Guys. I'm gonna let these bars do most of the talking today — I'm short on words and these bars are NOT short on awesome. So much orange zest! Tangy cream cheese frosting! Crunchy pecans! I'm calling these carrot cake BARS because they're more dense than a normal carrot cake. Just how I like my "cake" — DENSE. Pay no attention to my weirdo cutting here... I have no clue what I was thinking/trying to do, but it clearly did not work.
At least they taste AAAMAZING!
Have a wonderful Wednesday! xo
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Orange Carrot Cake Bars
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- Carrot Cake Bars
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp orange zest
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cups brown sugar
- ½ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ⅔ cup finely shredded carrots
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
- 1 Tbsp fresh grated orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line an 8x8" pan with parchment.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, orange zest, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Whisk the eggs together with the brown sugar, then add the sour cream, melted butter, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth, then whisk in the shredded carrots.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until partially combined, then fold in the chopped pecans. Spread evenly into the prepared pan, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting, cream the cream cheese and butter together in a mixer until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Slowly mix until smooth. Frost the bars in an even layer!
Lisa @ Healthy Nibbles & Bits says
Carrot cake is one of my absolute faves!!! I feel like you made this for me. That means I get half of this to myself right? LOVE all those chunky nuts you have in there!
Mary says
Oh man, if I had any left I'd freeze and ship PRONTO!
Cindy says
orange cream cheese!? Hell yes. I'm way into it.
Mary says
Yaaaah gurl!! Xoxo