These Carrot Cake Bars give you all the sweet spice of your favorite carrot cake in bar form! Complete with a deliciously nutty streusel topping and dairy-free “cream cheese” icing. They’re gluten free, paleo, egg free and vegan.
I’m a totally carrot cake junkie, and yes, that’s obviously a “thing”.
I have a traditional (paleo) carrot cake on the blog, a carrot coffee cake, carrot cake pancakes, carrot cake cupcakes, and now bars! I also have a totally NEW carrot cake recipe in my book which is probably my absolute favorite!
But now I’m off track – back to carrot cake BARS! If you happen to be avoiding eggs right now like I have to (due to a sensitivity) these egg free, paleo and vegan carrot cake bars are going to be the best thing ever. Just you see! They have 3 layers but are easy peasy, and happen to be very darn tasty!
What You Need to Make Carrot Cake Bars
Nothing fancy is happening here – just clean ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry and fridge.
Here’s what you’ll need to prepare the bars:
Streusel:
- Coconut oil
- Chopped pecans
- Blanched almond flour
- Coconut sugar, or maple sugar
- Salt
“Cream cheese” icing:
- Raw cashews
- Coconut milk or almond milk
- Pure maple syrup
- Coconut oil
- Lemon juice
- Pure vanilla extract
Batter:
- 2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp flaxseed mixed with 6 Tbsp water)
- Blanched almond flour
- Tapioca flour, or arrowroot
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Maple sugar or coconut sugar
- Coconut oil, (or ghee, if not vegan)
- Vanilla extract
- Shredded carrots
How To Make Paleo + Vegan Carrot Cake Bars
Make the streusel first. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl with a fork until thick and crumbly. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the batter.
For the batter, preheat your oven to 350° F and line a square 8 x 8” baking pan with parchment paper on the bottom and up the sides.
Mix the flaxseed and water and set aside for 10 minutes to thicken. This is your egg replacement.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca or arrowroot, baking soda, salt, and spice. Add in the sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, and flax “eggs” and mix well to fully combine. Your batter will be thick, like a cookie dough.
Fold in the shredded carrots to evenly distribute. The batter will become softer as you stir in the carrots.
Using a rubber spatula, spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle all the streusel over the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes on the middle rack.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature (2-3 hours) before cutting. Either before or after icing (see below) you can place the bars in the refrigerator to speed up the remaining cooling time.
How To Make Paleo + Vegan Cream Cheese Icing
I’ll never get over how amazing it is that you can make frosting and icing that taste like CREAM CHEESE, but totally isn’t, from cashews and just a few other ingredients! Here’s how to make the icing:
A small blender works best for this. I find when I use a larger blender my mixture doesn’t fill enough of the container for adequate blending.
A Nutribullet or Ninja will work well – something you might use to make a single serve smoothie.
Combine the icing ingredients in any order, and blend until smooth and drizzly. This might take a minute or more depending on your blender. You can scrape down the sides periodically to help the mixture blend fully.
Drizzle the icing over the bars after they partially cool. You can prepare it while the bars cool, or make the icing ahead of time if you prefer and simply store in the refrigerator until it’s time to serve!
I can’t wait for you to try these carrot cake bars – I know you’ll love them!
Start shredding your carrots, preheat your oven, and grab all your ingredients because it’s time to bake – let’s go!
Carrot Cake Bars {Paleo, Vegan}
Carrot Cake Bars {Paleo, Vegan}
Ingredients
Streusel:
- 1/4 cup refined coconut oil or ghee, if not vegan solid but softened
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar or maple sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
“Cream cheese” icing:
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 2 Tbsp coconut milk or almond milk
- 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp coconut oil room temp
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Batter:
- 2 flax eggs 2 Tbsp flaxseed mixed with 6 Tbsp water
- 1 1/2 blanched almond flour
- 1/4 tapioca flour or arrowroot
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2/3 cup maple sugar or coconut sugar or a combination (I used 1/3 + 1/3)
- 1/3 cup refined coconut oil (or ghee, if not vegan), melted and cooled
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups shredded carrots squeezed dry with paper towels
Instructions
Streusel:
-
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl with a fork until thick and crumbly. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the batter.
Batter:
-
Preheat your oven to 350° F and line a square 8 x 8” baking pan with parchment paper on the bottom and up the sides.
-
In a small bowl, mix the flaxseed and water and set aside for 10 minutes to thicken. This is your egg replacement.
-
In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca or arrowroot, baking soda, salt, and spice. Add in the sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, and flax “eggs” and mix well to fully combine. Your batter will be thick, like a cookie dough.
-
Fold in the shredded carrots to evenly distribute. The batter will become softer as you stir in the carrots.
-
Using a rubber spatula, spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle all the streusel over the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes on the middle rack.
-
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature (2-3 hours) before cutting. Either before or after icing (see below) you can place the bars in the refrigerator to speed up the remaining cooling time.
Icing:
-
While the bars cool, make the icing. In a small blender (a nutribullet or ninja will work well) combine the icing ingredients and blend until smooth and drizzly. Drizzle over the bars after they partially cool.
Nutrition
Shop Products and Ingredients:
Want More Paleo + Vegan Desserts? Try One of These!
Triple Chocolate Paleo Vegan Brownies
Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies {Paleo, Vegan}
Almond Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars
Espresso Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Chocolate Chip Cookie Vanilla Cheesecake
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Prior to our gluten-free days of 10 years ago, I had a favorite Pumpkin Bar recipe that my husband still craves. I’m anxious to surprise him soon with your gluten-free, much healthier recipe. My Pumpkin Bar recipe called for 2 cups sugar for the cake and 2 cups powdered sugar for the frosting. Ick!
As a side note, I, too, have a sensitivity to eggs. I eliminated eggs for a year and then gradually reintroduced them. After a month or so, eggs no longer agreed with me and I eliminated them again. However, I read somewhere that egg whites could be the problem. And, for me, that was the problem. Baking with eggs is another issue. However, I occasionally have an easy-over or sunny-side up egg for breakfast and cut the yolk from the white prior to serving. My husband is happy to eat the whites that I cannot tolerate.
Can you use regular eggs in place of the flax eggs?
They look so delicious, thank you for sharing the recipe.gomovies
Mine came out all soggy and fell apart 🙁 what could I have done wrong!
These were awesome! I only used about 1/2 cup coconut sugar… and I didn’t have pecans so I used walnuts…and I didn’t make the frosting 😬, but they didn’t even need it they were so so good. I kept them covered in the fridge and they held up great. I will definitely be making these again
Do you think these would work in cookie form?? If not I would love for you to post a recipe for a carrot cake cookie! 🙂