Spiced Carrot Breakfast Cookies

TL;DR

Paul, my husband, came up with these cookies when carrots were in season and plentiful. The idea is to shred them small, infuse the carrots with sweet flavors, and bake them.

I fell in love with these cookies instantly, as I was looking for new quick-to-grab breakfast cookies.

They are prepared without flour and eggs, which is another plus point if you are avoiding these ingredients (gluten-free).

The warm spiced cardamom and sweet carrots aroma will fill up your kitchen as you bake these unique, nutritious, and vibrant cookies.

Ingredient Notes

• Carrots — Finely grated carrots. You can use a food processor to blitz them quickly into small pieces. Use whichever carrot variety that you can get. Try yellow or purple carrots for fun, or use dark orange red large, juicy, carrots for a different flavor experience.
• Butter — Salted or unsalted, as per your preference.
• Milk — regular cow's milk, but you can, try this recipe with coconut milk too for a flavor spin.
• Cardamom — I use whole green cardamom pods, which I lightly crush to allow the carrots to get infused. You can use ground cardamom too. In that case, add a pinch of green cardamom, do a taste test, and adjust the cardamom flavoring to your taste expectations.
• Saffron (optional) — It adds a lot of flavors but it's a premium spice that comes at a cost.
• Almonds and/or Cashews — Either or both, almonds and cashews, mixed. The nuts can be crushed, chunky, or get sliced almonds. Decide if you want a crunchy or a smooth texture.
• Sugar — To lightly sweeten the cookies. Use regular sugar. You may exchange the sugar with honey or another natural sweetener.
• Communion Wafers — Communion wafers are commonly used as a cookie base in central Europe. They are also called Oblat. The spice-infused carrot mass is placed on the thin wafers. They give the cookies stability, and they won't crumble that easily.
• Hazelnut or Pistachio — A whole hazelnut or pistachio is placed into the carrot mass on the wafer as a topping to finish the cookie before the baking process.

Process Overview

Step 1

Prepare your carrots; peel if necessary, cut them into chunks, and take them through the food processor to create finely grated carrots.

Step 2

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the grated carrots. Briefly stir cook the grated carrots to release the aroma.

Add the cardamom, saffron (optional), milk, cashew and/or almond pieces, and sugar.

Step 3

Simmer down the mass, stirring frequently, over a medium heat setting, until all liquids have evaporated and you are left with a carrot mass.

If you used whole cardamom, take them out and discard them.

Step 4

Take a communion wafer in the hand and place a tablespoon of compressed infused carrot mass on the wafer.

Step 5

Keep the cookies next to each other, keeping distance, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Decorate the cookies by pressing a whole hazelnut or pistachio into the carrot mass on the wafer as a topping.

Bake cookies. Leave to cool when done; enjoy or store them.

Uses

I love these cookies for breakfast or a late morning snack with my coffee, but you can enjoy them, of course, anytime of the day, as you see fit.