Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies

I love carrot cake.  I did as a kid, and as an adult before becoming nutritarian.  Around Easter when you see images of fluffy white bunnies and colorful eggs, all I can think about is CARROT CAKE!  My nutritarian baking skills have not developed enough to be able to recreate a cake, but I can sure make my own cookie recipe.  Why not recreate that carrot-cake flavor in a cookie?  Enjoy, and Happy Easter!  He is Risen!

Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies
Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 18 cookies

Ingredients:
    Processed Batter:
        1 cup old fashioned oats
        1/4 cup pitted dates
        1/4 cup almond butter (or about 1/2 cup almonds)
        1 ripe banana, peeled and cut into several pieces
        1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
        1/2 tsp cinnamon
        1/2 tsp nutmeg
        1/4 tsp ground ginger
    Shredded:
        2 carrots, washed, peeled, and shredded
    Mix-ins:
        1 cup old fashioned oats
        2 Tbsp raisins
        2 Tbsp raw seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, or hemp will do)

Instructions:
1.)  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2.)  In a food processor, process the batter ingredients until smooth.

3.)  Fit the food processor with the shredding blade and shred the carrots.

4.)  In a medium sized bowl, empty the batter and shredded carrots into it.

5.)  Add the mix-ins and stir well to combine.

6.)  Scoop a golfball size amount of the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Press each cookie down lightly to form a small puck.

7.)  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies slightly brown and are no longer gooey.
8.)  Serve warm and store leftovers in an airtight container.

Amy's Notes:
I love that this recipe has none of the bad stuff that a traditional carrot cake has: sugar, white flour, eggs, oil.  That's not to say eat a whole batch to yourself.  Think of this as a nutritarian treat to have on special occasions, like Easter.

For the mix-in seeds, I used raw pumpkin seeds, but sunflower or hemp seeds would work just as well.  I just happen to have an allergy to sunflower seeds.. bummer, I know!

Happy Easter!