Name: Frosted Carrot Cake Cookie Bars
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 105 min
Ingredients: 180 grams all-purpose flour* (spooned and leveled); 80 grams pecan halves** (ground); 1 Tbsp cinnamon; 2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp fine sea salt; 113 grams salted butter (melted); 225 grams light brown sugar (lightly packed); 1 large egg (room temperature); 1 tsp vanilla extract; 180 grams carrots (shredded); 56 grams unsalted butter (room temperature); 113 grams cream cheese (room temperature); 240 grams powdered sugar (spooned and leveled); tiny pinch fine sea salt; 15-30 mL heavy whipping cream (room temperature); 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Carrot Cake Cookie Bars

July 25, 2025

August 6, 2025

Recipe By:

Bernice Baran

A cross between carrot cake and cookies, these carrot cake cookie bars are packed full of cozy spices and they’re dense and chewy like a cookie. Frost them with cream cheese frosting and little dusting of ground cinnamon and/or pecans.

frosted carrot cake cookie bars showing the texture inside

Carrot cake is a complete vibe, truly I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like carrot cake. Of course, some have their preferences, no nuts, no pineapple, no coconut, (or if you’re my mother – no cream cheese frosting!!) but I’ll take it in pretty much any form.

From basic carrot cake to my viral carrot cake cookies, to carrot cake cupcakes, carrot cake loaf, and even carrot cake baklava, we welcome it all.

carrot cake frosted with cream cheese frosting and sliced

carrot cake cookie bars sliced and frosted with cream cheese frosting

Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

These carrot cake cookie bars are super simple. Just like cookies, the wet ingredients get mixed together, followed by the dry ingredients. The batter is somewhere between cake batter and cookie dough and gets baked into a deliciously thick and chew bar.

The cream cheese frosting is standard but as always, you can spice it up a bit by using brown butter, topping or adding salted caramel sauce or extra spices!

Step 1: Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and add a little to the food processor with the nuts. Grind the nuts until they’re completely combined.

Step 2: Combine the melted butter with the brown sugar, vanilla and egg. Whisk aggressively, for 2-3 minutes, until it lightens in color.

Step 3: Add the dry ingredients, ground nuts and shredded carrots to the cookie dough and fold until it all comes together.

Step 4: Spread the cookie dough into the prepared pan and bake for about 30ish minutes.

pecans ground with flour — pecans ground w/ flour

butter, sugar, vanilla and egg whisked together — pecans ground w/ flour

Cream Cheese Frosting

Step 1: Make the frosting by creaming the butter and cream cheese together until they’re well combined and have lightened in color a bit.

Step 2: Add the powdered sugar and salt and beat at a low speed just until the sugar is combined.

Step 3: Scrape the edge of the bowl, add the vanilla and increase the speed to medium for 1-2 minutes while streaming in the heavy whipping cream.

Step 4: If the frosting is too soft, just refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes before piping. Spread the frosting on top of the cooled cookie bars and dust with cinnamon.

cream cheese frosting finished, in the bowl

carrot cake cookie bars frosted with cream cheese frosting and dusted with cinnamon

How to store the bars

Once the cookie bar is frosted and completely done, they can be left at room temperature for a couple of hours but since it’s made with cream cheese I recommend storing it in the refrigerator.

I refrigerate them in an airtight container for 3-4 days at most but if it’s longer, I would freeze them. Bring back to room temperature (or just slightly chilled) before serving.

Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below.

If you make these fabulous carrot cake cookie bars, I’d love it if you left a star rating or a review for me!

As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B

Carrot Cake Cookie Bars