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Frosted Carrot Cake Cookie Bars

prep 30 minutes
cook 15 minutes
1 hour
total 1 hour 45 minutes
Serves 16 slices
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!
Servings 16 slices

Equipment

  • 1 hand mixer or stand mixer
  • 1 large bowl
  • 1 Rubber Spatula
  • 1 Whisk
  • 1 digital scale
  • 1 offset spatula

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Cookie Bars

  • 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

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 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

Method

Carrot Cake Cookie Bars

  1. Preheat the oven to 325F/161C and grease and line an 8x8" square pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt until they're well combined. Set aside.
    180 grams all-purpose flour* spooned and leveled, 1 Tbsp cinnamon, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  3. Place the pecans in a food processor with about 1/3 of the flour mixture and grind until the nuts are finely ground (the flour will help it grind more fine and not clump together).
    80 grams pecan halves** ground
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter with the sugar, until they're well combined.
    113 grams salted butter melted, 225 grams light brown sugar lightly packed
  5. Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk the batter for 1-2 minutes, until it's all smooth and has lightened in color a little.
    1 large egg room temperature, 1 tsp vanilla extract
  6. Add the dry ingredients, the nut mixture and the shredded carrots and fold the mixture until it's all well combined.
    180 grams carrots shredded
  7. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30-ish minutes until it's no longer wet and slightly springs back when you press on it.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. Place the room temperature butter and cream cheese in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, fit with the whisk attachment. Beat at medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes, until they're well combined.
    56 grams unsalted butter room temperature, 113 grams cream cheese room temperature
  2. Add the powdered sugar and salt and beat on low speed until the sugar is combined. Then increase the speed to medium-high for another 1-2 minutes.
    240 grams powdered sugar spooned and leveled, tiny pinch fine sea salt
  3. Add the vanilla extract and the heavy whipping cream and beat at medium high speed for another minute or so.
    15-30 mL heavy whipping cream room temperature, 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
  4. Frost the bars with the cream cheese frosting and then top with a dusting of cinnamon!

Notes

*Flour: I HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as flour (and nuts) is so often over measured. If not, make sure to scoop the flour into the measuring cup and level it off. 
**Pecans: I love adding ground up pecans or walnuts to any carrot cake dessert. I haven’t tested it with this recipe but I have subbed the nut flour for a little less all-purpose flour and it turned out well. So if you need it to be nut free, I would probably do about ½ cup of flour in place of the ground nuts.

Nutrition

Calories: 396kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 3gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 320mgPotassium: 119mgFiber: 1gSugar: 37gVitamin A: 2639IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 74mgIron: 1mg
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Keyword: carrot cake, cookie bars, cream cheese frosting