Carrot Cake Bars
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If you like carrot cake, you’re in for a treat! My carrot cake bars taste just like carrot cake but are moister and denser, with pecans, oats, carrots, spices, and cream cheese frosting.
Now, I know this looks just like a piece of carrot cake. But it’s actually a really dense and rich carrot cake bar cookie, all dressed up to look like cake. It sure is good too and you’ll find me making them nearly every Easter.
So, what do you need to make carrot cake bars? We start with a baking mix, then add oats, butter, brown sugar, pecans, vanilla, carrots, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, eggs, and raisins. Oh yeah, when I say these carrot cake bars are packed full of flavor, I mean it. But no wonder they’re so moist and dense, right?
Anyway, these easy carrot cake bars aren’t too difficult to make. Don’t we love that? All it takes is a little hand mixing as we mix together most of the ingredients then fold in the grated carrot, chopped pecans, and raisins at the end. Pour the cake batter into a baking dish and bake until golden brown. Then it isn’t carrot cake without cream cheese icing! Add a thick layer on top, sprinkle on some extra pecans if you’re feeling fancy, and get ready to enjoy a big ol’ carrot cake bar.
The rich carrot cake flavor paired with the creamy frosting is a match made in heaven. Ready to cook? Let’s go hop in the kitchen! The last one in has to do the dishes!
Recipe Ingredients
- Baking mix
- Oats
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Pecans (optional)
- Vanilla extract
- Carrots
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Allspice
- Eggs
- Raisins
How to Make Carrot Cake Bars
Place butter in a large bowl and melt it however you feel led to do so…
I felt led to the microwave.
Dump in your baking mix, brown sugar, eggs, oats, and spices.
Stir that up really well with a big spoon.
Shred your carrots.
Then I chopped up the shredded carrot a bit into bite-sized pieces.
Toss that on top of your dough along with the raisins and pecans.
Stir that again until it is well mixed.
Pat the out into a 9×13 baking dish greased with .
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.
Like this.
Now, ice it with cream cheese icing.
You can see a tutorial on how to make cream cheese icing by visiting this post.
But all you do is put all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl, mix really well, scrape down the sides, and mix again.
Instructions are in the recipe below as well.
After icing, I like to sprinkle some over the top.
Now see this serving size? This is for pictures, folks. Don’t cut your pieces this big. This is a big old chewy brown sugar and butter cookie bar iced with cream cheese icing. If you eat this big old whomping piece you’d likely die of sugar overload. Now I’m not saying that isn’t a good way to die, but it isn’t your time yet!
And when you start feeling guilty remember, this has vegetables in it!
Storage
- Because of the cream cheese icing, you want to store your bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- You can also freeze carrot bars for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.
Recipe Notes
- For baking mix you can use Bisquick, Pioneer Brand, Generic like I have pictured, or even my recipe for homemade Better For You Baking Mix that is in my Come Home To Supper cookbook. I try to keep a batch of it in my fridge but we go through it so fast that I never seem to have it when it comes time to do a post!
- If you do what I do sometimes and put too much baking mix in your carrot cake bar batter, add 1/2 cup of milk and you’ll be all good!
- To make life easier, you can also shred your fresh carrots using a food processor’s shredded attachment to save time.
- Instead of pecans, add chopped walnuts to your carrot cake bars or omit the nuts entirely.
- Another great mix-in you can add along with or instead of the raisins is shredded coconut flakes. Opt for 1/2 a cup. Bonus points if you toast the coconut beforehand!
- Use whatever warm spices you have on hand. If you don’t have ginger and allspice, a 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and a pinch of ground cloves also work well.
- For lemon cream cheese frosting, add 1 teaspoon of lemon extract to the icing.
Recipe FAQs
Can you make carrot cake bars ahead of time?
Absolutely! The first option is to make the finished bars, cover them in plastic wrap, and store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Alternatively, you can make the frosting up to 3 days in advance. Let it stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before spreading it on the baked and cooled bars.
Check out these other carrot cake recipes:
Skillet Carrot Cake from Southern Cast Iron
Carrot Cake Recipe from Southern Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned or quick oats
- 2 cups packed brown sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose baking mix
- 2 eggs
- 2 sticks melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1.5 cups grated carrot
- 1 cup chopped pecans 1/2 for batter, 1/2 for topping
- 1/2 cup raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temp
- 1 stick butter at room temp
- 3.5-4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine baking mix, sugar, oats, eggs, vanilla, spices, and melted butter in a large mixing bowl and stir by hand until a dough is formed.1 cup old-fashioned or quick oats, 2 cups packed brown sugar, 4 cups all-purpose baking mix, 2 eggs, 2 sticks melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- Stir in shredded carrot, raisins, and pecans until well mixed.1.5 cups grated carrot, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1/2 cup raisins
- Pat into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool.
To make icing
- Place softened butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended.8 ounces cream cheese at room temp, 1 stick butter at room temp
- Slowly add sugar, a cup or so at a time, and beat until light and fluffy.3.5-4 cups confectioner's sugar
- Mix in vanilla and lemon juice until well blended.1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Ice the cooled bars.
Nutrition
“The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege. “
~Charles Kuralt
Christy. I love your recipes and most of all your stories about your family. In looking at the carrot bar recipe, the directions refer to raisins, but I don’t see any listed in the ingredient list. Is it to taste? This is no big deal but I suffer from the “proofreading eye syndrome ” of being a former English teacher. Keep the recipes and stories coming!
We used a product called Pecan Blend before the growing season, then ammonia nitrate after the fruit has set. I think this is just a dormant year for our trees. I am going to try these carrot bars at Thanksgiving, along with the sweet potato dumplings you posted awhile back, they were delicious!
Hey I just wanted to let you know that I have been using some of your recipes and thought to encourage our young mothers at church to “Bring their Babies to the Table” I Love that your recipes are so easy even a beginner can do them but so GOOD a seasoned cook (that’s what I call my self instead of old) will prepare them over and over. I sing your praises all the time. WHAT A BLESSING YOU ARE!!!!!
Oh what a gorgeous view from your backyard! It must be such a good feeling to look up through those beautiful tall trees to the heavens. I can see how a calm feeling would come over us and we would only want to be quite and listen. Thank you for sharing this view.
Great recipe!!! My father-in-law LOVES carrot cake! Thanks for helping me win points with him! Also, pecan trees shave to be sprayed on a certain schedule to produce pecans, check with your local extension office!
My grandpa had a method to boost production when pecan trees got lazy. He drilled holes around the base of the tree, in the ground, and poured some lye down each hole. It must have worked because his trees would set a bountiful crop the next year after this treatment. If you were squeamish about using lye, a triple 10 fertilizer might do the trick.
Can’t wait to make these Carrot Cake Bars for our church’s soup kitchen, do the bars freeze well? How does the icing freeze? Wondering if I could make seseveral and ice them up before placing in the freezer.