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I call these Super-Easy, Crazy-Good Carrot Cake Bars and that name says just about everything, but there's a funny little story that goes along with them .......... I met my daughter for coffee yesterday and brought a pan of these Carrot Cake Bars along as I knew she had lots of company coming over the next few days. I'd taken a tiny nibble out of one corner shortly after they emerged from the oven and thought they were quite wonderful, but I needed a second opinion. I asked her to let me know if they were "blog worthy" as I wouldn't want to share a mediocre, just so-so recipe with you.
A few hours later she sent a text; "110% biodegradable, holy moly!". "What does that mean?" I thought. A pretty silly text, if you ask me! Then I put my reading glasses on. The text read: "110% blog-able, holy moly!" Translated, that means she thought they were over-the-top-delicious! Oops.
So now you know the "crazy-good" part, but are they really "super-easy"? Yes, they're so easy you don't even need a mixer for the cake layer. It's just thrown together in a bowl with a whisk or wooden spoon. And here's the really cool part - yes, it is a carrot cake but there are no carrots to peel, grate, shred, chop or even take out of the refrigerator. Think I'm spoofin' you? Nope, this recipe calls for an unusual ingredient that you probably would never guess; baby food!!
I know, I was doubtful myself. I'd seen carrot cake recipes over the years that called for baby food carrots, but that never sounded very appealing. The fact that we love carrot cake combined with my laziness (I really don't like grating carrots) finally led me to give this a try. Honestly, I am shocked at how delicious the results are. These bars are super moist, but not heavy. They're loaded with great flavor and can be thrown together in no time flat. You can enjoy them plain, with a dusting of powdered sugar or take them over the top by piling them high with a delicious vanilla butter cream.
So there you have it; 110% blog-able, 110% amazing, 110% fabulous, 110% easy and 110% YOU HAVE TO MAKE THEM! I know you're going to love them and they'd be so perfect for Easter or any celebration coming up. They'd even make an ordinary day worth celebrating. Just don't text me with your opinion. Well, at least wait until I adjust the font size on my phone...
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Carrot Cake Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 4- ounce jar baby food apple sauce
- 3 4- ounce jars baby food carrots
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup coconut
- Icing
- 10 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 tablespoons half & half, may need a bit more
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Generously spray a a 10x15-inch sheet pan or a 9x13-inch cake pan with baking spray.
- Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Set aside.
- Place eggs in a medium size bowl. Whisk until well combined. Add sugar, melted butter, oil and vanilla, stir well. Add all of the baby food. Stir until combined.
- Add the flour mixture and stir till smooth and all flour disappears. Add vanilla and coconut and stir to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes for the 10x15-inch sheet pan and 30-35 minutes for 9x13-inch pan or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before icing.
- For the icing, combine butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar and mix on low speed till powdered sugar is incorporated. Add vanilla and half & half and continue beating for 3-4 minutes or until icing is light and fluffy. If it's a bit too thick, add a little more half & half. If too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
- If you're going to complete the cake bars with the decorative carrots, reserve 1 cup of the icing. Spread the rest evenly over the cake with an angled knife, smoothing the top as much as possible. Set aside for 1-2 hours before serving or adding carrot decorations.
- For decorative carrots, divide reserved icing into two medium size bowls. Add orange and green food coloring till desired shade is achieved. (I didn't have orange so I used an equal amount of red and yellow food coloring. For the green carrot tops, I used standard liquid green food coloring and added a few drops of yellow to make a more spring-like green) Transfer colored icing to 2 decorating bags (one for each color) fitted with piping tips. I used a Wilton 224 for the carrot tops and Wilton 10 for the carrots themselves. Here is a great tutorial on making carrots. I'd never attempted carrots before so I did a lot of practicing as you can see in the picture below.
- [url href="https://thecafesucrefarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Super-Easy-Crazy-Good-Carrot-Cake-Bars-31.jpg"][/url]
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Hi Chris,
I’ve made these bars many times, and everyone loves them. Do you think I can make them into a layer cake rather than bars?
I love your blog and recipe keep them coming!
Thank you ,
Pam
Thanks for your kind, encouraging words, Pam. I haven’t tried this as a layer cake, but I’m afraid it might be a little heavy. If I were going to make a layer cake I probably go with this recipe: https://thecafesucrefarine.com/ridiculously-easy-carrot-cake-recipe/
Chris, Thank you for posting this recipe. Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Hi Erin, I aways use salted butter.
I love pineapple in carrot cake. If crushed pineapple was well-drained, would it work or would it make the bars too moist and they would fall apart? How about nuts? Thank you
I think it definitely could work. I would drain it really well and maybe even pat it between paper towels.
Love the sleekness of the cake bars! Beautifully presented. I will puree the carrots though. When I read the baby food it made me stop in my shoes..oh my gosh..I remember that nasty tasting jarred baby food. I had to chuckle after all these years! My kids are 49 & 43. Will definitely make this tomorrow. Thank you!
Haha! I know what you mean, Bea! I didn't like the sound of it either, at first. But I think baby food tastes better these days than it did back in the day. I was surprised! Either way, hope you enjoy these bars!
My grandchildren do not care for coconut. I am not sure if it is the flavor or the texture but they won't eat it. Is there a substitute I could use or could the coconut be omitted all together?
Haha! I totally get that. I come from a family of 6. Not one of us would eat anything if it had one speck of coconut! The coconut does add a lot of moisture to the cake but I think it would also be delicious without it.
These look delicious and I'm going to make this recipe. Your bars are cut so beautifully - any tricks on getting them to look that good when cutting them into bars?? Thanks in advance.
Refrigerate the bars - then cut them with a knife that's been dipped in super hot water and wiped dry. Let the bars come to room temperature again before serving. You'll get a nice clean cut this way.
Yes, it could be made without coconut Katie. I'm not sure about making it into a layer cake though.
Hi Chris, I am new to your fabulous site. I would love to try my hand at your carrot slices, they would make such a treat for my craft group. Could you please tell me what half and half is and all purpose flour.
Here in Australia we have either plain flour or self raising, which do you think would work..
Regards Dianne Lee
Hi Dianne, welcome to the Café! All purpose flour is just regular flour, yes, plain flour is perfect. Half and half is just a convenience product here in the States. It's a combination of half cream and half milk.
Chris, I just popped these in the oven, and the twenty minutes are going to CRAWL by while I wait. I *might've* sampled the batter, and it might've been awesome. 🙂 We're making these for our little guy's first birthday (a Peter Rabbit party), so I'm about to freeze them- without icing. I hope it works out. I've been debating how to package them for the freezer. Let's hope we can keep our hands off of them long enough for me to get them into the freezer! 🙂
How did freezing go on these?
They freeze great Jenifer!
Chris, On the ingredient list for the icing you state 10 tbs stick of butter - a stick of butter is 8 tsp - is it 8 or 10 tsp? Batter is in the oven now and the whole house smells divine. Brought back precious memories emptying the baby jars (girls now 15 and 20). Thanks!
Hi! I am doubling this recipe to make 2 cakes-I see there is 2 cups of sugar mentioned twice in the ingredients-It's a typo I think, just checking though. I hope mine come out as beautiful as yours did!! I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Hi Diane, it was a typo, thanks, I corrected the recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
Chris, this is sooooooo delicious. I made it today and big hit. OMG! Thats all I can say. BRAVO.
Thanks Melissa,so happy you enjoyed this as much as we did (as crazy as it sounds with the baby food!)
Why can't they make phones on which you can read a text without your reading glasses?!?! I think it is a conspiracy to keep those older than 40 from the world of texting. 🙂 These "biodegradable" carrot cake bars look gorgeous, Chris! I love how quick and easy they are. This recipe reminded me that I used to have a number of recipes that used baby food fruits. I need to go dig those up.
Wow these are gorgeous! I love using baby food in recipes - it does make it easy. These are so perfect for Easter and so very pretty. I love it! Hope you have a blessed Easter!
These are simply PERFECT with a capital P! So wonderful for Easter or beyond. I need to make these soon!
Beyond cute, Chris. Who would have thought...babyfood! I bet it does give the bars a nice texture. My piping skills are terrible but I am tempted to try the carrots. Happy Easter wishes to you and your family.
The next time my sweet tooth sends a request, THESE BARS are what it's going to get.. Your carrots are perfectly created. 🙂
Well, the baby food sure saves me from grating tons of carrots. What gorgeous bars these are!
Look really beautiful ! Love these bars!
Happy Easter dear!
These look so delicious and sooooo pretty! Great job Chris!
These are gorgeous Chris! Great trick with the baby food., I mean talk about a time saver. And those cute little carrots on top. 110% blog-able so sure!
Super scrumptious too! they are gorgeous -
Mary x
Love these easy bars and who could resist the vanilla buttercream?!
Oh, my goodness! I have been developing a recipe for carrot cake bars using roasted carrots and pulverizing them. I should have just reached for some carrot baby food, LOL! 110%+ deliciousness is what these carrot cake bars are! So moist and scrumptious. I love the pretty piped carrots on top, too. 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Chris. Pinning!
BIODEGRADABLE:)Hope you smile twice.
Fantabulously perfectamundo!
happy easter to you and yours Chris..
they are just so lovely!
Definitely biodegradale!
They sound great! I love your piped carrots! Happy Easter Week Chris:@)
These carrot cake bars look marvelous, Chris. Love those homemade carrots..so adorable.
This is brilliant!! Baby food! And they look moist and delicious. Just perfect for Easter, too!