Carrot cake cookies

 
It's still September, so I'm still not talking about pumpkin.

(I'm beginning to think I'm the only blogger who is not.)

What we're talking about today is carrots. Well, really what we're talking about is carrot cake cookies, but that's only because I'm slightly crazy.

Seriously: Am I the only person that gleefully plans and plants a huge garden full of vegetables, only to find at harvest time that I'm trying to turn them into baked goods instead of savory side dishes?

Crap: I finally may be developing a sweet tooth after all.

Even though we have had two pretty significant frosts already here in Vermont, I'm still getting a few things from the garden. I have a little bit of kale, which I had better hurry up and harvest before the deer find it (bastards!), and carrots.

This year marked my first attempt at growing carrots: It was a success! It's so rewarding to see the little orange tippity top of a carrot poking through the ground and then to pull it up. Gasp! It's a real carrot! That I grew!

(It's the little things, really.)

The fun and wonder begins to wear off as you pull up carrot after carrot after carrot. And realize that you don't particularly like cooked carrots.

Uh oh.

Enter the shredder! After harvesting about half my carrot patch (is it a patch? do carrots grow in patches?), I washed them, peeled them and ran them through my Kitchen Aid shredder attachment (I freakin' LOVE these attachments!). Just as I do with zucchini, I bagged them into 1-cup portions and popped them in the freezer. They will be a welcome, colorful addition to breads, meatloaf and sauces throughout the winter.

But I kept some aside to make these carrot cake cookies. Yeah -- 'cause that's how ninjas roll. Slip a ton of veg into a batch of cookies: I don't call this "stealthy homemaking" for nothing, friends.

Carrot Cake Cookies (adapted from Martha Stewart)
These cookies are a bit reminiscent of hermits. Feel free to substitute dried cranberries for the raisins, if you prefer.

Ingredients:
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup finely shredded carrots (pack 'em in there!)
1/3 cup golden raisins

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together the butter, both sugars and yolk. In another bowl, combine the flour, ginger and salt. Add the wet to the dry and stir until blended, then mix in the carrots, oats and raisins.

Spoon the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets (I use a 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop). They do spread, so give them a little space. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the sheets before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.