Carrot Cake Bars

Carrot Cake Bars are dessert bars loaded with shredded carrots and chopped walnuts with a cheesecake swirl and a crumble topping. The thing that sets these carrot cake bars apart from the rest is the cream cheese frosting swirl inside the bars! So, you still get the cream cheese frosting with the carrot cake, but also leave room for the crumble topping! The delicious bars also have walnuts added to the batter for a little nutty crunch in every bite.

There are three important parts to this recipe–the crumble topping, bars, and cheesecake frosting swirl. Butter: You will use a stick of butter for both the topping and the bars (a total of two sticks), so I chose to use Challenge Butter. Carrots: You can’t have carrot cake without shredded carrots! You will need 2-3 large carrots for this recipe. Freshly shredded carrots are best; pre-shredded can be too dry. Walnuts: I like adding walnuts to these bars for a crunch. However, you can definitely leave them out. If you do leave out the nuts, I recommend that you grate the carrots even finer. A crumble topping is made with just a few simple ingredients. 

You can freeze the bars for up to 3 months. If freezing, wrap the bars in plastic wrap and store them in a freezer-safe container that has been labeled and dated.

Ingredients:

CRUMBLE TOPPING

• ½ cup (1 stick or 113g) butter, cubed
• ¾ cup (94g) all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup (42g) confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

BARS

• ½ cup (1 stick or 113g) butter, melted
• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1½ cups shredded carrots, approximately 2-3 large carrots
• ½ cup walnuts, finely chopped

CHEESECAKE SWIRL

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• ½ cup (62.5g) confectioners' sugar