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?
These were way too sweet for me, but my 3yo loves them! They have a lot of sugar in them but are definitely healthier than most packaged snacks!
I fee like it is necessary to voice an honest opinion despite the fact that it is a negative review. It would have helped me before making these. First, it matters whether you use bitter or sweet carrots. Sounds like a no-brainer, but it makes a huge difference. That said, even with sweet carrots, these were not as tasty as I hoped. They tasted exactly like you’d imagine a big mixture of raw carrots and raisins to taste.Â
I don’t know. That sounds so dumb to me now, but the pictures and the comments had me all psyched up for some mind-blowing healthy food that didn’t taste like rabbit food.Â
This tastes like rabbit food.
Some people like rabbit food.Â
Apparently I am not one of them.
My husband is a big fan of the peanut butter no-bake cookies; however, he is also allergic to nuts. These look like they will fit the bill for him and me-I don’t like sweets that are too sweet.
These were delicious and well received by my kids! Only trouble was that they did not really hold together–not nearly as moist as yours look in the pictures. I added a little coconut oil to bind them together and that worked well. Any other suggestions? I used a food processor because I don’t have a Vitamix. The dates were Medjool and very moist. I don’t think that was the problem. Any suggestions welcome! Thanks for the great recipe!
With recipes like these, very slight tweaks to wet and dry ingredients can work wonders. Sounds like you were on the right track with the coc oil. VitaMixes and food proc work very differently and things turn out ‘moister’ in a Vita in my experience which is why I use it for recipes like this. So maybe just get a Vita :) (kidding) or use less dry ingredients or more coc oil next time, or more dates!
My two year old boys LOVE these “cookie balls”. I’ve made them with figs as well as dates (all I had on hand). We found them sweet enough to omit the added sugar, subbing a mixture of almond meal/flax to keep them from being too sticky. Yummy!
Love comments like this and that your boys love them and that you’ve taken the ball and ran with it (literally!) changing it to adapt to your needs and tried figs and dates, too!
They look great, I love carrot cake :)
Making these today! :) my mom and i had the hardest time choosing from your seemingly endless list of recipes! (we are also making ‘Christmas Crack’!)
well from healthy no-bake carrot cake balls to Xmas Crack…you are on opposite sides of the recipe spectrum….enjoy them both! :)
Very nice site!
Hello! fkbbdcd interesting fkbbdcd site!
My perfect dessert ball would definitely be peanut butter and chocolate… can never get enough of those flavors! I am actually not the biggest fan of carrot cake, but cream cheese icing can convince me to eat pretty much anything. :)
Those No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Carrot Cake Bites look great, and my husband would devour them.
I used to love oatmeal raisin cookies, but haven’t had them since going gluten-free.
Huge lover of carrot cake. One of the best dessert combinations.
All of the ball recipes that I’ve tried have been great. I’m a sucker for nut butters, chocolate, and spices.
Would a mini-marshmallow ball work? Hmmmm
i LOVE raw balls!! and I LOVE oatmeal raisin cookies and carrot cake! all the spices are beautiful together :D
Yum, this looks like an amazing recipe – thanks! So simple, healthy and tasty, I bet my nieces would love these and I wish more parents would bring treats like these to school instead of candy bags and other crap. Great job using the Vita, but scooping the dough from around the blades was probably not easy, I’d use the food processor.
1. Yes and just about anything with carrots, raisins and cinnamon.
2. Yes and this post is making me want to make Ani’s Carrot Cake again.
3. Chocolate, nut butters, cinnamon – it’s all good. :-)
I made some lemon-and-dried-cranberry balls with dates and dried coconut over the holidays, and they were soo zingy and delicious. Very tropical during the winter cold. :)
Wonderful! I just finished my last no-bake mango sunflower bite (that’s a better name than “ball”) last night, time to make something new!
Where do you come up with these recipes?! Your page is always my go-to.
These look great, and I love the fact that they are GF. Thank you!! Another healthy snack idea when the cravings hit at 2pm. ;)
I looove carrot cake; must try this!
mmm these look amazing I love the idea of little carrot bites soo cute!
sounds deeeeeeeeeeelish! I love love love carrot cake (just kind of posted bout it), and I LOVE oatmeal raisin cookies!!!!
would love to try those sooooooon!
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!
http://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
http://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!
http://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
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/10/banana-recipes-ways-to-use-extra.html
you may like that one!
and also choc recipes
http://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 :)
I remember trying carrot cake when I was a kid and hating it, but I haven’t tried it since. I think I might like it now!
The look a lot like the raw carrot muffins I post the other day. You need to whip up the frosting I posted!
I totally forgot about those! And Ela told me Pure Girls made some. Missed that post. Lots of carrot cake on the brain lately around the sphere I guess :)
I love your blog and all of your recipes – especially this one!
Do you think I could sub dried figs for the dates if that’s all I have in the house right now?
Yes, go for it.
YUM! These looks amazing!
Thanks, Angela :)
Screw it, here you go. :)
http://makingfoodandotherstuff.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/baby-balls/
Those are a blend of: my fudge balls (cocoa + dates)
and my donut holes (cocoa + flax)
Plus with coffee. I need to try those! So many balls, so little time.
And about not grabbing the medjool dates in your hand, if you have raisins, soak some for a couple hours and just use all raisins. It will be date-ish enough to get you by if you’re truly wanting them :)
Oatmeal raisin = fave cookie of all time
Carrot cake = fave cake of all time
The balls = me PISSED that I didn’t buy that bag of medjool dates that I had IN MY HANDS yesterday at the store. Grrr.
I made some mocha balls. You should try to make a spin on those. Let me know if you want the link.
These look so so yummy! I love both oatmeal raisin (or oatmeal chocolate chip ;) cookies and carrot cake (well more carrot bars sans frosting)- so I bet these are amazing! I hope you’re having a good weekend! Cannot believe its Sunday afternoon already. Much love to yoU!
I know, the weekend flew by! Much love right back at ya! :)
I’m terrible- I don’t like raisins or carrot cake much! But the bites look really good, I might have to make some for the bf!
Carrot cake is my all time favorite! I love cinnamon and spice, so anything with that in it is high on my list! Oatmeal cookies are my favorite cookies too!
!!! This recipe was bookmarked before I even read the ingredients. I’m so excited to make these :)
1. Oh my goodness. Lol I’m going to be exclaiming yes to all of your questions. Those cookies are soooo good when they’re fresh and chewy yummmm.
2. YES!!! Carrot cake is one of the only cakes I like (along with tiramisu). I’m picky about it though… as with all cakes (why I don’t really like them lol).
3. Hmm.. I’m not sure! Either your carrot cake bite orrr something that would taste like tiramisu!
XOXO have a lovely weekend with your family, Averie :)
I am flattered “bookmarked before I even read the ingredients. I’m so excited to make these :)”–
Have a great Sunday, Katharina!
Wish I had my Vitamix here in NY with me! I want these so badly. I agree with Evan, frosting to dip these in is a must :)
I bet you could make do with a magic bullet or cheapie food proc if you have one. If not, well, your Vita is waiting for you.
Mmmmm, I need to make these…and dip them in cream cheese frosting on the way to my mouth :-)
I remember you saying you knew I would love these…and oh man, you are SO right!!! You probably have already observed that I am a carrot cake fiend, so these really are right up my alley. I’m a fan of a good oatmeal raisin cookie, too ;) If I hadn’t already made your [absolutely amazing and that I am now addicted to] vegan/raw/gf brownies I’d be whipping out my processor right now!! As it is, I think I’ve made enough noise for one day :P
there are worse things to be addicted to than vegan/raw/gf brownies. glad you’re enjoying :)
Mmm, carrot cake is my favorite. Might have to try these, except I kind of want to dip them in cream cheese frosting :-)