Carrot Cookie Sandwiches

There are many many recipes posted at the Masterchef website, not just those from the show but there's a myriad of recipes from Campbells Real Stock, Coles, Aeroplane Jelly and many other sponsors. Sometimes I am suspicious of sponsored recipes, as they rarely turn out to be as tasty as you would hope. I have been pleasantly surprised with the two recipes I have tried from the website, the first being Tessie's Italian Chicken Casserole and the second being these Carrot Cookie Sandwiches.

There aren't many people I know who do not like a fresh carrot cake with creamy cream cheese icing. I loved the idea of making this classic combination into a cookie.

I don't like sultanas, so I omitted them from the mix. I also had the freshest, most beautiful tasting cream cheese so I severely cut back on the amount of icing sugar in the icing.

The cookies turned out quite dense, next time I would make them much smaller and thinner. I think that I do prefer the traditional carrot cake, ultimately, however these are a nice change to a sweet cookie.

Carrot Cookie Sandwiches
adapted from a Coles recipe as posted on the Masterchef website

250g butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 cups plain fl our
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrot
1 cups rolled oats

FILLING
250g spreadable cream cheese
1/8 cup pure icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Cream the butter , sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each. Sift over the dry ingredients and then fold into the butter and egg mixture. Add the carrot and the oats and mix well. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius and line two trays with baking paper.

Roll tablespoons of dough into balls. Place on prepared trays, allowing room for spreading. Flatten slightly with a spatula. Bake for 15 mins, until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Make Filling: Using an electric mixer, beat all ingredients together in a medium bowl until smooth. Spread filling onto half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.