I love these cookies for their subtle sweetness and kick at the end. They’re actually a little like Yasser, though he would take exception to being described as sweet. He’ll just have to deal with it. Harissa will always make me think of Yasser. He spoke of it lovingly throughout the year he lived with us. The word even showed up in word games with multiple spellings. Truly, Yasser was proud of harissa. He also spoke highly of Moroccan honey and shared some with us on the very first day he came to live in our house.

He also hated vegetables. Being his host mom, however, I couldn’t let him get through an entire year eating nary a vegetable. He was required to try one bite of every single vegetable dish we made. If he didn’t like it, he had a fallback vegetable: carrot. He would eat raw carrots with no problems. Despite being slightly concerned he would return home orange, that was our vegetable arrangement. Of course, when I thought about a Moroccan fusion cookie, it had to include carrots, harissa, and honey.

Harissa typically comes as a paste, but Yasser gifted us dried harissa from Morocco, so my first memory of it will always be that dried form. Interestingly, while it’s now closely linked to Morocco and other North African countries, harissa actually originated in Tunisia, using chilies that are native to the Americas. It’s just another example of how something new can be embraced and transformed into something uniquely yours.

In the interest of full disclosure, after a few failures creating a carrot cookie base of my own, I used this carrot cookie recipe as a base. The texture was so good, I decided that my only real modification to the dough would be harissa. Creating the glaze was all my own experimentation, though.

Harissa-Spiced Carrot Cookies

Recipe by Sarah

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These are soft, melt-in-your-mouth carrot cookies with a subtle sweetness and a gentle, spicy afterburn. The harissa adds warmth and depth without overpowering the cookie—this is still dessert, after all. You can turn up the heat if you want to, but the base version is designed to be balanced and approachable.

Difficulty: Medium

Yield

Adjust servings

+

–

2

dozen

Prep time

30

minutes

Baking time

12

minutes

Total time

42

minutes

Ingredients

• Harissa-Spiced Carrot Cookie Dough

• 2 cups Peeled, sliced carrots

• 3/4 cup Room temperature butter

• 1 cup Sugar

• 1 Egg

• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

• 2 cups Flour

• 2 teaspoons Baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground harissa

• 1/2 teaspoon Salt

• For the Harissa Honey Glaze

• 3/4 cup Powdered sugar, sifted

• 3 teaspoons Honey

• 4 teaspoons Water

• 1/4 teaspoon Ground harissa

Directions

• Carrot Harissa Cookie Dough
• Boil the carrots until fork-tender. Drain completely and mash with a potato masher or immersion blender depending on how smooth you want the mash. Set aside to cool to room temperature. I like using the immersion blender for a smooth puree for a more uniform orange color in the cookie.
• Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
• Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until smooth and fully incorporated.
  
• Add the room temperature carrots and stir to combine.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices until evenly combined.
• Fold the dry ingredients into the dough until a soft, cohesive dough forms.
• Glaze
• Whisk the powdered sugar, honey, water, and ground harissa until the glaze is smooth and pourable.
• Adjust the glaze consistency as needed: it should be smooth and pourable but thick enough to coat the cookies. If it’s too thick, whisk in a small amount of liquid. If it’s too thin, add more sifted powdered sugar.
• Assembly
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet about 2-3 inches apart. Bake for about 12 minutes until the cookies are firm.
• Cool completely on a baking rack, then drizzle with icing.

Notes

• The cookies do not brown on the bottom.
• Harissa varies widely in heat—start with 1 1/2 teaspoon and increase to taste.
• These cookies should be soft with a slight chew, not crisp.