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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Recipe
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!
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: 196kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 2gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 103mgPotassium: 79mgSugar: 19gVitamin A: 910IUVitamin C: 1.1mgCalcium: 30mgIron: 0.6mg
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*I originally shared this recipe in March 2014. Updated April 2018.
My family loves this snack cake. The lemon cream cheese brightens up the comforting spice.
These are fantastic! I didn’t have the ground ginger so I added 1/2 tsp allspice and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. They were not overly sweet, which we love and I cut them as snack bites. I think these would be great for potlucks (when we have those again, sad times).
Great recipe….easy to follow and tastes delicious. A hit with the family.
followed the recipe exactly and these were EXCELLENT!!!