Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cookie Tarts
A soft, chewy carrot cookie crust topped with New York style cheesecake and cream cheese icing — for when you can't decide between cake and cheesecake.
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cook Time
- 35 min
- Total Time
- 1 hr 5 min
- Servings
- 24 tarts
Every Easter is a marathon in my family — lunch and an egg hunt at my in-laws', then dinner and a second egg hunt at my brother's. By the end of the day I'm thoroughly egged out, and my one culinary job through all of it is dessert (mac 'n cheese too, but that's a given).
While trying to figure out what to make this particular year, it hit me: I'm completely obsessed with cheesecake cookie tarts. Ever since my first batch, I haven't been able to get enough of that soft-cookie-meets-creamy-cheesecake combination, and it opened the floodgates for an entire list of flavor ideas I keep adding to.
This one starts with a thick carrot cookie crust, a layer of New York style cheesecake, and a swipe of cream cheese icing on top — nuts optional, but I'm a nut person, so they're in the dough and on the garnish.
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake Cookie Dough
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, plus more for garnish
For the Cheesecake Filling
- 2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
For the Cream Cheese Icing
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
Instructions
- 1Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Beat the butter, sugars, and molasses together until well blended. Add the egg and vanilla and continue beating, then add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- 2Stir in the grated carrots and pecans. Scoop the dough into lined muffin pan cavities and bake for 14-16 minutes, until the dough has spread to the edges and puffed up.
- 3For the filling, beat the cream cheese, cornstarch, and sugar together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing just until combined, then mix in the heavy cream.
- 4Scoop the filling evenly over the baked cookie layer and return the pan to the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, until set. Let cool for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for about 2 hours before removing from the pan.
- 5For the icing, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth, then add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until fluffy. Pipe onto the cooled tarts and garnish with more chopped pecans.
Tips
- Let the tarts sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving — it softens the cookie crust to a nicer, chewier texture.
