Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting (Easy Easter Dessert)
These carrot cake bars with cream cheese frosting deliver everything you love about classic Easter carrot cake - warm cinnamon spice, tender crumb, and tangy frosting - in a simple sheet pan recipe that's ready in under an hour. No layering, no leveling, no decorating stress. Just mix, bake, frost, and cut into 16 perfectly portioned bars that are ideal for Easter dessert tables, spring potlucks, or any time a carrot cake craving hits and you don't want to commit to a full cake. This recipe is also made without nuts, making it a great choice for sharing with a crowd when you're not sure about allergies.
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Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
Since these easy carrot cake bars are prepared with the same ingredients used in classic carrot cake, it's packed with all that nostalgic flavor you're looking for in an old-fashioned spring dessert. To make this simple recipe, you'll need:
- Flour
- Ground cinnamon
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Ground ginger
- Ground nutmeg
- Butter
- Sugar
- Brown sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Shredded carrots
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar
- Orange and green food coloring
One ingredient note worth mentioning: use freshly grated carrots rather than the pre-shredded bags from the grocery store. Pre-shredded carrots are significantly drier and coarser, which affects both the moisture level and texture of the finished bars. The fine side of a box grater or the shredding disk on a food processor takes just a few minutes and makes a real difference in the final result.
How Do I Make Carrot Cake Bars?
While these dessert bars taste just like carrot cake, they're much simpler to prepare than a classic layer cake. Just follow these six simple instructions to whip up your own carrot cake inspired dessert right now:
Step One: Prepare the Dry Ingredients
Before you start baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. Then, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine all the ingredients together, then set the bowl aside.
Step Two: Mix the Batter
In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla to the bowl and beat to mix. Then, pour in half the dry ingredients. Beat until mixed, then add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl.
Step Three: Add the Carrots
After mixing in the remaining dry ingredients, pour the shredded carrots into the bowl. Carefully fold the carrots into the batter until they're evenly dispersed throughout the bowl.
Step Four: Bake the Carrot Cake Bars
Spread the batter in the prepared baking dish, smoothing out the top so the batter is evenly spread across the pan. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Step Five: Make the Frosting
Place the pan of cake bars on a wire cooling rack to cool completely, then add the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla to a bowl. Beat until the ingredients are well blended, then add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating between each addition.
Step Six: Decorate the Cake Bars
Separate a small amount of the prepared icing into two separate bowls. Add orange food coloring to one bowl and green food coloring to the other bowl. Mix until the colors are well combined and no streaks remain, then transfer each color to a piping bag. Use the parchment paper to pull the cake bars out of the pan, then spread the remaining white icing over the top of the bars. Cut the bars into 16 even pieces, then use the orange and green icing to draw a carrot on top of each bar.
How Do I Grate Carrots?
Since you don't want to bite into large chunks of carrot, grate as finely as possible using the finest setting on your box grater or the shredding disk on a food processor. It's also worth skipping the pre-shredded carrots sold in bags at the grocery store - they're drier and tougher than freshly grated, and that extra moisture in fresh carrots is part of what keeps these bars tender rather than dry.
Carrot Cake Bars Recipe Ideas
You're going to love how quickly and easily these simple cake bars are to make! And since they're so easy to prepare, they're also easy to customize. Try these recipe ideas to add some unique flavor to your own treats:
- Add some mix-ins. Classic cake is typically made with a variety of different mix-ins. Try adding some chopped pecans or walnuts, raisins, or shredded coconut to add some vintage flair to your treats.
- Spice up the frosting. Classic cream cheese frosting is perfect for balancing the sweetness of the bars. But if you want to add even more flavor to each bite, try adding a bit of ground cinnamon to the frosting before spreading it on top of the bars.
- Add some toppings. Decorating your dessert bars with cute carrots is just one way to dress them up before serving. Instead of piping carrot decorations on top of each bar, try sprinkling some chopped nuts, raisins, coconut, or sprinkles on top of the dessert.
How to Store Carrot Cake Bars
Since these bars are made with cream cheese frosting, they need to be refrigerated. Transfer leftovers to an airtight container or cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap. They'll keep in the refrigerator for up to three days and actually taste better on day two once the flavors have had time to settle. Because of the cream cheese frosting, don't leave them at room temperature for more than two hours.
To freeze, wrap the cooled unfrosted bars tightly in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-safe bag for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then frost before serving. If you need to freeze already-frosted bars, freeze uncovered on a baking sheet until the frosting is firm, then wrap individually.
Yes - these are actually a great make-ahead Easter dessert because they taste better the next day once the flavors have had time to meld.Bake and frost them the day before, then store covered in the refrigerator overnight. Pull them out about 20 minutes before serving to take the chill off.
You can freeze the bars either frosted or unfrosted. For best results, freeze them unfrosted - wrap the cooled bars tightly in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer-safe bag for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then frost before serving. If freezing already-frosted bars, freeze them uncovered on a baking sheet first until the frosting is firm, then wrap individually.
Yes, but the bars will be thinner and the bake time will be shorter - start checking around 20 to 25 minutes. The yield will also increase, so plan to cut into more pieces.
Freshly grated carrots are strongly recommended over the pre-shredded bags from the grocery store. Pre-shredded carrots are drier and coarser, which affects both texture and moisture in the finished bars. Use the fine side of a box grater or the shredding disk on a food processor for the best result.
Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, these bars will keep for up to three days. Because of the cream cheese frosting, they should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours.
Looking for more delicious dessert ideas? Give these reader favorites a try!
Carrot Cake Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup shredded carrots
For the icing:
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- Orange and green food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. Spray with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Add half the dry ingredients and beat until mixed, then add the remaining dry ingredients and beat until smooth.
- Fold in the shredded carrots.
- Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake bars to cool completely, then prepare the icing by beating together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating between each addition.
- Separate a small amount of the icing into two separate bowls. Add the orange food coloring to one bowl and the green food coloring to the other bowl. Stir until the coloring is mixed into the icing, then transfer each color to a piping bag.
- Remove the cake bars from the pan by pulling the edges of the parchment paper up. Spread the remaining icing over the top of the cake bars and cut the bars into 12 pieces.
- Decorate the top of each cake bar with a carrot using the orange and green icing.
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