Spring has arrived!! You know what that means, time to use fresh fruits and veggies to create the most tasty desserts. The flavors of spring are so bright and fun or like this one, makes you either want to cuddle up if it’s rainy or go enjoy the springy outdoors.
One of my absolute favorite flavors of cake is carrot cake. Especially is the spring time or around Easter!! Of course, since I love creating cookie recipes, I had to take one of the most beloved spring desserts and make it into a cookie recipe for Easter. More specifically for this recipe, cookie bars with cream cheese frosting. For some reason I love combining flavors and desserts.
These carrot cake cookie bars are the perfect dessert to make for Easter. If you’re family is a fan of carrot cake, then they’ll love these. They are so easy to make and take almost no time. Plus, they’re easy to serve at a family gathering.
What you’ll need:
- butter
- sugar
- brown sugar
- carrots
- vanilla
- eggs
- flour
- salt
- cinnamon
- baking soda
- cornstarch
- powdered sugar
- cream cheese
- heavy cream
The ingredients to make these cookie bars are so easy to find and you may already have everything you need!! So simple, yet so festive for Easter or Spring.
Cookie bars are basically just cookie dough baked in a dish like brownies and then cut into bars. Basically cookies in bar form. These ones are a carrot cake cookie base, topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and finished off with a sprinkle of cinnamon for extra spice.
In this recipe I use brown butter to add the warm flavors and extra goodness. What is BROWN BUTTER and how do you make it? Basically brown butter is just butter that’s been cooked on the stove. It foams up and the milk solids caramelize giving it its delicious deep nutty flavor. It takes a few quick minutes on the stove and the smell is like no other. Let’s just say it’s amazing and it’s a GAME CHANGER when baking. It’s hard to go back once you make it a few times and super simple to make so the extra step is optional but 100% worth it. And yes, you can still make this recipe without using brown butter it just won’t have the nutty flavor but will still be delicious. If you also want the texture to be the same, I would use melted butter because the consistency of brown butter and melted will be the most similar.
Let’s get STARTED!!
Carrot Cake Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For Cookies Bars:
- 1 cup butter (browned)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots (patted dry)
- 2 3/4 cup flour
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter (softened)
- 8 oz cream cheese (1 block)
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- pinch of salt
Instructions
For Cookie Bars:
- Pre-heat your oven to 350° and line your baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add your butter and let melt. Once it's melted keep it on the heat and let it cook for 5-10 minutes until it foams up and then turns brown. Let cool.
- In a large bowl ad your brown butter, brown sugar, and sugar and stir until combined.
- Add your eggs and vanilla extract and stir until fluffy in consistency and well combined.
- Shred your carrots and pat them dry. Add them into your wet ingredients and stir until evenly distributed.
- Next, add your flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and cornstarch into your bowl and fold them in, until combined.
- Transfer your cookie dough into your dish lined with parchment paper and press down until evenly spread. (I used about 3/4 of my dough but use however much you'd like depending on your desired thickness)
- Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes. Let cool.
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, whip up your butter and cream cheese until fluffy.
- Add your powdered sugar, cinnamon, salt and heavy cream and whip until smooth.
Assemble:
- Once your cookie bars are cooled, remove the cookies from the baking dish using the parchment paper and spread your cream cheese frosting evenly onto your cookie bars.
- Sprinkle your cookie bars with some extra cinnamon, cut into squares, share and ENJOY!!
Did you enjoy this recipe? If so, I would So APPRECIATE if you write a review so others can try it out too! Don’t forget to smile because you are loved! <3I hope that you enjoy this recipe with your loved ones and that it brings people together. This recipe was meant to be enjoyed!!If you make it, I would love to see! Please tag me on my socials and on my instagram @whiskfullyblessed. I can’t wait to see how you like it and I’m so excited to reshare your cute photos!!
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