Carrot Cake Bars – With Cream Cheese Frosting!

These carrot cake bars are filled with scrumptious carrot cake taste and topped with a thick cream cheese frosting recipe!

The perfect carrot cake bars

For all of you carrot cake lovers, these bars are a should strive dessert for Easter.

I’ve tried so many carrot cake bar recipes over time, and this one is actually the perfect of all of them. The texture is mushy, moist, and irresistibly fluffy!

And so they style similar to consuming do-it-yourself cream cheese frosted carrot cake, within the handy type of a handheld bar.

One style, and you’ll want to make these mini carrot cake bars 12 months spherical.

Additionally do this Carrot Cake Banana Bread

Carrot bar components

The recipe requires only a few primary components and no cake combine!

You will want shredded carrot, applesauce, cinnamon, flour, apple cider or white vinegar, pure vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, sugar, and elective raisins.

Carrots – The recipe works with each commonplace dimension and child carrots. You’ll want to peel the greens totally if they don’t seem to be already peeled.

For a enjoyable variation, strive purple, crimson, yellow, or white carrots as a substitute of orange.

Applesauce – Be at liberty to go along with both sweetened or unsweetened applesauce. Or swap it out for an equal quantity of ripe mashed banana or drained crushed pineapple.

Flour – I’ve efficiently baked these carrot squares with complete grain spelt flour, white flour, oat flour, and gluten free all objective flour.

See beneath if you happen to desire a keto choice with almond flour. I don’t suggest coconut flour or complete wheat flour right here.

Cinnamon – One and a half teaspoons of top quality floor cinnamon provides taste and compliments the candy carrots.

If in case you have floor ginger and floor cloves available, stir in a pinch of every for much more depth of taste.

Sugar – Thanks the pure sweetness within the applesauce and spices, you want simply half a cup of sugar for all the recipe.

White sugar, brown sugar, or unrefined coconut sugar are all nice choices. For bars with no sugar added, go for granulated erythritol or xylitol.

You’ll be able to technically substitute pure maple syrup or honey. Nonetheless, the feel comes out considerably gummy with this substitution so I don’t suggest it.

Non-obligatory components

Add ins – I really like raisins in my carrot cake, so I virtually all the time combine in a fourth cup with the dry components. You could possibly add chopped dried pineapple, dates, or figs.

Stir in an elective handful of diced nuts, reminiscent of walnuts, almonds, pecans, or shredded coconut if you want. No have to measure!

Protein powder – For prime protein carrot bars you’ll be able to eat for breakfast, swap as much as a 3rd cup of the flour with unsweetened protein powder.

Oil – Together with a fourth cup of vegetable oil or melted coconut oil provides richness and yields a lighter texture.

For oil free, low fats, and low calorie wholesome carrot cake bars, you’ll be able to substitute extra applesauce or mashed banana as a substitute.

Readers love these oil free Oatmeal Muffins

Do-it-yourself cream cheese frosting

Right here is my tried and true recipe for the creamiest, fluffiest carrot cake frosting. It pairs deliciously with the moist cake bar beneath, and every chew will remind you of carrot cake cheesecake!

Be at liberty to high your carrot cake bars with powdered sugar, Coconut Butter, retailer purchased vanilla icing, or almond butter if you happen to desire.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 ounces cream cheese or vegan cream cheese
• 2 ounces butter or plant primarily based various
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• elective milk or water as wanted

Let the cream cheese and butter come to room temperature so they’re softer and simpler to mix with beaters, a stand mixer, or a fork. Beat within the powdered sugar a half cup at a time. Then whip within the vanilla till clean. Skinny out the frosting with a teaspoon or two of milk or water.

This cream cheese frosting recipe from scratch yields a couple of cup, which is the right quantity for topping the total pan of carrot squares.

I’ll typically double the recipe and use leftover frosting on Chocolate Zucchini Cake or 4 ingredient Easy Cinnamon Rolls.

Step-by-step recipe video

Above, watch the total carrot cake bar recipe video.

Easy methods to make moist carrot cake bars

Learn by means of the recipe directions, and collect your components.

Grease an eight inch sq. pan, or line the underside of the pan with parchment paper.

Or if you need thinner bars, grease a sheet pan or a 9 by 13 inch rectangular pan. Set this baking pan apart.

Preheat the oven to 350 levels Fahrenheit.

In a big mixing bowl, whisk the shredded carrot, applesauce, vinegar, vanilla extract, and elective oil.

Stir within the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, sugar, elective ginger and cloves, and elective raisins to type a batter. To stop a dense and gummy texture, you will need to not overmix the batter.

Unfold the carrot cake combination evenly into your ready pan with a spatula or spoon.

Place the pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake thirty minutes in an eight inch pan or fifteen minutes for sheet pan bars.

On the finish of the baking time, a toothpick inserted into the middle of the pan ought to come out principally clear.

Let cool earlier than frosting the bars with cream cheese frosting or your toppings of selection.

As soon as cooled and frosted, loosely cowl the baking pan in material or paper towels and refrigerate for optimum freshness.

Tip: Should you can wait, the feel and style are even higher the following day!

After a day, refrigerate leftovers for as much as 5 days in a lined container. Or slice and freeze for about two to a few months.

Wholesome carrot cake squares

This traditional carrot dessert doesn’t style wholesome in any respect. But on the identical time, it’s filled with diet.

And even with frosting, the carrot bars are underneath 100 energy every!

Only one serving offers you fiber, protein, potassium, vitamin Ok, vitamin C, folate, niacin, and over 25% of the RDA for vitamin A.

These bars are an ideal selection for Easter brunch or for birthday events the place you wish to accommodate totally different dietary preferences of company.

The recipe consists of dairy free, egg free, gluten free, fats free, added sugar free, and vegan choices.

Is there a low carb model?

For keto carrot cake bars, use this recipe for Keto Carrot Cake.

Bake in an oblong 9 by 13 inch pan as a substitute of two spherical pans.

High with your personal favourite sugar free frosting. Or make my do-it-yourself cream cheese frosting recipe above, utilizing powdered erythritol or xylitol as a substitute of powdered sugar.

Minimize into bars or squares.

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