Carrot Cake Cookies

Spiced brown butter carrot cake cookies frosted with a brown butter cream cheese frosting.

Your saucepan is going to be your best friend in this recipe for the next few parts. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, brown the butter. Stir the butter occasionally until it turns amber in color and develops little brown specks.
Pour 90g of the brown butter into a medium sized mixing bowl, and pour the remaining 45g into a small bowl to set aside for the frosting. Set both bowls aside.
To the empty saucepan that you made the brown butter in, add in the crushed walnuts and stir occasionally over medium heat until the walnuts are toasted. Once they're toasted, pour them out into a bowl and set them aside.
Wash and peel the carrots, then weigh out 50g and shred them. (You can do this with a box grater or food processor.)
Put the carrots into the same saucepan, and stir them occasionally over low heat, until you've reduced it down to 35g. Set aside and start on the cookie dough.

At this point your bowl with 90g of brown butter should be room temperature. If it's still very hot, place it in the freezer for a few minutes until it's only slightly warm. Then, whisk in both sugars.
Add in the egg, vanilla, and carrot. Whisk until well combined.
Add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together just until a few flour streaks remain.
Add in the toasted walnuts, and fold the mixture together just until no flour streaks remain. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.*
Once you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350℉ / 175℃.
Use a 3 tbsp. cookie scoop to scoop out heaping scoops of dough, setting them on the cookie sheet at least 2" apart to allow room for spreading.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the tops look only a little wet.
Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, take a bowl that is slightly larger than the cookies and swirl it around over the cookies to make them a little more uniform and circular.
While the cookies are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, remaining brown butter, and salt until no lumps remain.
Add in ½ of the powdered sugar, beat until well combined, then add in the remaining powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes, until well combined.
Once the cookies have fully cooled, frost them and top with additional toasted walnuts. Serve and enjoy!