Carrot Cake Bars
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These easy carrot cake bars are moist and flavorful with hints of cinnamon, brown sugar and vanilla. A thick layer of cream cheese frosting takes them to the next level. Made in a jelly roll pan – this recipe is so simple and feeds a crowd.
If you’re looking for an easy dessert for Easter or spring – these carrot cake bars are the perfect solution. They’re incredibly moist and almost springy in texture. They have a delicious carrot cake flavor and are slathered with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting. You can easily add in drained pineapple, raisins, or chopped walnuts. But without a doubt – don’t skip the cream cheese frosting!
I love that these carrot cake bars are so much simpler than making carrot cake as a layer cake. The recipe is made in a 15″x10″ pan – so it will easily slice into about 20 pieces. If you love cake recipes made in a jelly roll pan, then be sure to try these banana bars or pumpkin bars for fall.
Making Carrot Cake Bars
Here’s the rundown, with photos, of each recipe step. If you want to get straight to the recipe (with amounts and no photos), click the link below.
Jump to Recipe- Prep: Start by preheating the oven and preparing the pan. For this recipe, I lightly greease then dust with flou.
- Whisk the Dry Ingredients: Flour, cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, baking soda and salt.
- Whisk the Wet Ingredients and Sugars: I always whisk the eggs first, then whisk in the oil, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla and sour cream.
- Stir in the Carrots and Crushed Pineapple: These go into the wet ingredients. I prefer finely shredded carrots for this recipe and crushed pineapple in juice (as opposed to syrup). Be sure to drain the pineapple.
- Mix the Dry Ingredients into the Wet Ingredients: You can do this by hand. Gently fold the ingredients together until you no longer see lumps or streaks of flour.
- Stir in the Walnuts or Raisins: Personally, I’d choose to use nuts or raisins for this recipe as I find that using both makes the bars harder to slice. But that’s up to you. I used neither when I photographed these bars.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan and smooth into an even layer. The bars will bake for about 25-30 minutes. When they’re done baking, the top will look set, the edges will be pulling away from the pan and an inserted toothpick should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
After the bars are baked and cooled, they’re topped with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting. Whenever making cream cheese frosting, be sure to use full-fat cream cheese that comes in a brick instead of spreadable cream cheese from a tub or anything that’s low fat or low calorie. After frosting the bars, I often add a sprinkle of cinnamon on top for a little visual appeal. You could also add a sprinkle of chopped walnuts.
Recipe Tip
After the bars are baked and cooled, I recommend placing in the fridge for about 20 minutes before frosting. This helps to minimize cake crumbs mixing into the frosting when you frost the bars.
These carrot cake bars are so simple to make and perfect for feeding a crowd. The carrot cake is incredibly moist and flavorful, and you’ll love the ratio of tangy cream cheese frosting to cake. If you’re looking for an easy dessert for Easter – these carrot cake bars are the perfect thing.
For more carrot cake recipe inspiration, be sure to try:
Carrot Cake Bars
Equipment
- 10×15 inch (25×38 cm) jelly roll pan
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Bars
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250 grams)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutemg
- 1/4 teaspoons ground clover
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil (180 ml)
- 1 cup brown sugar (210 grams), light or dark
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams), caster is fine too
- 1/4 cup sour cream (60 ml), or plain Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups finely shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple (about 100 grams after draining), drained, I recommend pineapple that's in juice instead of syrup
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts , optional
- 1/2 cup raisins, optional
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (112 grams), softened but not starting to melt
- 8 ounce cream cheese (226 grams), full fat, brick style
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar (330-440 grams), sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-3 tablespoons whipping cream (15-45 ml), or heavy cream, as needed
Instructions
Carrot Cake Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan, then dust with flour. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs. Then whisk in the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla and sour cream Whisk until there are no more lumps of sugar or sour cream.
- Stir the drained pineapple (optional) and shredded carrot.
- Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Fold the ingredients in gently and stop mixing when you no longer see lumps or streaks of flour.
- Gently fold in the optional raisins or chopped walnuts. If adding raisins – make sure to separate them first before adding them to the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the top looks set, the edges are starting to pull away from the pan and an inserted toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs but no gooey cake batter.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth.
- Chop the cream cheese into cubes (about 8-10 is fine) and add to the bowl. Beat together until just combined.
- Add in 2 cups sifted powdered sugar along with the vanilla and salt. Beat together, starting with the mixer on a low speed until combined.
- Mix in the rest of the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with 1 tablespoon of cream as needed until the desired sweetness is reached.
- Ensure the bars are fully cooled first (you can speed this up by placing in the fridge). Then frost with a flat edge knife. I like to sift a little nutmeg or cinnamon on top of the bars for a little visual appeal, but that's optional.
Notes
- Carrots: For this recipe, I recommend finely shredding the carrots. Because the bake time isn’t too long, the finely shredded carrots dissolve better. Do not use shredded carrots that come in a bag from the grocery store, as I find these are too large for baking with.
- Crushed Pineapple: I recommend crushed pineapple as opposed to chopped pineapple because it will dissolve more as the bars bake.
- Raisins & Walnuts: I recommend using either raisins or walnuts for this recipe. I find that when using both, the bars do not slice as well.
- Cream Cheese: Be sure to use brick-style, full fat cream cheese. Do not use low fat, low calorie, or anything labeled spreadable or whipped.
- Storage: Store bars covered or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 bar with frosting, assuming the recipe yields 20 uniform bars.
