Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies (with lemon cream cheese icing!) YUM

This recipe idea was inspired by an amazing carrot cake cookie sandwich I had the other day, with 2 soft carrot cake cookies smothered in a cream cheese frosting. These beauties were from Karma Cream (only my favorite ice cream and dessert place in town since their ice cream and desserts are actually vegan!) I couldn't get the amazing cookie sandwich off my brain, and always having my mom in mind when making carrot cake recipes (carrot cake is her favorite thing in the world), I had to try something similar. I found this recipe on the site of This Random Vegan Life and doubled it.. because the recipe for "12" cookies is just not enough. Even doubling it, I only wound up with 14 (but reasonably large...). The only downside to this recipe is it takes a LONG time to make.. making it is the easy part really, but then it has to sit in the oven at a very low temp for a very long time (unless you have a food dehydrator!) So if you have a lot to do at home, this is a good weekend recipe, or on a day you have off. Not to mention it's entirely natural and organic made with the most wholesome healthy good for you ingredients. A little different from the Karma Cream cookies (probably way better for you though!) and a lot more texture. The frosting is different too (has a kick of lemon) but still amazing. I'm obsessed! Please try it :). Here we go:


Your ingredients:
2 cup of rolled oats
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons of coconut oil
4 table spoons of maple syrup
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
dash of himalayan salt
3-4 cups of shredded organic carrots
2 cups of organic raisins

(for the icing):
1¾-2 cups of cashews
Juice from one lemon
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
3 tablespoons of coconut oil

Directions:

Preheat oven on your lowest setting (somewhere around 170-200 degrees).

Blend oats alone in a food processor to grind them into a fine powder. Add all other ingredients except for carrots and raisins and blend together until the mixture reaches a dough consistency. Add raisins and blend just enough to get them incorporated into the mix while still leaving some whole. Either remove blade from processor (if this is an option) or move mixture to large mixing bowl and mix in shredded carrots with your hands or a large spoon until it all sticks together.

Firmly pack palm sized balls into a cookie shape, trying to get the carrots to stick well in the mass the best you can. Place on cookie sheets (I covered them with foil and a very light spray of coconut oil) and bake for about 2 and a half hours. If you have a food processor, you can place them in there instead.

In the mean time, prepare your icing by blending all icing ingredients together in your food processor.  Add water if necessary, but try to smooth out cashew chunks and keep it thick and spreadable. Place in fridge for a few hours to thicken up until cookies are done.

When cookies are done, allow to cool, and spread a thick layer of icing on cookies. Feel free to stack them to make sandwiches or eat individually. Enjoy!

By the way.... if you love these, check out this carrot cake oatmeal recipe that is similar but in the form of a breakfast meal. Yummy!!!