Don't forget the Christmas Cookies!

Nine days left of this crazy pre-Christmas shopping, baking, traveling, running around MESS and I do believe we’re right in the middle of Christmas Party season. I actually have my first Christmas party of the year to attend in approximately 1 hour and I’m proud to say I will not be showing up empty-handed. Last night around 10:30 pm I realized said party was quickly approaching and I would be a self-proclaimed bum if I didn’t bring some sort of baked goodie. So, 10:35 I started scouring the Internet for some inspiring new recipe, which turned out to be these delightful inside-out carrot cake cookies. I made it onto retailrelay.com by 11 o’clock, just in time to get my order in before midnight.

For all of you out there who need something fun to cook for your upcoming holiday party, I seriously recommend these unique little beauties—they’re slightly reminiscent of fruit cake (though so, so much better) and with a little extra spice they definitely taste “Christmasy.”
Here’s the Gourmet recipe as I found it (all the links take you to Retail Relay products!):

Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1 scant cup walnuts (3 ounces), chopped
½ cup raisins (2 ½ ounces)
8 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup honey

Preparation:
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.
Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.

I added more cinnamon, some nutmeg and some ginger to give them a little more kick…I also, shamefully, just realized that I forgot the brown sugar…but they turned out beautifully without it! I also threw in a bunch of cranberries and substituted the walnuts for pecans—just a personal preference. I made them pretty small and after the first batch realized that smooshing them down so they’re thick but relatively flat helps the sandwiching process. Based on the comments about the recipe on Epicurious, I actually avoided the honey cream cheese filling and made this one from Bon Appetite, though I had a ton left over so I would recommend halving that.
I really liked them but I guess we’ll see in a few minutes whether or not they’re a hit with the Christmas party-goers! Give ‘em a try and let me know how they turn out!