Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies {Gluten-Free, Vegan, Gum-Free}

I know that these cookies are vegan, but I just want to say that I am not on a vegan diet. Since I am sensitive to eggs and dairy, I am leaving them out of my baked goods for now. That just so happens to make them vegan! I happen to admire the vegan diet very much, but I’m afraid it would limit my already limited diet. So I do eat meat. The next book on my “to-read list” is Whole by T. Colin Campbell. The author promotes more of vegan diet as being the healthiest and dismisses the whole low-carb/paleo diet. I like to have a balanced view of nutrition, so I’m excited to read a different perspective!

Back to the cookies: I came across a couple of recipes for carrot sandwich cookies or “whoopie pies” in my reading of magazines and newspapers last week and new I wanted to try making my own version. I love carrot cake! I recently decided to try Teff Flour. I love the flavor and it’s full of protein. It worked very well in these cookies.

Ideally, these would be perfect with cream cheese frosting, but I had to settle for this coconut oil frosting I came up with. It’s not too sweet and really adds a finishing touch to the cookies.

You could eat the cookies plain and unfrosted (delicious!).

Or you could just frost the tops (scrumptious!).

Or you could go crazy and make them into sandwich cookies, aka whoopie pies (madness!).

Either way, they are amazing!

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies
Low-FODMAP, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Gum-Free
makes 24 cookies, or 12 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

Cookies
1 cup sorghum flour
2/3 cup teff flour
1/2 cup gluten-free quick or rolled oats
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
1 Chia Egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Frosting
1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 – 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and soda, and salt.
3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugars and coconut oil together until evenly combined. Add the chia egg and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute, or until fluffy. Add the carrots and beat until blended. Slowly add the flour mixture on low speed. Add the walnuts if using. The dough will be somewhat wet.
4. Drop dough by the rounded tablespoonful onto prepared cookie sheets. Flatten slightly. Bake 12 to 14 minutes on regular cookie sheets, 16 – 18 minutes on insulated cookie sheets, or until lightly browned on the bottoms. Let cool on cookie sheets about 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
5. To make frosting, beat the coconut oil, vanilla, one tablespoon milk and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until smooth. Add the remaining powdered sugar. Stir in more milk, a teaspoon at a time, until spreading consistency. To make sandwich cookies, spread about one tablespoon of frosting on the flat side of a cookie. Press the flat side of another cookie on top.