Carrot Cake Blondies (with cinnamon cream cheese frosting)

Carrot Cake Blondies – I love carrot cake – in all forms.

I love blondies – almost too much.

When carrot cake and blondies get married…it’s like a match made in heaven.

These Carrot Cake Blondies are going to be perfect for spring!

The other day I got a comment on Facebook asking why there is so much carrot cake and lemon going around the internet right now. The answer?

Easter. Spring.

Like gingerbread is for Christmas, red velvet is for Valentine’s Day, carrot cake is an Easter thing. Why? I have no idea.

I’m assuming it’s because the Easter bunny is a bunny and bunnies like carrots. Hence, all things carrot cake. And I’m okay with that. I hope you are too, because this latest carrot cake creation is one of my favorites.

Carrot Cake Blondies. It’s like a blondie…but it’s carrot cake. I almost called these carrot cake bars because they’re more cake-like than a traditional chewy blondie, but I couldn’t do it.

These started with a blondie recipe and by gosh, I’m going to call them carrot cake blondies!

My blondie recipe is full of brown sugar and butter. (That’s what makes them to die for!) Then I added cinnamon and carrots. You an add nuts and raisins if you want. I didn’t think to add nuts and I hate raisins…so that’s my excuse for why there are none.

You know what makes these bars? THE FROSTING.

It’s a cinnamon frosting. Made with cream cheese and a secret: melted butter.

Oh my word. Make the frosting and eat it with a spoon, no joke.

These bars are fine alone…but they’re complete with the frosting, so don’t skip it. Why would you? It’s amazing.

These are the perfect bars for Easter or any time you want carrot cake. Luckily, it’s perfectly acceptable to make it all year long. It’s something my husband will actually eat, so I make these Carrot Cake Blondies as often as I can. 🙂

Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Blondies Recipe

These Carrot Cake Blondies are great year-around, but we love to make them for Easter and springtime. They are the perfect marriage of carrot cake and blondies!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Yield 9 servings

Serving Size 1 serving

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Ingredients

Blondies:

• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 ½ cups 186g all-purpose flour
• ½ cup 113g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup 200g packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup 94g shredded carrots (see note)

Frosting:

• ¼ cup 57g unsalted butter, melted
• 4 ounces 113g cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups 226g powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• Whisk baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and flour in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Cream brown sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in dry ingredients. Stir in carrots.
• Press into prepared pan (dough is sticky, spray your hands with cooking spray to avoid it sticking to your hands).
• Bake for about 25-30 minutes. (Be careful not to overcook - the center will still be jiggly when you take these out of the oven and they will finish cooking and firming up as they cool. They stay super soft though!)
• Cool completely in pan before frosting.
• Make your frosting: beat cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer. Slowly mix in powdered sugar. Add vanilla and cinnamon and mix until smooth. Frost bars in pan.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 469kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 286mg | Potassium: 180mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 51g | Vitamin A: 3046IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword blondie, blondies, carrot cake, carrots, easter dessert, spring dessert

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Click here for more Carrot Cake Recipes!

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Carrot Cake Roll

Carrot Cake Brownies

Sweets from friends:
Carrot Cake Swirled Cheesecake by Frugal Foodie Mama
Carrot Cake Crinkle Cookies by Something Swanky
Carrot Cake Scones by Amy’s Healthy Baking

All text and images © DOROTHY KERN for Crazy for Crust. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate.

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Published on: April 3, 2014