Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
With a stand or handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugars together at medium speed until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat just until incorporated followed by vanilla, scraping down the sides as needed. Set aside.
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature*, 1 cup packed brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients. The dough will be thick and you will have to finish mixing by hand. Stir in carrots, oats and pecans by hand just until incorporated – dough will be very thick.
1 cup shredded carrots, 2 cups quick oats, not old-fashioned whole oats, 1 cup finely chopped pecans
Scoop dough using a 1 ½ inch/1 ½ tablespoon scoop, roll into balls and drop 2” apart. Flatten the tops slightly. If you don’t have a 1 ½″ cookie scoop, use what you have and adjust cooking time accordingly.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until cookies are lightly golden around the edges (take care not to overcook or they won’t be as soft). Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.