These Carrot Cake Bars are deliciously moist dessert bars that are loaded with fresh carrots, rich with warm spices, and swirled with sweet cream cheese. It’s an easy carrot cake recipe for Easter and carrot cake lovers.
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I have been making A LOT of carrot cake recipes because my dad loves them. He was really impressed with these delicious carrot cake bars. I still remember when he took his first bite and his eyes went wide.
I was impressed with them too. These easy carrot cake bars may be my favorite carrot cake recipe. And not just because they're ridiculously easy to make.
Want more moist carrot cake? You should check out these carrot cake cupcakes and these carrot cake cookies, Both recipes include how to make fluffy cream cheese frosting.
And the carrot cake cookies are even easier to make than these dessert bars.
Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Bars
Let’s be honest… anything with cream cheese is one of my favorite desserts. 😂 I order bagels JUST for the cream cheese.
But, the cream cheese swirl in these carrot cake bars enhances and compliments the carrot cake flavors SO well that this is the best carrot cake recipe.
In addition to the amazing flavor, these carrot bars are SO moist.
The texture of these bars remind me more of a blondie. A moist, decadent, fudgy blondie.
Carrot Cake Bars Recipe
For best results, use fresh carrots in this recipe.
In Best Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Easy, Moist, and Perfectly Spiced), I explain why we shouldn’t use a package of pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store in any carrot cake recipe.
Fresh carrots contribute to the moisture and texture of these bars.
Please grate fresh, whole carrots at home with a box grater, like this Spring Chef Professional Box Grater. Use the side of the grater that has the smallest holes.
If you have a food processor, you could use that with the shredded blade to grate the carrots.
This carrot cake bars recipe calls for 1 cup of grated carrots, which usually requires about 2-3 whole carrots.
Save and organize your recipes with this adorable Recipe Card Printable. Available HERE.
Cream Cheese Swirl
The cream cheese layer is made with softened cream cheese and white sugar.
It’s best to mix the two ingredients together in a separate, medium bowl.
After pouring half of the carrot mixture in an 8x8 baking dish, add a little bit of the cream cheese mixture on top in random spots. You should use about a quarter of the cream cheese mixture to do this.
Then pour the rest of the carrot cake mixture into the baking pan. Plop the rest of the cream cheese mixture in various spots on top. Nothing too even or perfect.
Take a butter knife and carefully swirl the batter. Make sure to swirl the middle of the cake too.
My favorite way to ensure I’m getting the cream cheese swirl throughout the bars is to randomly lift the knife out of the batter then put it back in a new area.
Be careful not to completely mix the carrot cake mix and the cream cheese mix together. There should be clear, distinct swirls on top of the bars.
How to Store
These bars need to be stored in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese swirl.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
I like to use one of these Pyrex Easy Grab Baking Dishes to bake my carrot cake bars. They each come with a lid, so once the bars are cool, I just put the lid on and pop it in the fridge.
If you’re baking pan doesn’t come with a lid, you could cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil (after the bars cool) and put it in the fridge for 3-4 days.
For more Easter dessert ideas, check out:
- Easy Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Best Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Easy, Moist, and Perfectly Spiced)
- Lemon Cupcakes from Scratch
Carrot Cake Bars {Swirled with Cream Cheese}
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake:
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter melted
- ¾ cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs large
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon ground
- ½ teaspoon Ginger ground
- ½ teaspoon Cloves ground
- 1 cup Carrots grated
For the Cream Cheese Swirl:
- 4 oz Cream Cheese softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
Instructions
For the Carrot Cake Bars:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Prepare an 8x8 baking pan with non stick cooking spray or parchment paper.
- Grate carrots with the smallest holes on a box grater. Set aside.
- In a small bowl (that’s microwave-safe), melt the butter in the microwave.
- In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. If the mixture is too hot, it’ll cook the eggs. Let it cool some before the next step.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients (flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves) to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- Fold in the grated carrots. Set aside.
For the Cream Cheese Swirl:
- In a medium bowl, mix the softened cream cheese and granulated sugar until smooth. Set aside.
- Pour about half of the carrot cake mixture into the prepared baking pan. Spread it out with a rubber spatula.
- Use about a quarter of the cream cheese mixture to drop spoonfuls on top of the carrot cake batter in random spots. It doesn’t need to be smooth or a continuous layer.
- Pour the rest of the carrot cake mixture into the baking pan.
- Plop the rest of the cream cheese mixture in random spots on top of the batter.
- Take a butter knife and carefully swirl the mixtures. Be careful not to mix them completely together. There should be distinct swirls in the batter on top.
- Bake carrot cake bars for 25-30 minutes, the edges will be golden brown and set.
- Cool completely before cutting.
Notes
- Allow the cream cheese to soften to room temperature before using. Otherwise, it won’t mix well with the sugar.
- This carrot cake bar recipe does not include baking powder or baking soda. A lot of fudgy brownie/blondie recipes do not contain them either. The texture of these bars is similar.
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