I love carrot cake. I’ve made carrot cake cookies, a loaf cake, carrot pineapple banana bread, cupcakes, and no-bake bites.
But there’s always room for more carrot cake recipe.
The bars are super soft, moist, dense, and not at all cakey. They aren’t like traditional carrot ‘cake’ and if you’re looking for a fluffy piece of carrot cake, use this recipe.
The bars are like carrot cake blondies because of how buttery and rich they are.
I used my go-to blondies base recipe as the jumping off point. 30+ versions of blondies later, it’s proven to be the most highly adaptable dough or batter base I have.
It’s an easy, no-mixer recipe and the bars are much faster than making a whole carrot cake, and don’t make nearly the quantity, which is good for bikini season.
The bars are robustly flavored with one tablespoon cinnamon, and one-half teaspoon each of ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves before folding in as many carrots as the batter can hold.
It’s a peeve of mine when carrot or pumpkin recipes are bland, so I always add enough spices so you know they’re there, without being overwhelming. This is dessert and I want it to taste as such, not like a pan of baked carrots, which is a likely result if you don’t season properly.
I grated 3 large carrots for the bars because storebought bagged shredded carrots are usually coarse and thick, and don’t bake up very nicely. Not to mention, they’re coated with preservatives, and grating your own only takes a couple minutes and it’s worth it.
I kept out all raisins, dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, or anything else. If you want to start doctoring them up with your favorite add-ins, go for it. About 1/2 cup to 1 cup total of whatever you choose will likely work just fine.
I finished the bars with a cream cheese drizzle. I was going to do a thick layer of cream cheese frosting because I adore it, but it would cover up the pretty flecks of carrot strands that peek out from the surface. And let’s face it, a drizzle is healthier than a thick wall of frosting.
Since the bars are so soft and moist from the juicy carrots and from the brown sugar which also helps them stay tender, they don’t need gobs of frosting.
They get better on the second and third day because the flavors marry and they get softer over time from the moisture in the carrots. If you can manage to save yourself a wedge or two for days 2 and 3, you’re going to be extra thankful you did. I hoarded the last wedge like gold.
They’re comforting, homey, packed with flavor, and the carrots add so much chewy texture. Even though there are no oats used, the bars remind me of my favorite oatmeal cookies that are super chewy with tons of texture, yet still extremely soft.
They’d make a great Mother’s Day treat for a special mom in your life. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms! We have the hardest job in the world, but the best and most rewarding. I hope your weekend is spent doing things you want to do and that make you happy and recharge your batteries.
The bars are super soft, moist, dense, and not at all cakey. They aren’t like traditional carrot ‘cake’ and are like carrot cake blondies because of how buttery and rich they are. The bars are robustly flavored with cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves before folding in as many carrots as the batter can hold. There’s enough spices so you know they’re there, without being overwhelming. I grate my own carrots because storebought bagged shredded carrots are usually coarse and thick, and don’t bake up very nicely. I kept out all raisins, dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, etc. but 1/2 cup to 1 cup total of your favorite add-ins can be incorporated. The bars are so soft and moist from the juicy carrots and the brown sugar, and they don’t need gobs of frosting. They’re comforting, homey, packed with flavor, and the carrots add so much chewy texture. Bars Cream Cheese Glaze All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.Soft Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Glaze
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
1 large egg
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon (not teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups grated carrots, measured loosely (about 3 -4 med/large carrots, peeled and trimmed; grate your own rather than using storebought bagged carrots for best results)
about 1/2 to 1 cup optional add-ins (nuts, dried fruit, raisins, etc.)
about 1 cup confectioners’ sugar + more if necessary for consistency
1 heaping tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
splash cream or milk, optional and only if necessary for consistencyDirections:
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