We’re lucky to have a real bakery in town. With artisan baked goods their focus, Beach Pea Baking Co. fills their cozy shop with crusty, fresh bread and all manner of tempting treats. And when we stop by, we always come away with a bag of their applesauce oatmeal cookies. What we like best about these soft, chewy cookies is that all of the good things they’re stuffed with — oatmeal, walnuts, raisins, and applesauce — make them as suitable for breakfast as for an afternoon nibble. Baker-owners, Mariah and Tom Roberts, published a cookbook some years back and, though it contained recipes for their Lavender-Mint Shortbread, Quigy Bars, and Cowgirl Cookies, the one for Applesauce Oaties was not among them. It was during another attempt to duplicate it that we came up with Carrot Cake Oaties, and with results satisfying enough to more than make up for the times we can’t make it to the bakery.

These simple drop cookies start off with creaming together butter and two kinds of sugar. If you prefer something less sweet, especially now when the carrots are cold-sweetened, reduce the brown sugar to ⅓ cup. We usually use some combination of whole wheat and white flour in place of all-purpose. Lately, though, we find ourselves reaching for the sifted whole wheat flour from Maine Grains, which still has the taste and texture of whole grains but with a little less bran to keep things light. As for flavorings, we like the way ginger spices up carrots; cinnamon or vanilla are also good choices. In keeping with the small size of the cookies, we use currants, though raisins would do just as well. If you remember to, toast the walnuts beforehand to bring out their natural oils. And if you happen to have a dough scoop on hand, this is the perfect time to use it.

Carrot Cake Oaties

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup packed light-brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
¾ cup packed, grated carrots
⅓ cup dried currants
½ cup chopped walnuts

– Heat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy. Add the egg, and beat into the butter mixture. In another bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and stir until combined. Mix in oats, carrots, currants, and walnuts.
– Drop dough by tablespoon, 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until edges are crisp. Makes 36 to 40 cookies.

Local ingredients: Sifted whole wheat flour from Maine Grains; rolled oatmeal from Aurora Mills; butter from Kate’s; egg from Meadow’s Mirth; carrots from the garden.