These carrot cake bars are packed with shredded carrots, warm spices, and pecans and topped with cream cheese frosting. They are soft, moist, and chewy and taste like a cross between carrot cake and a buttery blondie.
You know I love taking a classic recipe, like carrot cake, and adding a fun twist to it. We should have a carrot cake recipe for whatever our heart desires, right? Carrot cake cookies or carrot cake cupcakes…or perhaps, pineapple carrot cake or pumpkin carrot cake is more your thing? Today we’re talking about carrot cake bars!
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Why you’ll love this recipe
Flavor: Butter, brown sugar, vanilla, warm spices, and pecans add lots of flavor.
Texture: The bars are part cake part blondie so they bake up a bit more moist, dense, and buttery than a cake.
Ease: No difficult techniques or fancy equipment needed.
Key ingredients
Melted butter: This recipe uses ¾ cup of melted butter for flavor and texture.
Brown sugar AND white sugar: I tested this recipe multiple ways and I found that this combination of sugars was the best.
Egg plus egg yolk: Adding the extra yolk enriches the flavor and texture of the bars.
Warm spices: This recipe uses a combination of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg for the best flavor.
Shredded carrots: Grate whole carrots on the small or medium holes of a box grater.
Pecans: Chopped pecans are used in the batter as well as on top of the bars. The buttery crunch of pecans goes great with the other flavors.
Recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
Start by making the bars:
- Combine melted butter and sugars
- Whisk in egg, egg yolk,and vanilla
- Add flour, spices, salt, and baking powder
- Stir in carrots and pecans
- Spread the batter into a 9×9 pan and bake
Cream cheese frosting:
Beat butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until well combined.
Once the bars have cooled, spread or pipe the frosting on the bars.
Recipe tips
- After melting the butter it needs to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Use this time to grate your carrots and combine your dry ingredients.
- Shred the carrots using the medium or small holes on a box grater. Don’t use pre-shredded carrots, they are too thick and they won’t soften during the bake time.
- Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing. They will slice the cleanest if they are chilled in the refrigerator first.
- For a pretty presentation: cut the bars before frosting them and pipe the frosting in a zigzag pattern.
Serving and storage
Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
These bars are best served at room temperature. Remove them from the fridge one hour before serving.
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Recipe
Carrot Cake Bars
Ingredients
Bars:
- ¾ cup (172g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ½ cup (105g) packed brown sugar, light or dark
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1⅓ cup (170g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 scant teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (100g) shredded carrots, loosely measured, not packed, see note
- ½ cup (65g) finely chopped toasted pecans
Frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups (187g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- finely chopped toasted pecans, optional garnish
Instructions
Bars:
- Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center of the oven. Line a 9×9 square metal pan with foil or parchment and lightly grease it.
- In a large bowl, whisk melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for one full minute, until well combined. Whisk in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and whisk until well combined, being careful not to overmix. Tap the excess batter off the whisk and remove it from the bowl. Using a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, stir the carrots and pecans into the batter.
- Spread the batter into an even layer in the prepared pan. Bake for 22-26 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The bars will rise just a bit but stay flat. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting:
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. This frosting is on the softer side, if it appears too soft you can add a bit more powdered sugar or pop it into the fridge for 20 minutes or so.
- Spread or pipe the frosting on the cooled bars. Top with pecans, if desired. Note: I like to cut the bars first, then pipe frosting in a zigzag pattern on top of each bar.
- Bars should be stored in the refrigerator and brought to room temperature one hour before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Jenn says
For sure making these bars for Easter! Amazing!
Terry m says
This was easy to make and my family loves them.
Allison says
I’m so glad! Thanks for stopping by!
Kayla says
made these bars for Easter, amazing!! it’s my sister’s and she wants it in a cake, do you think this recipe could also be used in cake pans?
Allison Mattina says
Hi! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Are you wanting to make a layer cake? I’m thinking maybe double the recipe and divide between three 9-inch round pans. You’d have to play around with it.
Cami Seager says
These were delicious! Followed the recipe exactly and my family loved them!
Courtney M says
Made these for Easter, and they were absolutely amazing!!!
Allison Mattina says
I’m so glad! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂