These carrot cake bars are packed with delicious carrot cake flavor and topped with a thick cream cheese frosting recipe!
The best carrot cake bars
For all of you carrot cake lovers, these bars are a must try dessert for Easter.
I’ve tried so many carrot cake bar recipes over the years, and this one is truly the best of them all. The texture is soft, moist, and irresistibly fluffy!
And they taste just like eating homemade cream cheese frosted carrot cake, in the convenient form of a hand held bar.
One taste, and you will want to make these mini carrot cake bars year round.
Also try this Carrot Cake Banana Bread
Carrot bar ingredients
The recipe calls for just a few basic ingredients and no cake mix!
You will need shredded carrot, applesauce, cinnamon, flour, apple cider or white vinegar, pure vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, sugar, and optional raisins.
Carrots – The recipe works with both standard size and baby carrots. Be sure to peel the vegetables fully if they are not already peeled.
For a fun variation, try purple, red, yellow, or white carrots instead of orange.
Applesauce – Feel free to go with either sweetened or unsweetened applesauce. Or swap it out for an equal amount of ripe mashed banana or drained crushed pineapple.
Flour – I have successfully baked these carrot squares with whole grain spelt flour, white flour, oat flour, and gluten free all purpose flour.
See below if you prefer a keto option with almond flour. I do not recommend coconut flour or whole wheat flour here.
Cinnamon – One and a half teaspoons of high quality ground cinnamon adds flavor and compliments the sweet carrots.
If you have ground ginger and ground cloves on hand, stir in a pinch of each for even more depth of flavor.
Sugar – Thanks the natural sweetness in the applesauce and spices, you need just half a cup of sugar for the entire recipe.
White sugar, brown sugar, or unrefined coconut sugar are all great options. For bars with no sugar added, opt for granulated erythritol or xylitol.
You can technically substitute pure maple syrup or honey. However, the texture comes out somewhat gummy with this substitution so I do not recommend it.
Optional ingredients
Add ins – I love raisins in my carrot cake, so I almost always mix in a fourth cup with the dry ingredients. You could add chopped dried pineapple, dates, or figs.
Stir in an optional handful of diced nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, pecans, or shredded coconut if you wish. No need to measure!
Protein powder – For high protein carrot bars you can eat for breakfast, swap up to a third cup of the flour with unsweetened protein powder.
Oil – Including a fourth cup of vegetable oil or melted coconut oil adds richness and yields a lighter texture.
For oil free, low fat, and low calorie healthy carrot cake bars, you can substitute additional applesauce or mashed banana instead.
Readers love these oil free Oatmeal Muffins
Homemade cream cheese frosting
Here is my tried and true recipe for the creamiest, fluffiest carrot cake frosting. It pairs deliciously with the moist cake bar underneath, and each bite will remind you of carrot cake cheesecake!
Feel free to top your carrot cake bars with powdered sugar, Coconut Butter, store bought vanilla icing, or almond butter if you prefer.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese or vegan cream cheese
- 2 ounces butter or plant based alternative
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional milk or water as needed
Let the cream cheese and butter come to room temperature so they are softer and easier to blend with beaters, a stand mixer, or a fork. Beat in the powdered sugar a half cup at a time. Then whip in the vanilla until smooth. Thin out the frosting with a teaspoon or two of milk or water.
This cream cheese frosting recipe from scratch yields about a cup, which is the perfect amount for topping the full pan of carrot squares.
I will often double the recipe and use leftover frosting on Chocolate Zucchini Cake or four ingredient Easy Cinnamon Rolls.
Step by step recipe video
Above, watch the full carrot cake bar recipe video.
How to make moist carrot cake bars
Read through the recipe instructions, and gather your ingredients.
Grease an eight inch square pan, or line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Or if you want thinner bars, grease a sheet pan or a nine by thirteen inch rectangular pan. Set this baking pan aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the shredded carrot, applesauce, vinegar, vanilla extract, and optional oil.
Stir in the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, sugar, optional ginger and cloves, and optional raisins to form a batter. To prevent a dense and gummy texture, it is important to not overmix the batter.
Spread the carrot cake mixture evenly into your prepared pan with a spatula or spoon.
Place the pan on the center rack of the preheated oven. Bake thirty minutes in an eight inch pan or fifteen minutes for sheet pan bars.
At the end of the baking time, a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out mostly clean.
Let cool before frosting the bars with cream cheese frosting or your toppings of choice.
Once cooled and frosted, loosely cover the baking pan in cloth or paper towels and refrigerate for optimum freshness.
Tip: If you can wait, the texture and taste are even better the next day!
After a day, refrigerate leftovers for up to five days in a covered container. Or slice and freeze for about two to three months.
Healthy carrot cake squares
This classic carrot dessert does not taste healthy at all. Yet at the same time, it is packed with nutrition.
And even with frosting, the carrot bars are under 100 calories each!
Just one serving gives you fiber, protein, potassium, vitamin K, vitamin C, folate, niacin, and over 25% of the RDA for vitamin A.
These bars are a great choice for Easter brunch or for birthday parties where you want to accommodate different dietary preferences of guests.
The recipe includes dairy free, egg free, gluten free, fat free, added sugar free, and vegan options.
Is there a low carb version?
For keto carrot cake bars, use this recipe for Keto Carrot Cake.
Bake in a rectangular nine by thirteen inch pan instead of two round pans.
Top with your own favorite sugar free frosting. Or make my homemade cream cheese frosting recipe above, using powdered erythritol or xylitol instead of powdered sugar.
Cut into bars or squares.
- 1 cup shredded carrot (200g)
- 1/2 cup applesauce or crushed pineapple or mashed banana
- 1/4 cup oil or additional applesauce for fat free
- 2 tsp vinegar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour (See above for a keto version)
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup sugar or packed coconut sugar or xylitol
- 1 pinch ground ginger and cloves (optional)
- 1/4 cup raisins (optional)
- 1 handful shredded coconut, crushed walnuts or pecans (optional)
- 1 recipe cream cheese frosting above, or your favorite frosting or toppings
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To make carrot cake bars, first preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease an 8 inch square pan or line the bottom with parchment paper. If you prefer thinner bars, use a sheet pan or 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Stir all ingredients in a large bowl until just evenly mixed. Spread into the pan. Bake 30 minutes in an 8 inch pan or 15 minutes on a sheet pan. The bars are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Let cool fully before frosting. Loosely cover the pan with a towel and refrigerate. If you can wait, the taste and texture are even better the next day. After a day, store leftovers covered in the refrigerator or freezer for best freshness. View Nutrition Facts
Easy Carrot Cake Desserts
