Description
Deliciously moist carrot cake bars swirled with creamy, tangy cream cheese, blending warm spices for a delightful treat.
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 the Oven: Set your oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Prepare the Pan: Grease a 9×9 baking pan with butter or line it with parchment paper.
- Mix the Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Cream the Sugar and Butter: In another bowl, beat the softened butter and light brown sugar until creamy and fluffy.
- Add the Eggs and Vanilla: Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla extract.
- Combine the Mixtures: Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture into the wet mixture, stirring gently.
- Incorporate the Carrots: Fold in the grated carrots.
- Prepare the Cream Cheese Mixture: Beat the softened cream cheese and granulated sugar until creamy, then add the egg yolk.
- Layer the Batter: Pour half of the carrot batter into the pan, add cream cheese dollops, followed by the remaining carrot batter, and swirl.
- Bake: Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool: Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
You can prepare the batter in advance and refrigerate overnight. These bars can also be baked in an air fryer.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 200mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 25g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 30mg