Carrot Cake Bars

These are one of my favorite desserts/snacks to make. The combination of carrot, pineapple and spices, makes for such a moist and flavorful treat. The vast majority of the time, these end up getting eaten before I even have time to frost them. The good news is these taste so good, they don’t necessarily need the frosting. Of course they look a lot prettier and taste more like your traditional carrot cake with some cream cheese frosting, so when I have that little bit of extra time, I like piping a little bit of frosting in a fun design-like this!

Options, Substitutions and Tips!

1. Prior to mixing, bring all refrigerated items (eggs, greek yogurt/sour cream) to room temperature. This will help ensure all your ingredients bind together properly.
2. As mentioned in the recipe below, you can use either greek yogurt or sour cream. Whichever one you use, I would not recommend using fat free. When I tried, it altered the consistency. I used 2% fat greek yogurt and that worked well. Whole milk greek yogurt or full fat cream sour cream will taste the best.
3. I used whole carrots and grated them on the smallest hole setting for very fine pieces. You could also use a larger hole setting and they will look more like the shredded carrots that come in a pre-packaged bag. If using shredded carrots, the measurement will be 2 cups (instead of 1.5 cups of finely shredded carrots). The consistency will be a little different depending whether you use shredded carrots or finely shredded carrots, but not too much. If you really don’t like a bit of extra chew/crunch, then I recommend using finely shredded carrots which blend into the cake more.
4. In a pinch, you could use pre-packaged shredded carrots, but just a warning that these tend to be a lot drier than when you grate your own whole carrots. Your cake will not be quite as moist if using the pre-packaged shredded carrots.
5. I love the addition of nutmeg spice in this recipe and think it balances the flavor, but if you cannot stand the taste of nutmeg, you can omit.
6. When mixing, less is more. Especially when adding your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients, try to mix as little as possible and just until ingredients are incorporated together. Overmixing typically results in a tougher, denser and chewier cake instead of a light bouncy cake.
7. As tempting as it might be to eat as soon as they came out of the oven, they taste best (and won’t crumble on you) after they are completely cooled to room temperature. I personally think they somehow taste even better the next day, and next day, and the next day….
8. These will last up 4-5 covered and refrigerated with the cream cheese frosting or up to a week unfrosted (although, I’ve never had these last that long 😉 ). They can also be frozen unfrosted for 2-3 months.

Carrot Cake Bars

These Carrot Cake Bars are the perfect treat and coffee companion. They taste just as amazing plain, but who would say no to adding a little bit of cream cheese frosting.

• 9 X 13 or similar equivalent size cake pan.

• 3 large Eggs
• ½ cup Greek Yogurt (or Sour Cream)
• ¾ cup Canola Oil
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 tsp. Cinnamon
• ½ tsp. Nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 ½ cups Finely Grated Carrots (about 4 medium size carrots)
• 8 oz. Crushed Pineapple

Cream Cheese Frosting-Optional

• 1 stick Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
• 4 oz. Cream Cheese (room temperature)
• 1 ½ cups Powdered Sugar

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease cake pan.

2. In large bowl combine Eggs, Greek Yogurt, Oil, Sugar and Vanilla. Mix until all are incorporated.

3. In medium bowl combine all dry ingredients; Flour, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Salt.

4. Pour dry ingredients into egg mixture and mix until completely incorporated. At this point your batter will be very thick.

5. Add carrots and mix.

6. Finally add in crushed pineapple and mix. Mix just until incorporated (try not to overmix).

7. Pour batter into pan and cook for 35 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Top of cake should be bouncy and spring back when you lightly touch it.

8. Remove and let completely cool-for about 30 minutes. Honestly, the longer these cool the better. I personally think these taste even better the next day!

9. Once cooled, remove from tray. I sliced them into 18 slices and then removed, but you could also run an icing knife or spatula around the edges then cover with a cutting board, flip and then flip again if you prefer to keep the cake whole like a sheet cake.

10. If making the Cream Cheese Frosting-you can either prepare while the cake is baking, or while your cake is cooling. With mixer on medium speed, combine butter and cream cheese and slowly start adding powdered sugar. Continue mixing until frosting is completely combined and starts grouping together in a ball.

11. Transfer icing into piping bag to decorate or just use a utensil to frost.

These will last 4-5 days in the refrigerator (or even up to a week without the cream cheese frosting). For optimal flavor, remove about 2 hours prior to serving to bring back to room temperature.

These also freeze great without the cream cheese frosting. They will last 2-3 months in the freezer and can be defrosted by leaving out for several hours, or by transferring to a refrigerator for 24 hours.

Dessert