These carrot cake bars are so moist and delicious! They have a sprinkle of cinnamon and a cheesecake swirl in them. They make a great Easter dessert. If you love carrot cake, I have a carrot cake with caramel frosting recipe that's to die for.
I tend to make carrot cake inspired recipes a couple of months out of the year. The first being around Easter because I associate carrot cake with Easter and the second time when the carrots in my garden are ready and/or I find some at the farmers market that are calling my name.
Carrot Cake Bars Recipe
This Carrot Cake Bars Recipe is the first of several that should be coming out in the next week or sooner! It's made completely from scratch and has a blondie feel about it. There's a generous swirl of cheesecake in it instead of adding a cream cheese frosting to the top of the bars.
How to make Carrot Cake Bars
Let's get making these carrot cake bars. Here are the ingredients you'll need for the carrot cake bars:
- butter - I used unsalted butter and added salt to the recipe. Don't worry about letting the butter come to room temperature, it will be melted instead.
- brown sugar - Light brown sugar is recommended for this recipe, but dark will do in a pinch. It may provide a more dense bar as there is more molasses in it.
- eggs - always use large eggs unless the recipe specifies a different size. You'll need a whole egg and just a yolk for this recipe.
- vanilla extract -high-quality vanilla extract. I recommend Rodelle's vanilla extract.
- flour - all-purpose flour will do the trick for this recipe! Be sure to not pack the flour in your measuring up and to always level it.
- cinnamon - cinnamon is the signature flavor for a carrot cake recipe. Make sure yours is still in date. It's easy to forget that your spices do expire.
- baking powder - To activate baking powder, an acid (brown sugar in our case) is always required. Because most baking powders are now double acting, that means this batter needs to be baked right away.
- salt - salt helps balance the sweetness and contributes to the flavor!
- carrots - the carrots don't need to be peeled but can be if you want. Use a box grater to for shredding carrots.
- cream cheese - always use full-fat cream cheese unless the recipe says otherwise.
Now to make these carrot cake swirled cream cheese bars, begin by melting the butter and whisking it with the brown sugar in a large bowl. Add in the egg and vanilla extract. Whisk until incorporated.
Add in the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk until the dry ingredients are incorporated and then fold in the grated carrots.
For the cream cheese part of the carrot cake cream cheese bars, add the cream cheese, sugar, yolk, and vanilla extract into a bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until smooth.
Start with half of the carrot cake batter. Begin pouring the batter into an 8x8 baking pan. Spread it out evenly. Add dollops of the cream cheese on top of the carrot cake batter. Add the remaining carrot cake batter on top and around the cream cheese. Add the remaining cream cheese in spoonfuls on top.
Using a skewer or butter knife, swirl the cream cheese into the carrot cake batter. Place into the preheated oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
How to Store Carrot Cake Bars
These bars are loaded with cream cheese, so the best way to store them is in an airtight container and in the fridge. They will last 3 to 5 days and taste delicious straight out of the fridge.
I have other great carrot cake squares to try too! Do you love browned butter? Check out this browned butter carrot cake blondies recipe.
Carrot Cake Bars
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Bars
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded carrots
Cheesecake Swirl
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside. You can also line the pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with nonstick baking spray.
Carrot Cake Bars
- Place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. If needed, microwave another 15 seconds to melt the butter completely.
- In a medium bowl, add the melted butter and brown sugar. Mix to combine.
- Stir in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Add in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Stir until completely combined.
- Fold in the shredded carrots. Set aside.
Cheesecake Swirl
- In a medium bowl, add in the cream cheese and sugar. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth.
- Add in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and creamy.
Assemble
- Add about half of the carrot cake batter into the pan and spread it out with an off-set spatula.
- Add half of the cheesecake batter to the carrot cake batter. Do this by dropping dollops of batter over the carrot cake batter. Don’t swirl yet.
- Add the remaining carrot cake batter on top of the cheesecake batter and around the cheesecake batter.
- Add the remaining cheesecake batter by adding dollops on top of the carrot cake batter.
- Using a knife or skewer, swirl the batters together. Swirl as much or as little as you like.
- Bake for about 35-40 minutes until the edges are golden brown. There will be very little jiggle to the center.
- Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Laurie says
Have you tried doubling the Carror Cake Bars recipe to make in cake-pan size?
Miranda says
I haven't but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Heather Kirby says
These bars are so moist and absolutely delicious!
Easy to make, but didn't enjoy grating the carrots! They were worth it though.
Karen says
I added a small can of crushed pineapple, drained. OMG. Talk about knocking it ou of the park!
Donna M Divis says
I want to make these in a 13 x 9 pan. Can I just double the ingredients and cooking time while keeping these moist?
Miranda says
That should work just fine!
Alex says
Did this recipe work in a 9x13 dish? Curious as well.
Jeannie says
Can these be made ahead and frozen?
Kathy says
Can I freeze them?
Miranda says
I'm not sure how they'll hold up after being thawed. They're quite soft. If you try it, please let us know! Thanks
Becky says
Looks like you lined your pan with parchment paper yet you never mentioned it in the directions. Is it necessary?
Miranda says
It's not necessary.
Laurie says
These were so good! Thank you for the recipe.
Joyce says
My sister and I both made this recipe on the same day a thousand miles away from each other and, unfortunately, both batches turned out so bad we had to throw them away. Turns to rubber as soon as they hit the fridge. 🙁 So sad!
Miranda says
That's really weird. I haven't had anyone else say that.
Daun Scocchia says
Do you need to use pure vanilla extract? Would there be a change in the measurement if you used artificial vanilla extract?
Miranda says
There wouldn't.
Jeannie says
These seem perfect for my husband and I since we don't do sweets very often and making an entire cake for the two of us is a waste. With that being said, could I add crushed nuts and raisins to the recipe without ruining the recipe as it is, or would it be better to leave them out?
Miranda says
Of course! You can add both crushed nuts and raisins to the recipe and it will still turn out great!
Jill says
I tablespoon of vanilla in the bar mixture seems excessive. Is this correct? Should it have been teaspoon instead?
Miranda says
I used a tablespoon but you're welcome to use 1 to 2 teaspoons if you think it's excessive.
debbie says
OMG THESE ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD I TOO AM GOING TO TRY TO DOUBLE FOR A CAKE PAN
Nissa says
I’d like to incorporate unsweetened shredded coconut in the bars somehow. Would you suggest mixing it with the carrot cake batter? I love a homemade carrot cake with cheesecake frosting, and covered in shredded coconut/pecans!
Miranda says
Yes! That shouldn't be a problem at all.
Retha says
Does the batter come out like cookie dough? It was like it needed more liquid to be like batter and the cream cheese was like batter. I couldn’t swirl it together because the carrot batter was so thick.
Miranda says
The batter is thick.
Lanae says
My bars came out more “cake-like” than what is described and shown in the pictures. Also my cheesecake was runnier.
The taste was good. I’ll give it another try.
Steph says
Mine didn't rise at all, they're about 1/8 inch thick 😥. Any suggestions (baking powder was fresh).
Miranda C. says
Oh no! They definitely should be thicker than that! The only suggestions I have are to make sure all the ingredients were measured correctly, the pan was the correct size and the cream cheese layer wasn't fully blended in, just swirled. Hopefully they will turn out better next time as they really are delicious!
Nadine says
Overall I liked them, but the texture was a bit.... gummy to me. I do not know how to really describe it. Maybe from being kept in the fridge? I opted to make some cream cheese frosting for the top and I feel like that solved my issue with them. I wanted more of the cream cheese!
Deni says
Why do your readers ask questions about substitutions or additions to your recipe instead of trying the recipe with their preferences themselves. Seems silly to ask questions about your recipe that they want to change.
Jenn says
I think it's so they don't waste their ingredients. If they ask her ahead of time, she may say "no don't do that!". It's like Ask the Expert. 🙂
Melissa says
Can I use self rising flour instead of all purpose flour? Would it make a difference?
Miranda C. says
Hi Melissa! Self rising flour actually already contains baking powder mixed into the flour. In fact, there is about 1 teaspoon of baking powder in every cup of self rising flour. This would be too much baking powder for these carrot cake bars. They would end up being less dense and very cake-like. I would recommend sticking to regular flour if possible. Hope this helps!
Tamara says
The bars looked great! I doubled the recipe as I was going to use the bigger 13x9 pan, but found (2) 8x8's instead. I used bought shredded carrots and it overwhelmed the bars. 😔 Might I suggest tweaking your recipe to say finely shredded carrot or home shred to avoid my mistake. I will try again later using the smaller grated version.
Miranda C. says
Thanks for that tip Tamara! Finely shredded carrots would definitely work best and blend into the batter more. Let me know how they turn out when you try recipe again.