Growing up, I loved my grandma’s oatmeal raisin cookies and I also love carrot cake. It’s so moist and filled with raisins and carrots. What I really love about carrot cake though is cream cheese frosting. I won’t lie.
Today’s recipe incorporates Oatmeal Raisin Cookies + Carrot Cake, sans frosting. You can always add frosting, but of course.
No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Carrot Cake Bites
1/ 2 c dry old-fashioned oats + 2 tbsp reserved (use certified gluten-free if necessary)
1/4 c carrots
1/4 c pitted medjool dates (I used 4 large, moist dates)
1/4 c raisins (I used a raisin medley blend) + 1/4 c reserved
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Blend the oats and carrots in a Vita- Mix or food processor for about 10 seconds. Then add everything else (except the reserved ingredients) and blend for another 20 seconds or until incorporated. Don’t overblend.
Remove the dough and by hand, stir in the reserved:
2 Tbsp dry oats
1/4 c raisins
Form into bite-sized balls or cookie shapes. If needed, refrigerate or freeze the dough for 15 minutes to make it less sticky and easier to work with.
Yields: 1 dozen bites the size of a quarter gumball. Store in freezer or refrigerator.
Optional: Pinch Pumpkin Pie Spice, Pinch Ground Ginger, 1/8 c Coconut Flakes, 1/8 c Walnuts/Almonds, 1/8 c chocolate chips. Add frosting drizzle at the end, such as storebought Cream Cheese Frosting. Or, follow my Raw Vegan Cheezecake Filling recipe (and reduce by half) for raw vegan cream cheeze frosting.
Note: For those desiring a more traditional cookie, bake at 350F for 8 to 12 minutes, or to desired level.
A Visual Guide
Oats + Carrots. Blend for 10 seconds
Add everything else (except reserved items) and blend for 20 seconds or until incorporated. Don’t overblend and make pulverized mush.
Resulting dough 20 seconds later
By hand, stir in the reserved oats + raisins. I like the added texture these items give to the finished product.
From into bites, balls, bars. Or whatever you call them. I call them easy, fast, and good.
These bites:
Are a “healthy” dessert or snack. We all have different definitions of healthy, but as desserts go, these are pretty healthy in my book.
They ‘re vegan and came together in less than 5 mintues. Gotta love anything no-bake.
They’re Gluten Free (see this post at the bottom for a discussion on oats and gluten)
Seed & Tree Nut Free (I like nuts, but not in carrot cake or in oatmeal raisin cookies so I kept them out of this recipe)
And combine two of my fave dessert flavors, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies + Carrot Cake, all rolled into one bite.
If you like the looks of today’s bites, try my No Bake Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
And don’t forget to check my Dessert Ball Recipes Post for a compilation of everything from….
….Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
…to No-Bake Peanut Butter Vanilla Balls
Do you like carrot cake?
WOWWW–those. sound. incredible.
These look amazing and so easy to make! I’m so making them tomorrow :D I love oatmeal raisin cookies, so I know I’ll love these. Thanks for the recipe! I also need to try your microwave banana oat cakes. I’ve been wanting to do that for a while.
Yep, I love oatmeal raisin cookies, and I love carrot cake!!!
This is such cool serendipity that you and Bitt and pure2 have all posted carrot recipes recently! I haven’t made carrot cake or carrot anything for ages and I eat so many carrots and have been wanting to make a whole bunch of carrot-based things. Here’s more inspiration to get me started. I can’t do oats but could easily sub with shredded coco or something. Agree about the add-ins for texture too!
forgot about Bitt’s recipe and didnt see Pure girls’ recipe. So much carrot cake on the brains around the sphere lately, it sounds like :)
These look awesome. Nice work. I have some extra dates around here; now I know what I’m going to do with them.
You know, since it’s Girl Scout cookie season, I think a “Samoa ball” is in order ;-)
have samoas balls!
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2009/10/vegan-almost-raw-girl-scout-samoas.html
Those look great, if a lotta steps ;-) Maybe one day when I’m feeling motivated. Ha! Thanks for the linkage.
I love oatmeal raisin and carrot cake so these must be awesome!
Carrot cake and oatmeal cookies are two of my favs! These look great along with all the others! :)
I love carrot cake and these look so easy — great recipe Averie!
Have you made a lemon cake ball type of dessert?
lemon balls, good idea!
Oh man oh man….oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite, and so is carrot cake! I’m totally with you on the frosting. Have you made some kind of balls with coffee yet??
coffee balls, no
coffee choco raw vegan softserve, yes
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/05/vegan-chocolate-chocolate-chip-coffee.html
Yum! I love this.. you and I make a lot of very similar things!
I just love cream cheese frosting too.. it’s so decadent. I use my goaty cashew cheese (minus the miso and mustard) as a base for my frosting!
https://melomeals.blogspot.com/2011/02/eating-from-freezer.html
yum to frosting!
oh my! and you don’t even have to wait for them to cook in the oven? These sound heavenly. I LOVE carrot cake — so much that I had a gluten free one made for our wedding, sweetened with stevia and oh – so – good. Oatmeal raisin cookies are my ultimate comfort food.
I use gf oats, they’re on sale this week at WF, so I’ve got lots to make this recipe with.
Dates and raisins are officially written down on my grocery list for tomorrow!
indeed, they are No Bake.
Really love oatmeal cookies, really love carrot cake, I will definitely be trying this soon! I also love chocolate and bananas so that would my combo recommendation!
I have an entire post on banana recipes
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/10/banana-recipes-ways-to-use-extra.html
you may like that one!
and also choc recipes
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/01/chocolate-recipes.html
You are always coming up with the best recipes – I just bookmared this one :)
LMK if you make them :)
Averie, I feel like you’ve read my mind. Oatmeal raisin cookies are one of my faves, and I adore carrot cake. I think maybe something with vegan toffee would be good, like Mama Pea’s toffee bars but in ball form, or maybe even something with icing in the middle. I can’t wait to see what you come up with! =)
toffee balls, I can do that :)
Girl, you had me at raisins!! You are seriously fueling my raisin addiction, but I don’t mind:)
Carrot cake is my favorite too, and it runs in the family! My parents’ wedding cake was carrot, and most of my birthday cakes (including the one I made last year) were carrot! I loveee:)
I like both oatmeal raisin cookies and carrot cake, but neither are my favorite, so I don’t eat them that often. I love pretty much anything sweet (as you know), but when I have a choice between oatmeal raisin and chewy chocolate chip, or carrot cake and fudge cake, I’m gonna go for the latter in both cases. I must say that cake wise though, it’s all about the frosting, so depending on how good the cream cheese is on the carrot cake that’s debatable….
I put way too much thought into desserts, clearly :)