Renny's Recipes: Carrot Cake Cookie Quest

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I'm not sure if I'm doing pregnancy cravings right. Are you supposed to be desperate for whatever you're craving? Because for me its more like I think about my cravings more often than not, and if someone suggests it then I am never opposed to having it.

Well, regardless, I have been thinking about Carrot Cake a lot. It sounds so good to me right now. Carroty, sweet, with cream cheese frosting. You can't go wrong with a good carrot cake. I can't eat carrot cake all day every day though, because, well, health and all that. So, while I find absolutely nothing wrong with giving in to my cravings from time to time, I decided I needed a healthier alternative that would satisfy my need without leaving me on a diet of cake. So, I decided to experiment last night to come up with a health(ier) alternative for carrot cake, and I settled on carrot cake cookies.

To be honest with you, these cookies were not perfection to me. I feel like they need a little more tweaking for me to get ratios and flavors just right. So, it's become my new pet project and when I am finished I will share the perfected recipe with you. I will say however, it was a valiant first attempt. PH ate four of them! He thought they were great! He asked me at one point, "you made these all healthy right?" Then went back into the kitchen to snatch another one. So, that made me really happy!

One thing PH did note was that it tasted more like pumpkin to him instead of carrot. I don't agree abut the pumpkin (there was no pumpkin in this cookie, although, I might do a carrot cake pumpkin variation in the future) but I did put cinnamon and even a dash of nutmeg in, which probably made him think of pumpkin. I also grated an apple and put that in too. Thanks to the sweetness of the apple I used less sugar. I also switched out the sugar and used honey instead. Honey is so great and so good for you! I threw in some oats, but I think for me it wasn't carroty enough. I didn't feel like I was eating a tiny carrot cake. Also, I think I need a better balance between the oats and the flour. I did glaze them with cream cheese frosting. Instead of the thick frosting you normally find on carrot cake I did a thin glaze for these cookies. I did test them by themselves though because I want them to stand on their own so you can have them without the frosting for an even healthier alternative. So, come along with me on this journey while I find the perfect healthy carrot cake cookie that all the pregnant ladies can eat without guilt (also, non-pregnant people should be able to enjoy them as well!)