Carrot Cookies

A healthier treat for the New Year!

Probably still lots of calories but at least there's a little veggie in it!

Carrot Cookies with Orange Icing

1 c sugar

1 c butter

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 c flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 c cooked mashed carrots

Cream butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients. Spoon (or pipe through ziploc baggie with corner snipped) onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Cool then frost.

Orange icing/ glaze:

1/3 c butter

3 c powdered sugar

3-4 Tbsp orange juice

1 tsp grated orange rind

Cooks notes: The first few times I made these cookies I was under the assumption that they would be better with less vegetable. Not So! In fact without at least 1 cup carrots, they are just a sugar cookie. It seems the more carrot in them, the better they are. Last night I made them with 2 1/2 c carrots!(That's a whole 2 lb bag!) Still good though I think I'll stay between 1 1/2 and 2 cups.

Also, the way you mash your carrots will determine the color/ texture of your cookie. If you blend them with a wire whisk/hand mixer, they will be less orange but have more chunks. If you puree the carrots in the blender, the cookies will be more orange in color and have a smoother consistency. The cookies pictured above were mashed with a hand mixer.

My rating? 5 - I think I could probably eat the whole batch. Favorite cookie, hands down. My kids love them too. K1 prefers them without icing. Go figure.