Healthy Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Bars

These carrot cake bars are incredibly moist, delicious, sugar-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

Guest Post By: Romana Levko, Author of Tastylicious

• Love carrot cake? Then, you must try these moist, delicious, and healthy carrot cake bars.
• These carrot cake bars are also gluten-free, sugar-free (optional), and dairy-free.
• Pair these carrot cake bars with a nutty, medium roast pour over coffee to bring out its nutty, cinnamon flavors.

These carrot cake bars are incredibly moist, delicious, sugar-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free. If you love carrot cake as much as I do, you won’t be able to resist the temptation of enjoying a nice slice of this healthy dessert.

They are packed with carrots, almond flour, nuts, ground cinnamon, and, of course, my favorite ingredient that gives the bars the perfect texture— shredded coconut. Oh, and the best part about them is the top cheese swirl layer (it’s insanely creamy and sweet).

You must be wondering, why not just make a carrot cake? Why bake bars? You’ll have to trust me with this choice. This way, you can make them in advance and stock up your freezer. Another benefit is that there’s much less mess when making them, and they are so easy to pack up for a quick snack or to-go lunch.

Here’s What You Need

Don’t let the ingredient list scare you! Yes, you will need 13 ingredients. But all of them are easy to find at almost any grocery store, so you shouldn’t have any trouble purchasing them.

So, to bake these carrot cake bars, you should prepare the following ingredients:

• Almond flour — this gluten-free flour ideally fits in this recipe, and I do not recommend substituting it with anything else.
• Eggs — if you want to make these carrot cake bars vegan, then you can simply replace eggs in the recipe with flaxseed eggs (for one regular egg, combine 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water).
• Plant-based milk — you can use any type that you prefer, but make sure to check the label for any gums or other unnecessary ingredients in the milk.
• Walnuts — or almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, etc.
• Baking powder — I don’t like to use baking soda in my recipes, so adding a bit of extra baking powder will be enough.
• Ground cinnamon — if you don’t like the taste of cinnamon in carrot cake, it’s okay to leave this ingredient out of the recipe.
• Carrots — you can use either pre-grated carrots or grate them yourself on a box grater.
• Coconut oil — I don’t use canola oil, sunflower oil, or corn oil, and I don’t advise you to use them either, which is why coconut oil is the perfect option here.
• Shredded coconut — I love, love, and love what shredded coconut does to the texture of these carrot cake bars.
• Vanilla extract — this ingredient gives a little boost to the flavor of this dessert.
• Sweetener — if you’ve never baked sweets without sugar, this is your sign to try it. 
• Plant-based cream cheese — I used almond cream cheese, and it’s ideal for the cheese swirl layer.
• Salt — will balance out the flavor and improve the texture of the carrot bars.

Cooking Instructions

When it comes to baking these carrot cake bars, everything is hassle-free and incredibly simple. All you need to do is separately mix the dry and wet ingredients, then combine them and bake the bars. That’s it!

Here’s what the cooking process looks like:

1. Mix the dry ingredients: In a bowl, combine almond flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, sweetener, and salt.
2. Mix the wet ingredients: whisk the eggs with the milk, grated carrots, shredded coconut, coconut oil, and vanilla extract.
3. Combine the dry and wet ingredients together and spread the dough in the baking dish.
4. Mix the cheese swirl ingredients: cream cheese, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and sweetener.
5. Spread the cheese layer on top of the dough, make a swirl, and bake.

That’s it! Let your oven do the rest.

Variations to Try

Aside from the main ingredients, there are a few extra ones that you can mix and match to get the most of these carrot cake bars. For example, you can try adding fresh or dried fruit to this dessert. My favorite options are chopped pineapple, grated apple, raisins, dried apricots, and dates.

Another thing that I recommend you try is to experiment a bit with the spices you add. For this recipe, I kept everything simple, but it’s always a good idea to add some ginger or nutmeg.

Storing and Freezing Tips

These carrot cake bars can be left on the counter at room temperature for 1-2 days. But keep in mind that they should be placed in an airtight container. If you need them to last longer, simply place the bars in the refrigerator. This way, they will last up to 5 days.

My favorite part about these carrot cake bars is that they are freezer-friendly, meaning you can store them in your freezer fully cooked, and then whenever craving them, just thaw them either in the refrigerator or in the microwave. These carrot cake bars can last in your freezer for up to 3 months.

Coffee Pairing Recommendation

Because these sweet and salty bars boast of a mostly nutty and cinnamon flavor palate, they would pair perfectly with a medium roast coffee boasting of similar tasting notes.

Think Sumatran coffee here, and give Blue Bottle’s Giant Steps a try. It’s a medium-dark blend with tasting notes of cocoa, marshmallows, and graham cracker.

As for how to prepare your medium roast coffee, we highly recommend going with the pour over technique. The reason being that preparing coffee this way allows you to taste the coffee bean’s original flavors more so than most other brew methods. It’s also not as sweet (as long as you don’t add sugar, that is!), which will slightly cut the sweetness of the bars to bring out the best flavors in both.

Healthy Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Bars

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Download the Food & Coffee Pairing Chart (PDF)