As usual, I’m trying to push my kids to eat more vegetables any way I can!
While trying to find new creative ways to use up my Fresh Picks order, I saw this recipe online. The cook who wrote it called it a healthed up carrot cake bar, but I morphed it into something even healthier!
Then I slathered it with frosting because I figured it was worth feeding all that sugar to my kids to get them to eat all the other stuff in the bar. It backfired a bit when Sam decided to just lick the frosting and throw the bar on the ground, but at least Jack and Ben ate it all!
Five whole carrots! No white carbs! Greek Yogurt! Walnuts! Cinnamon! Coconut Oil! So many things that are good for you hidden under frosting, cleverly disguised as dessert.
They turned out absolutely delicious and I think I’ll eventually use the recipe to make muffins in the morning. Honestly they are so good you don’t even need the frosting!
Veggies for dessert? I think I’m onto something here…
Adapted from: Iowa Girl Eats
- 1 cup whole spelt flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- ¾ cup (6oz) Pineapple Chobani Greek Yogurt
- ¼ cup coconut oil, warmed
- 4 eggs
- 4 cups peeled and shredded carrots (about 5 medium carrots)
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- For the cream cheese frosting:
- ½ cup butter, at room temperature
- 8oz ⅓-less fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 9×13″ pan with nonstick spray.
- Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- In an electric mixer, mix sugar, Greek yogurt, and coconut oil until combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in batches, mixing until just combined before adding the next batch.
- Fold in shredded carrots, coconut and walnuts.
- Transfer batter to prepared baking pan then bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick or fork inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely then frost with cream cheese frosting. Store leftover bars in the fridge.
- For the cream cheese frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar.
- Spread over cooled carrot cake bars then slice and serve.
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