Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting are as easy as 1-2-3 and disappear just that quickly! The incredible taste of your favorite carrot cake but in bar form! Looking for a quick treat? Make sure to try my 5 Minute Fantasy Bar and Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars too!
Carrot Cake Bars
I have been craving, CRAVING like mad, my Nana’s To Die For Carrot Cake. But I didn’t want to make a cake (I’ve been feeling lazy), so I made bars instead. Absolutely a good call you guys.
So much easier with all the amazing flavor. Winning!
What Size Pan for Carrot Cake Bars?
My Nana used to always make her cake in a 9×13 baking dish. I took it one step further and made it in a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan. The bars take a little less time to bake and slathering the frosting on top is a breeze.
I won’t even tell you how many little fingers came in for a taste at this stage.
Can Carrot Cake Bars Be Made Into A Layered Cake?
Yes! This recipe is the same one I use in my famous Carrot Cake recipe. It’s the carrot cake with pineapple that will have everyone asking for the recipe. The directions for baking are just a little bit different. So, if you prefer, you can absolutely turn these bars into a layered cake.
What Kind Of Frosting Goes on Carrot Cake?
I say the answer to that question is unequivocally cream cheese frosting. This cream cheese frosting that I used on these bars is my favorite. It’s super simple, fabulously rich, and utterly delicious.
It goes perfectly on these carrot cake bars.
Once you get that frosting spread you can leave it as is or dump on some sprinkles or even make little carrots for the top…
My boys think I’m extra-special when I do stuff like this. You can also find those candy carrots that come out around Easter and pop them on top for decoration if you like.
These carrot cake bars are perfectly sweet and so incredibly moist, you won’t believe how quickly they disappear. This recipe makes so many bars, but somehow, it’s just never enough.
When you don’t want to mess around with a layered cake but you’re craving carrot cake – make these bars instead!
Try these other great carrot recipes!
- To Die For Carrot Cake
- Carrot Apple Zucchini Bread
- Zucchini Carrot Oatmeal Cookies
- 5 Minute Rainbow Carrot Pecan Salad
How To Make Carrot Cake Bars
Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cake:
One
- 1¼ cups unsweetened applesauce or oil, this is what my Nana used
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
Two
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Three
- 2 cups grated carrots
- 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 cup chopped nuts optional
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup crushed pineapple not drained! {use the pineapple in JUICE not syrup}
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ½ c butter, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 lb powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine #1 ingredients. Add #2 ingredients. Stir in #3 ingredients.
- Pour into a lightly greased or parchment lined 10x15-inch jelly roll pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely!
For the frosting:
- Beat the butter and cream cheese until nice and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until nice and smooth.
- Spread on top of the cooled cake bars and serve.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published March 24, 2015, updated March 28, 2019.
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Shawn Peterson says
I haven’t made these, but I, too like to bake carrot cake as a sheet cake. It’s so much easier than the layers. I’d like to add a few tricks that I do to make the most moist cake. CHOP those carrots rather than shred. I used my Pampered Chef chopper and chop chop chop the carrots instead of shredding. My family has this thing with shredded carrots and they LOVE the cake with chopped carrots. Trick number 2, and this is required, after you chop your carrots instead of shredding, place the sugar on the carrots until the carrots make a juice. It takes about 10-15 minutes, but a woman whose carrot cake I always loved used this trick. It helps to make the carrots less bitter, which they can be that way. I adore your decorations. I’m weird and don’t like sprinkles, but I could easily use sugars to make the cute carrots. 🙂
Nancy says
Best carrot cake bars ever! It not only makes a tremendous number of bars but you can’t keep your hands off of them. Tasty and delightful! Will be adding this recipe to a frequently made section of my recipe file!
Carol Wood says
I like to garnish my Carrot cake or Bars with freshly grated carrot (which is naturally sweet) to avoid adding more sugary ingredients. It looks good and everyone says it’s a nice texture on top.
Janice Lee says
Going to try these for Halloween any suggestions on how to decorate each bar?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I don’t think you could go wrong with some green and orange sprinkles but picking up some specific Halloween candy decorations would be cute too. Maybe some of those pumpkins or candy corn?