So have you ever come across a recipe, thought “Oh, that looks tasty,” bookmarked it, and forgotten about it for a couple of eons or so?  And then one Saturday evening, you happen to have everything on hand, and think “Hey, cookies might be good?”  And then, before you know it, you’re smacking yourself for being such a slacker, because oh my effing goodness you don’t know how you lived without these cookies.

And oh my goodness my friends, these cookies.  Inside-Out Carrot Cake cookies, which are sort of a cross between a cookie-cake-whoopie pie sort of MAGIC that you simply can-not-resist.  (Kinda like those gross Oatmeal Creme Pies you ate as a kid and still probably wouldn’t turn down  today, but a batrillion times better.)  I made these for the first time Saturday night in preparation for game day, but because I don’t read good, I added more than three times the amount of sugar called for, and ended up with flat, caramelized sugar disks instead of soft cookie love.  But that little Baking Angel (you know, the Vodka Devil’s companion) popped up over my shoulder and urged me to try again in the morning. 

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And so I went about my Sunday morning, creaming butter and sugar, innocently popping sheet pans in and out of the oven, not really expecting anything other than a little sweet to compliment the feast of meat I was bringing them to.  I didn’t even take any pictures, because I wasn’t planning on blogging about it.  (The lighting in my kitchen is super shitty until about one in the afternoon.  I don’t know how to fix this.)  But after a dollop, a sandwich, and a bite, ooooh boy did my Sunday morning change.  I thought about remaking the, just to have the pictures to post.  (Well, that’s one reason…)  But I really couldn’t even wait to remake them because well, you need these in your life.  It’s like cake, but with the easy-breeziness of a cookie.  I mean, you feel kinda guilty eating a piece of cake on a Tuesday at five in the afternoon, but a cookie?  Pshh, a cookie ain’t nothin.

And as a last testimony to the wonder that is this cookie, some chick I didn’t even know had one later that afternoon.  How did that conversation go, you ask? 

          “Oh wow, these are the best fucking cookies ever, where are they from?”

           “Bitch please, I made them.” 

And that’s pretty much verbatim how that went.  Well, almost.

Inside Out Carrot Cookies
adapted from Gourmet (RIP)

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinammon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) room temperature unsalted butter
1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated carrots (about two medium)
scant cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup of raisins (I didn’t use them simply because I didn’t have any.  I will next time.)

1 8 oz. package room temperature cream cheese
6 tablespoons room temperature unslated butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
pinch o’ salt

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinammon, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In either the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until fully incorporated and fluffy, about two minutes.  Pour in the egg and vanilla, and beat until combined.  Add the carrots, nuts, and raisins, and stir until mixed in.  Add the flour mixture slowly, mixing until just incorporated. 

On a baking sheet that you’ve either Pam-ed or lined with parchment, drop tablespoon-fulls of the batter a few inches apart (they will spread).  If you’re being super-cutesy (which I am naturally, so I don’t have to try so hard with my cookies), you could make them smaller and have little bite sized morsels of loveliness.  (But I feel like that’s just asking to gain nine pounds.)  Bake on the middle rack for about 12 minutes, or until they start to brown.  Let cool on the sheet for a minute or two, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While all this is happening, you can wash out your bowl and beaters for  the frosting.  Or just toss them in the dishwasher and pull out your food processor.  Either way, toss in your butter, cheese, salt, and vanilla, and blitz (with either the blade or your beaters) until combined.  Add the powdered sugar, about a half cup at a time, and blend.

Once the cookie are baked and cooled, match them all up with a comparably sized mate before you start frosting.  Once they’ve been partnered up, you can fill their middles with a couple tablespoons or so of frosting.  I was taking these to friends, so I put the frosting in a pastry bag with a star tip and piped it, but you needn’t be so fancy.  A simple dollop and squish will do.

Now, go forth and bake!  It’s the right thing to do.

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