You know those recipes you make months back and forget how good they taste? THESE ARE THEM. I originally made this carrot cake in the fall, but truly fell in love with it all over again this past weekend.
These bars are made from a mixture of shredded carrots, oats, coconut oil and pure maple syrup. The flavors resemble some good old bakery style carrot cake, except these are filled with fiber and whole-grains. They’re topped off with an easy 4-ingredient cream cheese icing, or an optional sweet cashew glaze. I love them with my coffee, or during that 4-o’clock snack attack.
These gluten-free carrot cake oatmeal bars can be made nut-free if you leave out the walnuts, and dairy-free if you substitute vegan cream cheese for the glaze.
I haven’t tested any flour substitutes, so if you don’t have oat flour, you can make your own by blending whole oats in the blender until fine.
This recipe has already been such a hit on Instagram, I know you guys are going to love it!
Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
- 1/3 cup oat flour (or about 1/2 cup oats blended into flour)
- 1 cup grated carrots, about 3 medium carrots
- 1/2 cup softened coconut oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, honey or agave
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional
Glaze Option 1: Cream Cheese Glaze
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp whipped cream cheese, dairy or non-dairy work
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1-2 tbsp non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Glaze Option 2: Cashew Cream Glaze
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp raw cashews
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
- 1 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Whisk together the eggs, oil, carrots, sugars and vanilla.
- Fold in the remaining ingredients except the walnuts and mix well.
- Pour batter into a parchment lined 8 x 8 baking dish, and bake on 350 for 25-30 minutes, until firm to touch.
- For the cream cheese glaze, whisk ingredients together in a bowl and add the milk by the tbsp as needed.
- For the cashew glaze, blend together until smooth. If the icing is too thin, add more cashews by the tbsp.
- Let cool for 10 minutes and top with glaze of choice, then add the chopped walnuts if using.
- Keep stored in the refrigerator for up to a week!
These are so good!!! They’re kinda cakey and I love the texture. The sweetness level is perfect. I love the cashew glaze. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m thinking of making your recipe however my son has a coconut allergy, I will likely sub the coconut oil for olive oil but can I sub the coconut sugar for maple syrup? Would I need to change the dry amounts to make up for the additional liquid of the syrup?
I would use brown sugar in place of the coconut sugar for a similar texture!
These bars are so delicious! I’ve never had carrot cake before, so I decided to give this recipe a try and it did not disappoint. I used flax eggs, subbed GF flour for oat flour, and topped it with a powdered sugar glaze.
Sounds delicious! I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Kaitlin 🙂