Carrot cake macarons

Each year I try to come up with something new and creative to bake for my husbands birthday.  He loves carrot cake, but over the years I was running low on new ways to make carrot cake, I'd even tried cookie form!  But then I stumbled upon a blog post for carrot cake macarons, which went along perfectly with my recent macaron obsession.  I tried this recipe, wondering if a little dehydrated carrot can really create a carrot cake flavor, and the results were pretty surprising.  Each bite is so light and airy, but somehow really captures the essence of carrot cake.  These are delicious and amazing, a must for any carrot cake fanatic.

This recipe also opens the door to so many more flavor options for macarons!  I can't wait to try a strawberry macaron stuffed with chocolate ganache.  Looks like my macaron obsession will be carried on a few more months.

Carrot Cake Cookies

Carrot cake is a favorite in our household that was previously reserved for special occasions worthy of 3 layer pretty cakes.  But I recently stumbled upon a picture of a "carrot cake cookie" and thought it was worth a shot.  I was a bit nervous that if I left my recipe as is (to maintain its delicious flavor and texture), and just baked them as cookies, I'd get a very flat cookie.  And, I did indeed come out with a flat cookie, no matter how small I made them, but that turned out to be ok.

These cookies may not win any awards for beauty - but they sure make up for that in taste.  And the flatness of the cookie means you finally get the perfect ratio of frosting to cake in every bite!  Carrot cake is now welcomed into the world of every day finger food recipes in our house.