Vintage Recipe Carrot Cookies (2024)

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A carrot cookie recipe from WW2 that only doesn't use any refined sugar and comes straight from Great-grandma's recipe box, yes please.

Most vintage recipes use frugal and real food ingredients, making them healthier for us and lighter on the pocket book. One of my favorite things about vintage recipes is the stories behind them. Andrea has been taking us through her great-grandmother's recipe collection from the 1930's and 1940's.

Vintage Recipe Carrot Cookies (1)

Anyone else have a love affair with this time period and all things vintage? I can't help but love this is a WW2 carrot recipe. Often though a lowly root vegetable, carrots are a great addition to baked goods with providing both moisture and flavor.

Many of us have vegetables coming along in the garden so this a fabulous recipe to put to work with what you have. It calls for carrots, but I might try playing around with some zucchini or even pumpkin. If you missed the other parts in this fabulous series (Andrea, huge thank you for sharing your families treasures with the rest of us) check out Frugal Kitchen Tips from 1913 and Historical Recipe: Honey Date Squares

If you're looking for a carrot cake cookie recipe, you'll still want to try these, but don't expect them to taste like carrot cake. These healthy carrot cookies are more like an oatmeal cookie in texture.

Andrea~

This recipe for oatmeal carrot raisin cookies is another 1940's find from my great-grandmother's collection. Sweetened with honey, and full of raisins, nuts, carrots, and oats. Breakfast cookies are totally a thing, especially a carrot breakfast cookie because veggies, right?

And to up the health factor, though traditionally made with pastry flour, they turn out equally as well with whole wheat pastry four, spelt flour, or a gluten-free blend. Walnuts and pecans are both good choices for the nuts.

Don't be afraid to make these your own. And if you need to be nut free, feel free to leave them out.

How to use fresh ground Spelt flour in carrot cookies

I love using spelt flour in my baking because spelt is an ancient grain that has a higher protein count but less gluten,who doesn't love all that, right?

However, I've always have to increase the amount of spelt flour by an extra quarter cup to 1 cup of regular flour, so if you make this recipe with spelt flour, you may need to add an extra 1/2 cup of flour, using 2 and 1/2 cups total. I usually start with the regular amount, but if it feels to wet or doughy, I add a 1/4 to 1/2 cup until if feels correct.

Want to bake these healthy carrot cookies with fresh ground flour? Check out my Best Flour for Baking- Home Baker’s Flour Guide 101

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Vintage Recipe Carrot Cookies (2)

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Carrot Cookies Recipe

  1. Mix together flour, baking powder, and spices and set aside.
  2. Cream together butter or oil and carrot. Beat in baking soda, honey, and eggs.
  3. Stir in raisins, nuts, and oats.
  4. Add dry ingredients to carrot mixture and mix until combined.
  5. Drop by spoonfuls on greased or lined pans and bake at 350 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes. (The original recipe calls for 15 minutes, but I found mine were done by 12 and over-browned by 15)
  6. Cool on a wire rack.

Print version of healthy carrot cookie recipe

Vintage Recipe Carrot Cookies (3)

Carrot Cookies Recipe WW2

MelissaKNorris

This carrot cookies recipe is not only healthy (no refined sugar) but is also hales from WW2 making it an old-fashioned delicious dessert or snack every house should have on hand… or in the cookie jar!

4.27 from 38 votes

Prep Time 7 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 19 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 60 cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour whole wheat pastry, spelt, or gluten-free blend
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp allspice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup softened butter or coconut oil
  • 1 cup grated raw carrot
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • ¾ cup honey
  • 2 eggs well beaten
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  • 2 cups rolled oats

Instructions

  • Mix together flour, baking powder, and spices and set aside.

  • Cream together butter or oil and carrot. Beat in baking soda, honey, and eggs.

  • Stir in raisins, nuts, and oats.

  • Add dry ingredients to carrot mixture and mix until combined.

  • Drop by spoonfuls on greased or lined pans and bake at 350 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes.

Notes

Feel free to sub in your favorite flour for these healthy carrot cookies, we love ancient grains but a gluten free blend of equal parts almond flour, coconut flour, and ground golden flax meal is our at home go to.

Keyword carrot cookies recipe healthy carrot cookie carrot cookie recipe WW2

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

The original carrot cookies recipe was published in a victory economy bulletin by the Lakeside Milling Company of Toronto, Canada.

Vintage Recipe Carrot Cookies (2024)

FAQs

Were there cookies in the 1700s? ›

The Nazareth Sugar Cookie, also known as the Amish Sugar Cookies, probably has origins in Germany, but was perfected in the Nazareth area of Pennsylvania by German Protestants that settled there in the 1700s.

How to make chewy vs crunchy cookies? ›

Use a higher ratio of white to brown sugar

While brown sugar keeps your cookies moist and soft, white sugar and corn syrup will help your cookies spread and crisp in the oven. Using more white sugar in your cookies will result in a crispier end product.

What is the oldest cookie in history? ›

Pizzelles are the oldest known cookie and originated in the mid-section of Italy. They were made many years ago for the “Festival of the Snakes” also known as the “Feast Day of San Domenico”.

What cookie was not invented until 1938? ›

It wasn't until very recently, around 1938, that chocolate chip cookies were first invented. Unlike a lot of other things, the chocolate chip cookie was not invented by accident. During the 1930s, a chef named Ruth Graves Wakefield decided to give something different to her customers.

What is the secret to a crunchy cookie? ›

A lower oven temperature will give your cookies more time to spread before they start to rise, resulting in a crispier cookie. I recommend baking your cookies for a bit longer at a lower temperature to achieve the texture you're looking for. You can also play around with the type of pan you're using.

What does more egg do to cookies? ›

Yolks also act as an emulsifier, making a creamy dough even before it's baked. Egg whites, on the other hand, can have a drying effect. A cookie made with extra egg yolk (or, in this case, only egg yolk), will be lighter and chewier than a cookie made with whole eggs.

What is the secret to chewy cookies? ›

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

When were cookies first invented? ›

Cookies appear to have their origins in 7th century AD Persia, shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region. They spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. By the 14th century, they were common in all levels of society throughout Europe, from royal cuisine to street vendors.

How did they bake in the 1700s? ›

In the 1700s, there was no baking soda or baking powder. To get their cakes to rise, cooks of that time had to use a branch from a peach tree - "they were very specific about using a peach branch," Kornblum said - to whip either egg yolks for about 15 minutes or egg whites for a full hour.

Did they have cake in the 1700s? ›

Moulded cakes (and fancy ices) reached their zenith in Victorian times. "For the cakes of the seventeenth century onwards tin or iron hoops were increasingly used and are mentioned with great frequency in the cookery books.

Did they have cookies in the Middle Ages? ›

Believe it or not, Christmas cookies go as far back as European Medieval times with varying recipes. Consumption Each country also has different ways of consuming cookies.

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