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!
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.
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.
Other Desserts with grated fruits and veggies:
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
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Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
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!
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Total Time40 mins
Servings: 28
Calories: 196kcal
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
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Squeeze excess liquid out of the grated zucchini and carrot.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars and oil. Add eggs, Greek yogurt and vanilla and stir to combine.
- Fold in the carrot, zucchini, and walnuts (if using).
- In another bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir just until combined. Don’t over mix.
- Spread batter evenly into a lightly greased 9x13'' baking pan
- Bake for about 22-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool completely before frosting.
For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add lemon juice and powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled bars.
Nutrition
Calories: 196kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 103mg | Potassium: 79mg | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 18.2% | Vitamin C: 1.3% | Calcium: 3% | Iron: 3.6%
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.
Laura Muir says
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
TriedandTasty.com says
Wow – these bars look delicious!
Jesseca says
These look so yummy! We love carrot cake but I’ve never thought to toss zucchini into the mix!
Kathleen says
This sounds really good and with the veggies hidden in there, healthish too. Yum!
Lauren says
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
Tastes Better From Scratch says
Those are great ideas for substitutions! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
Denise says
I made these for my son’s kindergarten class. They were a huge hit. Thanks for a great recipe.
Lauren Allen says
I’m so glad! What a perfect treat for little kindergarteners! Thanks for you comment 🙂
Betty says
Just finished making these ,and they are yuuuuuumy 🙂
Marsha | Marsha's Baking Addiction says
Gosh, these bars look so moist and flavourful! I’ll take the whole pan! 🙂
Lauren Allen says
Thanks Marsha! Hope you get to try them soon!
Carsen says
Found this recipe through Pinterest because I had some zucchini and carrots that needed to get used.
These were so delicious fresh out of the oven that I ate 2 before even making the icing!
Next time I’ll probably try it in a bread pan and see how a loaf turns out.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
Lauren Allen says
Thanks Carsen–I hope you get to try more of my recipes soon!
Ann says
I have made this recipe the last two weekends. My family loves it! I think “snack cake” is a perfect description.
I will make this again and again.
Thank you!