Description
Delicious carrot cake bars with a creamy, tangy swirl of cream cheese, perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 0.5 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 0.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 0.5 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup freshly grated carrots
- 4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 1 large egg yolk
- 0.5 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and prepare a baking dish by greasing it lightly or lining it with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the light brown sugar, unsalted butter, and kosher salt until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, along with the vanilla extract until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and baking powder.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Fold in the freshly grated carrots until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared baking dish.
- In another bowl, mix the softened cream cheese, egg yolk, and granulated sugar until smooth. Spread this mixture over the batter in the baking dish.
- Top with the remaining batter, spreading it gently to cover the cream cheese layer.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow it to cool before slicing into bars.
Notes
For added texture, consider folding in chopped walnuts or raisins into the batter.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 280
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 200mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 40mg