Do you have your Easter Menu all set? I’m bringing these Carrot Cake Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting to one of our family get togethers, and so I thought I’d share the recipe with you all in case you need a sweet little treat to add to your menu.
These are a very friendly carrot cake. What I mean is there are no raisins, shredded coconut, or nuts. I even used a very fine grater for the carrots, so they are almost undetectable. Have you noticed that people are very particular about the way they like their carrot cake? Of course, you can add any of those items if you like, but I decided to keep mine pure so no one would turn up their noses. They are moist and sweet, and perfectly spiced. My boys loved these. I let them use the leftover green and orange frosting to decorate their own bars. Squeezing colored frosting out of a bag just never gets old.
After I had made these bars, I was looking for some inspiration for their decoration. I stumbled upon the most wonderful blog – Cafe Sucre Farine. The girl behind this cozy little virtual cafe is Chris, and I loved how she decorated her carrot cake bars. Check them out!
If you still need a few ideas for Easter side dishes, how about my Bacon Wrapped Asparagus, Butterhorn Rolls, and Creamy Crockpot Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Happy Easter!
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Carrot Cake Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 18 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting are moist, sweet and perfectly spiced!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (in liquid form)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup finely grated carrots
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the Frosting
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream together oil, sugar and eggs. You can do this by hand or with an electric mixer.
- Add vanilla extract, applesauce, and crated carrots, and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until incorporated.
- Pour the batter into a parchment paper lined (or greased) 9 by 9 inch baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely, and then frost and cut into bars.
For the Frosting
- With an electric mixer, whisk softened cream cheese, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth and creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar as you mix.
- Reserve 1 cup of frosting for the carrot decoration. Spread the remaining frosting over the cooled cake.
- Divide the reserved frosting into two bowls and mix a few drops of green food coloring with one and orange with the other. Spoon the frosting into two bags fitted with a small tip if you have it, or cut off the corner of a zip top bag. Start by making the stems with the green frosting, and then add the carrot.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bar
- Calories: 283
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 233mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 34g
- Fiber: 0.4g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 46mg
Oh Happy Dane says
Made to perfection!! beautiful!!
Julie says
Thank you!
Meggan | Culinary Hill says
What gorgeous little carrot cake bars! I love them. Pinning!
Julie says
Thanks Meggan!
Mariah @ Mariah's Pleasing Plates says
These carrot cake bars are gorgeous! I love that you left the raisins and coconut out! And yay for using coconut oil! LOVE!!
Julie says
Thank you Mariah! I love baking with coconut oil.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
You have baked this carrot cake bars to perfection Julie. I definitely wish I had one now!
Julie says
Thank you Thalia!
Linda says
These look lovely! I am allergic to coconut. Can I substitute another oil?
Julie says
Linda, you can use vegetable oil.
Tamara says
I took your carrot cake bars recipe, doubled it, made a layer cake and frosted it with chocolate buttercream! Absolute heaven!! I am like you and like the finer carrot cakes (not a lot of big chunks of nuts and raisins). This recipe is moist and sweet and just yummy! My husband a twin 2 year old sons gobbled it up after Easter dinner 🙂
Julie says
Love that you made this your own creation Tamara. Sounds delicious!
Priscilla says
How do you get the bars so neatly cut?
Julie says
Hi Priscilla, a couple of tips for cutting neatly… First, cut the bars when they are chilled. Also, line the pan with parchment paper so you can lift the whole cake out of the pan and set it on a cutting board to cut. Dip a sharp knife in hot water before cutting, cleaning it off in between cuts. Hope this is helpful!
Maureen says
These look so cute! I believe these are made for perfection. And they are neatly done. I want to have a taste of it already.
Julie says
Thank you for your kind words!
Nancy says
Can the best ever pumpkin muffin dough be made the night before?
Julie says
I’ve never tried that before but I don’t see why you couldn’t. But they do taste just as good the day after they are baked in case that helps!
Nic says
Could you do these in a 15 x 10 x 1 jelly roll pan?
Julie says
I believe so but you would really need to watch the baking time. Also you would need to make more frosting to cover the larger surface area. Let me know how they turn out if you try!
Elsa says
These look heavenly. I plan to make these this weekend for my little girls 1st birthday party. Can I use a 13 *9 inch cake pan? Thanks!
Julie says
Hi Elsa, I haven’t tried these in a larger pan. They will definitely be thinner, and will need less time to bake. But I think as long as you watch them closely and take them out when a toothpick comes out clean, you should be okay.
Ana Rios says
Do you have a Carrot Cake Recipe more healthier? with the whole wheat flour, etc.
Julie says
Not yet, Ana, but great idea. You can substitute a white whole wheat flour (softer texture, but same nutritional benefit of whole wheat) in this recipe. But I do realize that there would still be room for improvement there.
Amy says
I LOVE these carrot cake bars! How cute are they? Making these for Easter! Cannot wait to WOW everyone!!!
Gillian says
Can i make these as mini muffins?