for the new episode of Glee, (a big no-no in our house,) AND the dishwasher broke while I was making them and STILL I was undeterred. I called hubby in to crawl under the sink and unplug the dishwasher while I continued on intermittently mumbling things like “carrot. cake. cookie...” and “gingerrrrr...” I made those cookies like the wind, toasting and chopping and shredding and hoping, no, knowing, they would be amazing. Unfortunately, our DVR, for the first time EVER, did not record Glee from the beginning. So the whole family, who had patiently waited for me to join them, ALSO missed the first 40 minutes. I feel a little responsible. If I hadn’t been hypnotized by the cookies, we wouldn’t have missed half the show. These are the best cookies I’ve ever made and ever tasted. I love them that much. So much so that a broken two-drawer dishwasher and a missed episode of Glee were totally, completely worth it. (And I can always download the episode from iTunes!) Recipe below.
(I doubled this recipe, so the measurements below reflect that.)
Gingered Carrot Cake Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen cookies using a large (4 tablespoon) cookie scoop.
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded carrots (about 6, peeled and trimmed)
2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup golden raisins
1 to 1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped, toasted pecans (recipe calls for 1 cup, which I used, but now I wish I’d used more. Toasted pecans are so good.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Put pecans in a single layer on cookie sheet and toast for 8 minutes, stirring half-way through. Leave to cool while continuing with recipe.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and nutmeg.
- In large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy, then add eggs and beat until mixed. Reduce mixer speed to low and add vanilla.
- Add dry ingredient mixture in several batches and beat just until blended into the mix. The dough will be really thick, but don’t overbeat.
- Rough chop pecans. Mix in carrots, coconut, raisins and pecans by hand.
- Scoop dough onto cookie sheets about an inch apart. Lightly flatten the top of each cookie.
- Bake for 16 - 18 minutes, until lightly golden and just firm on top. If you cook two cookie sheets at once, use middle rack and the one below and swap and rotate them halfway through. Carefully transfer to and cool on racks to room temperature. Best stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
(Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.)
