If you’ve been reading IGE for any length of time then you probably know there are three foods that I just have to cross my arms and stomp my foot down about. That is to say, you’ll rarely find these ingredients in recipes here on the blog:
Bell peppers. Red, orange, yellow and green – roasted, raw, or otherwise (except for Sabra’s Roasted Red Pepper Humus!) You know how some people have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap on their tastebuds? Bell peppers taste worse than that to me. Ben too! We are a match made in bell pepper-hater Heaven in that way. Or something.
Mushrooms: The thing about mushrooms is that, well, they’re liars. Mushrooms smell incredible sizzling in a little butter and garlic, which encourages me to sneak a little taste whenever I make them for Ben, but 100% of the time this results in an immediate and violent NOOOOOPE! It’s a texture thing, you see. When will I learn?
(BTW: my ground beef/mushroom mixture is totally exempt from this hatred. Still using that swap at least 3-4 times a month for tacos or spaghetti night!)
Cooked Carrots: Blame this on the weekly family pot roasts of yesteryear, complete with mushy, beef-flavored cooked carrots. Candied carrots are even worse. I. Can’t. Even.
All that being said, you might be surprised to know that I will totally make an exception for one of my worst ingredient offenders when it’s melted into sweet cake and topped with a luscious swirl of decadent cream cheese frosting (or maybe not – cream cheese frosting has a way of fixing pretty much everything.)
It’s Magic Carrot Cake Bars, y’all!
Despite being loaded with shredded fresh carrots, baked carrot cake has been, and always will be, one of my favorite sweet indulgences. The bright orange color, hint of spicy cinnamon, and ridiculous, signature cream cheese frosting completely contradicts any savory cooked-carrot complex I might have.
I have a great recipe for Carrot Cake Bars which swaps out some of the sugar and most of the oil called for in traditional recipes for Pineapple Chobani Greek Yogurt. Like magic, this simple swap results in a moist and sweet cake that’s lower in sugar and fat – though I make no such claims for the cream cheese frosting. When it comes to frosting – go big or go home, baby!
An extremely subtle pineapple flavor permeates the cake batter, and the yogurt is the only unusual add-in you’ll find in my Magic Carrot Cake Bars recipe. Sorry nut and raisin fans, these bars are all about the carrots…and cream cheese frosting!
Start the Magic Carrot Cake Bars with 1-1/2 cups sugar drizzled promptly into a mixing bowl.
Next add 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 4 eggs.Â
Then add zee stah, dahling – 6oz Chobani Pineapple Greek Yogurt. A lot of carrot cake recipes call for pineapple tidbits, so I thought this would be a very complimentary flavor. And it so was. Plus it allowed me to cut out sugar and tons of vegetable oil.
Mix the wet ingredients until smooth then add in the dry ingredients in three batches. This includes 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon each baking soda and salt.
Next, shred 4 cups peeled carrots, which is about 5 medium-sized carrots. Hand shred or use your food processor (or use store-bought!)
Fold the shredded carrots into the batter then spread into a nonstick sprayed, 9×13″ baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely!
Once the cake is completely cool, make the lip-smacking cream cheese frosting. This is my go-to CCF recipe. It never fails! Add 1/2 cup butter and 8oz 1/3-less fat cream cheese into a mixing bowl. Make sure BOTH ingredients are 100% room temperature for smooth, velvety frosting.
Next add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla.Â
Cream the ingredients until smooth then add 2 cups powdered sugar and cream until smooth. Add 3 more cups powdered sugar, creaming between each cup, until completely smooth. OMG THIS STUFF IS SO GOOD!
Slather the cake with frosting then spread, slice, and serve!
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Carrot Cake Bars
Description
Magic Carrot Cake Bars are lighter than traditional carrot cake yet still soft and perfectly sweet.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 6oz Pineapple Chobani Greek Yogurt
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 4 eggs
- 4 cups peeled and shredded carrots (about 5 medium carrots)
- For the cream cheese frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 8oz 1/3-less fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 5 cups powdered sugar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees then spray a 9x13" pan with nonstick spray and set aside. Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl then set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, mix sugar, Greek yogurt, and canola oil until combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined before adding the next one.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in three batches, mixing until just combined before adding the next batch. Fold in shredded carrots.
- Transfer batter to prepared baking pan then bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely then frost with cream cheese frosting. Store leftover bars in the fridge.
- For the cream cheese frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and cinnamon together until smooth. Add 2 cups powdered sugar then cream until smooth. Continue adding 1 cup powdered sugar at a time, creaming until combined before adding the next cup. Spread over cooled carrot cake bars then slice and serve.
Notes
- ***Edited to add:Â some have said this makes more than enough frosting. Freeze extra frosting or cut back on the amounts if you do not like a thick layer of frosting!***
- Refrigerate frosted Magic Carrot Cake Bars first to make cleaner cut lines.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
It’s good? It’s good! Enjoy these dreamy bars!
Jess 06.12.2013
This looks fantastic, and so simple, Kristin! Carrot cake is one of my favorites, although I absolutely used to hate it as a kid – funny how tastes change like that.
Incidentally, I am a firm believer that you just have to embrace those food aversions and move on. My whole life I’ve hated the texture of pretzels – the hard ones not soft. I get all kinds of grief for it from pretzel lovers, but it can’t be helped! ;) )
Elizabeth 06.12.2013
Those look awesome! I am going to have to make those at some point (when I have others who will help me eat them so I don’t eat them all myself). I happen to love all the things you mentioned. I will eat peppers raw with hummus, and I love mushrooms, raw or cooked, and carrots in any form. :) I hate cilantro though. UGH
Anna 06.12.2013
I’m not a bell pepper fan either, but I love this copycat recipe of one of my all time favorite Iowa City dishes from the now closed “Taste on Melrose”. It includes red bell peppers, Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce, and cilantro. Great combo!
http://livetoindulge.com/2011/03/22/thirty-thankful-tributing-taste/
Tieghan 06.12.2013
I love carrot cake!! These look awesome!
Ann 06.12.2013
Kristin,
I couldn’t agree with you more on the mushroom & cooked carrots! Y U C K spells yuck! But give me your yellow, green, red & orange bell peppers & I will eat them for a healthy snack. Maybe try the small packaged ones with cottage cheese “stuffing” or dip slices into Ranch dressing. I’m basically a raw veggies kind of gal, except for good ole sweet corn! I miss the country stand we went to growing up in NE Iowa. They had the BEST sweet corn in the world!!!
I just might have to try your carrot cake recipe though, because your photos made my mouth water!!! :)
I also noticed that some of your “props” look very familiar to me being a Pier 1 associate in the SW suburbs of Chicago. Our store is the first store in Illinois to have the new look of Pier 1! Any Pier 1 stores built after ours will be an exact model of ours. Don’t mean to toot our horn, but next time you’re in the Chicagoland area you should stop by, we are right off of I55! I can give you all the dets if you are in the area again or your friends who live in Chicagoland.
Thanks for your great blog!
Ann :)
Wendy B 06.12.2013
To paraphrase Guy Fieri, you could put that frosting on a flip-flop and I would eat it! Well, everything but cilantro, because I’m one of the soapy tasters too! These sound fantastic and will go on the make soon list!
Katie 06.12.2013
OMG! Finally! I’ve been saying cilantro tastes like soap for YEARS and everyone just shakes their head and says I’m crazy. I’m glad there are others out there. Lol
nessa 06.12.2013
That frosting looks incredible! I want to jump into it :)
Emily 06.12.2013
This looks incredible! I love Chobani, but the flavored versions have a lot of sugar…I guess I don’t feel like adding pineapple Chobani really cuts out sugar. But I bet it adds to the texture and definitely removes some of the oil.
jen 06.12.2013
I agree, I would just go with plan yogurt!
Nicole @ FruitnFitness 06.12.2013
I love carrot cake! I also love bell peppers and mushrooms! I have never made carrot cake thinking it would be really hard but this sounds incredibly easy! I am adding this to my summer bake list.
Becky @ Olives n Wine 06.12.2013
Oh yum!! I am a huge carrot cake lover but have never actually made it at home. Can you believe it? I’m going to have to give this recipe – love the idea of including Chobani – a try! :)
Nina @ Too Hottie For That Body 06.12.2013
Haha! I’ve never heard of that soapy cilantro affliction before. But I must admit I’ve always wondered if the way I taste things tastes the same way to other people… I know, I’m a deep thinker. One thing is for certain I can’t wait to try these!
Debtgirl 06.12.2013
One word YUMMY
Theresa 06.12.2013
I’m drooling. I need to eat this right now! mmmmmmm….pinned the recipe for later! My favorite carrot cake recipe has pineapple in it too, so I can’t wait to try your version.
Stephanie 06.12.2013
Yum! Also have to tried different types of mushroom? If you just buy the white button mushrooms- they are nasty! Try shiitake!
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking 06.12.2013
Carrot cake is my favorite! Love the addition of yogurt!
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl 06.12.2013
I never would have guessed that there was pineapple Greek yogurt in these. You just blew my mind! ;)
Kim | Making 40 Fantastic 06.12.2013
I am SO anxious to try this lightened up version of one of my favorite treats! These look so delicious…. and will be VERY worth the Weight Watcher Points. ;)
Ashley 06.12.2013
Have you ever tried it with plain or vanilla yogurt?
Iowa Girl Eats 06.12.2013
I haven’t, just pineapple, but I think either one would work!
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health 06.12.2013
Ohh, I love carrot cake, it is my all time favorite! Chobani really is magic, I used it to make chocolate chip donuts and they were incredible. The possibilities are endless!