These are the carrot cake version of brownie bites, with a similar cakey and slightly chewy texture. I don’t honestly know where the inspiration came from (maybe I was tired of working on nut-free, egg-free recipes for the book). But, these cake bites have the benefit of being portable, containing vegetables and of being sweetened with dates. They are about the size of 2-bite brownie bites, but you could make them smaller if you want. Picnic with the kids, anyone?
If you like chopped nuts or raisins in your carrot cake, I think that would be a great addition to these. Probably about 1/2 a cup folded in to the dough at the end would be about right.
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
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Cook Time: 14 minutes
Yield: 2 dozen
Ingredients:
1 cup grated carrot
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped dates (5-7 Medjool dates)
1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
2 Tbsp coconut flour
1 egg
1/4 cup unsalted butter or palm shortening
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch cloves
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Pulse dates and walnuts in a food processor to form a paste.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse to combine or mix by hand.
- Roll dough into 1″ balls and place on your cookie sheet. Use your hand (or a spatula or the bottom of a glass) to flatten to 1/2″ thick.
- Bake for 14 minutes. Enjoy!
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I just made these in an 8×8 pan and FYI, they’re great as a cake! 🙂 The hubs loved it as his birthday cake!
Great thought on the cake I was thinking about cupcakes!
They turned out great as cookies, I had to sub some raisins for dates and it worked well. I think some additional whole raisins would be a yummy addition too!
Just made these and they turned out great! They were very moist and chewy on the inside which is exactly how I like my cookies. They made exactly 2 dozen…I love when recipes end up making as many as they say they will! I didn’t have any cloves, so I left that out; I was also missing allspice, so I threw in some pumpkin pie spice instead. My 5-year old son…the picky eater in the house…gave them rave reviews with a heartfelt “Mmmmmmm”. Thanks for the great recipes! Next up on my list to try this weekend…the ‘Spinach Brownies Revisited”
These turned out awesome! Although, I needed to bake them for a little longer probably because of the added raisins. Delish!!!! 🙂
Question, could you use ghee instead of shortening or butter, and I have unblanched almost that I grind up from making almond milk, would that work? Or do I definitely need blanched. THANKS!!
Yes to both.
OMG this recipe is so good, I just finished baking my carrot bite cakes. I have to confess I replaced the almond flower for GF all purpose baking flour and used unrefined coconut oil instead. My house smell so good right now and I will not feel guilty eating my carrot bites. Thank you.
what about using coconut oil?
It will change the texture somewhat, but I think it will work.
I made these the other night but I am thinking I messed up somewhere because they were hardly sweet at all and for some reason the carrot taste really came through (which is strange because I have made carrot cake, muffins, and other cookies without that issue). I did use coconut oil instead of the butter and I also used pumpkin pie spice (next time I will use more spices though).
To fix my sweetness issue I just pureed some dates and spread a little on the top of the cookies. They were delish! Can’t wait to make them again and see what exactly I did wrong. 🙂
Do you think applesauce or bananas would work for a substitute for the 1 egg? If so, how much would you use?
You could try. This post mentions that 1/3 cup applesauce can be subbed for one egg: https://www.thePaleomom.com/2012/11/the-science-and-art-of-Paleofying-part-2-binders.html If you do make the recipe using a substitution for egg, please leave another comment and let us know how they turn out. — Tamar, Sarah’s assistant
OK so pleased you are working on Nut Free and Egg free recipes as my daughters school has banned both due to students with allergies. We are grain and sugar free! I have found one recipe that is sugar, nut, egg, dairy, grain free for a banana cake. Any more would be so very welcome!!
Here are a few recipes you may enjoy: https://www.thePaleomom.com/2012/06/recipe-raisin-seed-cookies-nut-free-and.html , https://www.thePaleomom.com/2012/11/decadent-double-chocolate-cookies-nut-free-coconut-free-egg-free.html . All of Sarah’s AIP (auto immune protocol) recipes are egg, nut, dairy and grain free. You can view AIP “treat” recipes here: https://www.thePaleomom.com/category/recipes/aip-friendly/treats — Tamar, Sarah’s assistant
These sound wonderful. Could I use all coconut flour, as I have an almond sensitivity?
Sarah has not subbed coconut flour in this recipe, so I don’t know what type of results you would get. I do know that coconut flour and almond flour cannot be subbed 1:1 because they have different properties. You can read more about various Paleo flours here: https://www.thePaleomom.com/2012/11/the-science-and-art-of-Paleofying-part-1-Paleo-flours.html You can view all of Sarah’s nut free baked good recipes here: https://www.thePaleomom.com/category/recipes/Paleo-baked-goods/nut-free-baking — Tamar, Sarah’s assistant
Hi Tamar and thanks much! I was afraid that might be the case. I will definitely check out these links and see if I can find a substitute that works for me. Have a super day!!
Thanks for the delish recipe! We’ve included it in our Easter Recipe Roundup! You can check it out here: http://themerrymakersisters.com/Paleo-easter-recipes/ 🙂 🙂 e + c
I am confused about the butter, I am thinking no butter for Paleo, do you use coconut oil as substitute?
Dairy is a gray area food you can choose to include or exclude depending on how well you tolerate it. Coconut oil, lard, or any other cooking fat can be subbed. – Christina, Sarah’s assistant
Yum! just munching one straight out of the oven right now. I really can’t afford to bake with blanched almond flour – I’m trying to do Paleo on a very tight budget, so I subbed 1 cup of ground flax seed (very cheap here in NZ) and 1/3 cup of almond & cashew butter because that’s all I had, and I’m very pleased with the result 🙂
I made these today for my husbands birthday. I topped each cookie with a sweet cream topping recipe that is cashew and coconut cream concentrate based. Then my daughter decorated each cookie with three raisins! Good counting activity!
Love these! They are a perfect snack for my 15 mo. old and my teenage daughter! I only had salted butter on hand so I added just a 1/4 t of salt and they were great. I love recipes like this…I always have these ingredients on hand, and the organic dates I found, surprisingly, have a long shelf life so I will have plenty around for awhile! Thank you!
These sound nutritious & delicious but wondering how perishable. I have been searching for nutrient dense (Paleo good, AIP great) recipes that are likely to survive 2 weeks of possibly extreme heat & cold. I want to send to a deployed person who only has access to very poor food choices, and a priority package takes 2 weeks to arrive. Any recipes would be greatly appreciated!
These are amazing! I am a Paleo cookies fanatic and these make the grade. Thanks so much for creating this recipe! Yum!!
Use juice pulp instead of grated carrots and you will be able to omit egg and dates; dehydrate and you have an AIP friendly recipe
Sarah, dear, I know that rabid self-promotion is the currency these days, but don’t out-asshole the assholes. Use “Dr.” before your name or “PhD” after, but not both. Sheesh …
I was about to make these to take to a neighbor when I realized I’d run out of carrots. So after a quick look through the fridge, I decided to try beets instead. They were FABULOUS! I even added a few chocolate chips to some of them. Can’t wait to try other batches with other hard vegetables such as parsnips and sweet potatoes. I may even try fennel! Thanks for the recipe!
That’s such a great idea! Thank you for sharing!!!!