Carrot and cheese bars

April 27, 2013  •  Category:

Another version of a carrot and cheese cake I made a couple of years ago;  eating a bar feels more virtuous!

INGREDIENTS: 9″x9″ pan (or larger)

  • 2 large eggs
  • 6 ounces oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup raw sugar or regular
  • 1 tablespoon of grape molasses (optional) or honey
  • 1 tablespoon of orange rind (optional)
  • 8 oz carrots, shredded fine (4 carrots)

DRY:

  • 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • dash salt

Cheese layer:

  • 8 ounces of labneh or cream cheese or mascarpone, room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch

METHOD: Preheat the oven to 350F (180C)

  1. Place the eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, rind (if using), grape molasses (if using) in the bowl of a mixer and beat at medium speed for 5 minutes until the texture is a bit thick, like a runny mayo. Meanwhile, place the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix with a wire whisk.
  2. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture;  fold the carrots  into the batter.  Make the cheese layer:
  3. Beat the cheese with the  powdered sugar, cornstarch  and vanilla until the cheese batter is smooth. Line the pan  with parchment paper and pour the carrot cake batter into the pan in dollops, here and there. Pour the cheese batter  (also in dollops here and there). Bake until puffed up and dry, about 20 minutes. 

View in Fawara

View of a valley in the Chouf, Lebanon.

carrot cake and cheese bars-6

Comments

12 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Rosa says:

    Delicious looking and sounding!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  2. leaf says:

    Delicious-looking bite-sized snacks! Love the addition of cheese here.

  3. Joanne says:

    Carrot and cream cheese-frosting desserts always sound good to me! Love this bar form!

  4. Gemma @andgeesaid says:

    Yum! This looks wonderful. I love this in bar form! xx

    gemma @ http://andgeesaid.blogspot.com.au/

  5. Belinda @zomppa says:

    What a wonderful combination (and get some veggies in, too).

  6. Lisa the Gourmet Wog says:

    Lovely! I love the idea of making this with Labneh and honey. Delicous

  7. sweffling says:

    They look wonderful and a really good idea to help with portion control!!

  8. twbarritt says:

    This looks extraordinary – so much better than carrot cake, or a carrot cupcake, and the top looks so beautiful and rustic.

  9. domi says:

    Délicieusement étonnant….

  10. Susan says:

    What a wonderful idea! I hadn’t seen a bar version of carrot cake and cream cheese icing until now.

  11. Banana Wonder says:

    I could see this at every coffee shop across America next to lemon bars. These look so awesome!

  12. Oui, Chef says:

    I love using carrots in desserts, so sweet and healthy. I make some carrot-pineapple muffins that are a fave with the kids. Must try this one soon…I even have some cream cheese in the fridge…Hooray!

Add a Comment