Mmmm...

I recently made these homely little sandwich cookies, Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies. The recipe came from Sunset Magazine. I made it gluten free with a straight substitution of my GF baking blend for the all-purpose flour called for in the recipe and the addition of some xanthum gum. (I also left out the coconut, as we aren't fans.) We were celebrating both Ryan's Birthday and the Timbers home opener, hence the flag. We had a nice little group of folks over before the game for a BBQ and I'm proud to say that the whoopie pies received rave reviews all around. (So did the strawberry rhubarb pie made by our friend April.)

Apparently I'm right on trend with this dessert. I really wanted to make something special for Ryan. If I wanted to partake, it had to be something that could easily be made GF. It also had to be something other than chocolate, for which I've totally lost my taste. Ryan loves cream cheese frosting, so a dessert using that would be in order. Then I remembered that early in our marriage I used to make Ryan carrot cakes. Wouldn't it be fun to recapture those flavors, but maybe in a sandwich cookie? Then, upon opening my latest issue of Sunset, there was the exact recipe I had envisioned.

Shortly after finding my recipe, I happened to be in Trader Joe's and noticed that they had beat me to the punch. They are currently selling "Inside Out Carrot Cakes." ( I heard somewhere that they are actually pretty good.) For about a half second, I thought about just buying their version, but quickly cast the idea aside. What's the fun in buying the cookies? How would that be special? And of course, TJ's cookies weren't gluten free.

After all was said and done, as I perused the May issue of Bon Appetit, I found a recipe for Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting. The recipe hasn't yet been posted to Epicurious, but I did find an "Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookies" recipe originally published in Gourmet in 2004.

Have I convinced you yet to try making your own? Carrots are in season right now. You should really pick up a bunch, choose a recipe, and get to work making a batch. Really. Go. Now.