Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice
That’s what these ginger-carrot-oatmeal cookies are made of!
What can I say? I hadn’t baked in about a month and was starting to get that NEED.TO.USE.THE.KITCHENAID itch. Armed with ingredients already on hand, I began to scour recipes for carrot/oatmeal cookies and came across two that were inspiring, Martha’s Carrot Cake Cookies and Dorie Greenspan’s Gingered Carrot Cookies. I didn’t have pecans or walnuts or coconut and don’t particularly love raisins, so I used the base of Martha’s recipe and the gingery idea of Dorie’s, adding candied ginger to increase the ginger flavor and replicate the chew of the raisins. The result was a pretty delicious hybrid!
I might mention that this itch might of had to do with coming straight from the gym, where my treadmill faced a TV that was playing Food Network episodes. Hmmmmm. To make myself feel better, I subbed half the flour for almond meal, which since I was omitting walnuts, gave them a great nutty base. The cookies spread out quite a bit, probably in part due to the fact that almond meal doesn’t bind as well as flour, so this is definitely more of a thin, crispy cookie, as opposed to a chunky one. Crumbled, it would be great over vanilla bean ice cream, or if you live in a foodie friendly place, over some stracciatella gelato. 
Next time, in order to get them to hold together a little better, I think I will decrease the baking temp to 350 and chill the dough for at least an hour prior to baking. Still, pretty darn delicious.
Gingered Carrot Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart. Makes 24.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup finely grated carrots (about 3 small-medium carrots)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until just incorporated.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir to combine.
Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended.
Mix in oats, carrots, and candied ginger.
- Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies.
- Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
What do you think?