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Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

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Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting are moist, perfectly sweet, and one of my favorite snack cakes. They taste amazing and are a great way to sneak vegetables into a yummy treat!
Carrot and zucchini bars with lemon cream cheese frosting on a wood cutting board.

Shredded vegetables and mashed fruits make the moistest desserts, breads and muffins!
I use shredded apple in my Grandma’s Apple Cake, and I love shredded zucchini in tons of different baked goods –makes them really moist.

This recipe uses 2 cups of shredded veggies, but the flavors are masked by it’s light sweetness. I probably should have called it a “snack cake” because that’s what it is.

How to make Carrot Zucchini Bars:
Start by shredding the zucchini and carrot. Once shredded, use a few paper towels to gather each, individually, and squeeze some of the excess liquid out. Discard the paper towels.
Lightly spoon the shredded veggies into measuring cups to measure out the right amount of each.

Whisk the wet and dry ingredients separately. Add the shredded carrot and zucchini to the wet mixture, and then stir it into the dry flour mixture. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

Overhead photo of a cutting bows with whole and grated zucchini and carrots next to a photo of a glass bowl with cake batter and shredded carrot and zucchini.
Pour the batter into a 9×13” cake pan. If you want a smaller batch you could half the recipe and bake it in an 8×8”pan and check for doneness around 16-18 minutes.
Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Once the bars cools completely, smooth the lemon cream cheese frosting on top.
Cut the cake into small bars. I like to do it this way so everyone can enjoy a finger-food type of snack cake, but feel free to cut them into bigger squares.
Overhead photo of a cake with cream cheese frosting being spread on it by an offset spatula next to another photo of the cake frosted and cut into squares.

Other Desserts with grated fruits and veggies:

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Fresh Apple Cake

Apple Spice Cake

 

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5 from 1 vote
Carrot and zucchini bars with lemon cream cheese frosting on a wood cutting board.
Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Print Recipe
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Total Time
40 mins
 

Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting are moist, perfectly sweet, and one of my favorite snack cakes. They taste amazing and are a great way to sneak vegetables into a yummy treat!

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: carrot cake, zucchini bars, zucchini dessert
Unit: cup, large, ounce, Tablespoon, teaspoon
Servings: 28
Calories: 196 kcal
Author: Lauren Allen
Ingredients
For the bars:
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar , packed
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • 2 large eggs , slightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup carrot , grated (about 2 medium size carrots)
  • 1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 medium size zucchini)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 6 ounces cream cheese
  • 3 Tablespoons butter , softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

  2. Squeeze excess liquid out of the grated zucchini and carrot.

  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars and oil. Add eggs, Greek yogurt and vanilla and stir to combine.

  4. Fold in the carrot, zucchini, and walnuts (if using).

  5. In another bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt.

  6. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir just until combined. Don’t over mix.

  7. Spread batter evenly into a lightly greased 9x13'' baking pan

  8. Bake for about 22-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

  9. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

  1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add lemon juice and powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

  2. Spread the frosting over the cooled bars.

 

Have you tried this recipe?!

RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.

 

*I originally shared this recipe in March 2014. Updated April 2018.

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Comments

  1. Those sound so yummy! I love baking with zucchini and carrots. I will have to give this recipe a shot! Cant beat a soft cream cheese frosting. YUM!
    ~Laura

    Reply

  5. Just made this recipe and it turned out very tasty. I should mention just a couple of things:
    1) I used 1/4 c. oil and 1/4 c. applesauce to trim some calories
    2) I only used 1/3 of brown sugar and felt that it was still sweet enough
    3) I would definitely advise greasing the pan

    Reply

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