My friend had the most beautiful Easter party yesterday. She served an exorbitant amount of delicious food and everyone gobbled it up. Her spread included asparagus-cream soup, tomato-goat cheese tarts, grilled lamb chops, baked ham, mustard chicken salad, leek-bacon-gruyere quiche, green salad, arugula-fennel-dill salad, fruit salad, penne a la vodka, and more. That doesn’t even include dessert! 🙂 She also had an egg hunt and goodie bags for all of the kids- AND party favors. Amazing!
I brought one of my favorite appetizers, Leek and Gruyere Tart with Prosciutto, and these flavor-packed cookies to contribute. My kids made Peep kebabs too. 🙂 (Some peeps ended up being roasted over a fire!)
This recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart Living. I rolled the dough in chopped raw pecans and used cream cheese instead of goat cheese in the filling. Using a large cookie scoop to ration the dough made the precise 18 cookies. They had a great consistency- chewy on the inside with a crunch from the pecans on the outside. Loved them.
Yield: 1 1/2 dozen
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted, plus 1/2 stick, room temperature, for frosting
- 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup packed finely grated carrots (from about 3)
- 1/4 cup golden raisins, chopped
- 3/4 cup raw pecans, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons apricot jam
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, preferably on convection.
- In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown and granulated sugars, and yolk.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
- Stir flour mixture into butter mixture to combine.
- Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins.
- Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Using a large cookie scoop, ration 18 scoops of dough. Roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls; roll balls in pecans to coat.
- Space 2 inches apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven; press an indentation into center of each cookie with the end of a wooden spoon.
- Bake until golden brown on bottoms, 10 to 12 minutes more. Re-press indentation into each cookie, as needed. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.
- In a bowl, beat remaining 1/2 stick butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium until smooth.
- Beat in cream cheese until just combined. Swirl in jam.
- Place filling in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe filling into the center of each cookie with cream cheese mixture.
- Chill until ready to serve.
One Year Ago:
Two Years Ago:
Three Years Ago:
Love these, what a great idea!!! 🙂
Martha is a genius. 🙂
They are so pretty! And sound delicious!
Thank you so much! They were really tasty. 🙂
Brilliant twist on the classic~
Yes! I might have to use that as a description! 🙂
Sounds like a real feast, and these looks cookies look and sound delicious Josette 🙂
It was an AMAZING feast! We could have fasted for days afterwards. 😉 Your Italian Easter Bread would have been fabulous on that table!
The cookies look amazing! Such a detailed list of ingredients, I’ll bet it really tasted great!
As soon as I saw them in Martha Stewart Living, I had to have them! 🙂
Thank goodness I have you to bring delicious desserts every time🐰🐰
You are the perfect host. ❤ It was such a lovely party. 🙂 I forgot to mention the croissants, salmon and string beans! (and MORE, I'm sure!)
I am sure that you had a fabulous Easter, Josette!
The cookies sound delicious and so new to me!! Loving it!
Thank you so much, Sonal. 🙂 Great cookies for springtime!
What pretty little treats!
Thank you! 🙂
These cookies are adorable! I love anything carrot cake. 😀
Thank you so much, Patty. Cute as a button… or thumbprint?! 😉
So cute, they’re as cute as both!
Pingback: Carrot-Cake Thumbprint Cookies | homethoughtsfromabroad626
Yummy!
Thank you, my love.❤️❤️