Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cookies (Vegan)

Why am I drawn to vegan baking recipes? Because my 3 year old grandson has multiple food allergies. His 6 year old sister (my granddaughter) has none. Not fair. 95% of what is out there to eat he can't have and that makes me sad. Even most potato chips are off limits. Why? Because he can't have soy and the potato chip companies in their wisdom won't say what kind of vegetable oil they use. It could be soy, it might not.
Hence, I am always looking for ideas that will appeal to BOTH grandkids. I came across a recipe on several different websites for something called Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies. Sometimes they specify Vegan and sometimes they don't, but they are all similar. All use Gluten Free Flour and don't include any dairy which makes it work for my grandson. BUT I didn't want to do the Whoopie Pie filling. I wanted to use them to make ice cream sandwiches (I can buy dairy and soy free vanilla ice cream) and then roll the edges in sprinkles (soy-free of course).

The cookie batter was easy to mix up and though very soft, baked well after refrigerating. I froze them baked cookies first to make filling them with the Vegan ice cream easier.  And the cookies are small, perfect for young kids in size, and my grandkids loved adding the sprinkles to the ice cream edges. BUT I found the stack of 2 cookies with an ice cream layer were too tall.  2 slightly puffed cookies with a scoop of ice cream between them was a large bite for a 3 and 6 years old. I cut them in half and that helped. 

Fortunately I only made a few cookies into ice cream sandwiches for one dinner. The rest were served at others meals just as cookies accompanied by a bowl of ice cream.  The cookies are different - soft and cake-y with a definite holiday flavor. Their reception will depend on you and your family’s taste preferences, but I enjoyed them as they were unique. I had never had a cookie that tasted like it before.

If you want to try making these with the Whoopie filling, you can check out a site called Well Fed Baker where I found the original recipe. You could also just put a dollop of ice cream with sprinkles on top of a single cookie.

Enjoy!

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Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cookies (Vegan)

Ingredients -

1 ⅖ C                  Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend
½ tsp                   Baking Powder
½ tsp                   Baking Soda
½ tsp                   Salt

1 tsp                    Cinnamon
¾ tsp                   Ginger
¼ tsp                  Nutmeg
⅛ tsp                  Allspice
½ C                    Vegan Butter - Soy Free (Original says 3/4 C, but my daughter suggested reducing it as there is more water in the Vegan butter, and it worked just fine. Your choice.)

¾ C                    Sugar
½ C                    Light Brown Sugar
1 T                     Maple Syrup

1 tsp                   Vanilla

1 ½ C                 Gluten Free Oats
 ¾ C                   Carrots pureed
½ C                    Walnuts roughly chopped

Instructions -

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a small bowl. Whisk together until well mixed. Set aside. Combine butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes until fluffy in texture. Scrape down the bowl. Add the vanilla and maple syrup. Beat for another 60 seconds. Scrape down the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix on the lowest setting until just incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add the oats, pureed carrots and walnuts. Stir together with a spatula until evenly incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F degreeqs. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from the refrigerator and scoop into balls about the size of a golf ball. Place on prepared baking sheets leaving 2-3 inches between balls. Using your fingers to flatten the balls slightly. The dough will be stick and a little wet.

Bake in preheated oven for 9-10 minutes, until edges are just set. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes. The move cookies onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Pair the cookies by size.  Spread a nice layer of ice cream on one cookie. Top with a second, then slide a knife around the sides vertically to even the ice cream to the size of the cookie. Roll in sprinkles (or nuts or chocolate bits), place in airtight container and store in freezer until ready to eat.