Where can I find the original treat?
- This treat can be found at the Trolley Car Cafè inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Carrot cake is high up there on my list of desserts I’m more than happy to consume on a regular basis. And, if Disney is calling their cakes cookies now, encouraging me to believe that their handheld treat could quite possibly be a one person, one serving item (cause a singular cookie would fit that bill), then I’m here for this logic. I’m also here today to show you how to make your own version at home.
I’m just throwing it out there that this might be one of my favorite recipes on this site so far. I was more than happy to test this recipe many times, and my recipe testers came back saying they licked their plates clean. So I hope you walk away from this with the same enthusiasm.
What makes these great is that the cakes are moist, and with the small grate on the carrots, they’re evenly spread out throughout the cakes with lots of cinnamon spice. And the frosting! OMG the frosting is so good and makes plenty to fill these cakes, erm, cookies with. You might even have some extra left over in which case you should put that to good use on some butter cookies, or, you know, just eat it straight.
Older kids in the kitchen can help grate the carrots, and kids of all ages can help mix the batter and frosting. Small kids can even help pipe the frosting once you’ve put it in the bag for them.
What pan should I use to make these?
While many fans of this “cookie” refer to them as whoopie pies, you would think to use a whoopie pie pan. But, look at those sides!! You cannot get that height with a standard whoopie pie pan (and yes, this is an actual baking tool that exists and you can buy). What I found to work are 4″ cake pans. These give a great straight edge and hold lots of batter too.
So, if you’re New Year’s resolution was to eat more vegetables, or cake, you can knock both of those out with these cookies. Enjoy!
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Carrot Cake Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 Carrot Cake Cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Comfort Food
Description
Sweet, cream cheese frosting is sandwiched between two oversized carrot cake “cookies” in this shareable snack for two! A Disney World-inspired treat.
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Cookies:
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups (297 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1/3 cup neutral oil, like avocado or canola
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
- 2 cups (105 g) carrots, grated
- 1/2 cup (70 g) raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, not whipped, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (454 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Special Tools
Instructions
For the carrot cake cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350°f. Grease and flour 6 4″ cake pans and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a large mixing glass, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine and pour into the dry ingredients.
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until no flour pockets remain. Gently stir the carrots and raisins in until evenly distributed.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the 6 cake pans (each will get just over a 1/2 cup of mixture). Give the pans a tap on the counter to release any air bubbles and even out the mixture.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool about 10 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack to completely cool.
Cream Cheese Frosting and decoration:
- While cakes are cooling, make the frosting.
- In a mixing bowl, whip together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar and slowly begin to mix (speed 1-2) until it starts to combine, and then turn to high (speed 10) until well combined. Add in vanilla extract and whip until smooth and creamy.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a closed star tip nozzle.
- Take each cooled cake and cut in half lengthwise (across the equator). Pipe a swirl of frosting covering the entire cut side of the bottom cake. Place the top half of cake on top and set aside. Continue with all 5 cakes.
- Enjoy immediately or store in an air-tight container up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- I’ve found that the bagged grated carrots from the store are too large for this recipe and also have a very “earthy” flavor. I would suggest grating the carrots by hand on a box grater for a smaller size, or, cutting down the pre-shredded carrots before mixing into the batter.
- Want to quickly warm up your butter and cream cheese without fear of melting in the microwave? Cube both into small pieces and they should be warm enough to whip up in about 15 minutes.
- If you’re having trouble cutting the cakes in half, wait several hours until they are fully cooled. If they’re still giving you trouble, freeze them for an hour to help them firm up more. Use a serrated knife to help cut through lengthwise.
- Extra frosting can be refrigerated up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or frozen up to 3 months. Re-whip once defrosted.
