Healthy No Bake Carrot Cake Bars

These Healthy No Bake Carrot Cake Bars taste like a treat but make a healthy breakfast or snack! Luke, Meghan, and I were in the car yesterday and Luke said, “Mommy, I love you, Meghan, and Daddy, but I love YOU the best!”  My logical and sensitive 6-year-old chimed in, “You shouldn’t say that, Luke!”

Just like you probably shouldn’t admit if you have a favorite in your family, I probably shouldn’t play favorites with my blog recipes.  I can’t help it, though. These healthy carrot cake bars have immediately made their way to the top of my favorites list.  

There’s so much to love about this healthy dessert/snack/breakfast.  Yep, these are healthy enough to eat for breakfast or a snack.  And we most certainly have.

First, they are very low in sugar.  The bars are sweetened with dates, raisins, and just a little maple syrup.  They are gluten-free, too.  I used some rolled oats, but no flour or wheat at all.  The texture is perfect!  They aren’t Larabar-ish, despite the dates and nuts used to create the bars.

Because carrot cake isn’t carrot cake without a cream cheese frosting, I used real cream cheese for these. I wanted to ensure the frosting stayed nice and thick and I didn’t want to add anymore sugar, so I used liquid stevia drops  to sweeten the frosting. It worked perfectly, but if you don’t have liquid stevia, you can use this recipe for cream cheese frosting sweetened with maple syrup.

Last, these Healthy Carrot Cake Bars could not be any easier.  I used my food processor  for the whole thing.  No other bowls needed.  If you don’t have a  food processor (get one!!), you can chop everything by hand, but it’ll be a bit more work.

And you don’t even need to turn on your oven. These Carrot Cake Bars are not baked! They can be ready in about 20 minutes, tops.  I cut these into small bars for portion control in hopes that I’d be able to eat just one or two in a sitting.  It didn’t work.  You are going to LOVE these healthy carrot cake bars! But be warned:  they are addicting.

How to Make Healthy No Bake Carrot Cake Bars

Healthy No Bake Carrot Cake Bars

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

You are going to LOVE these healthy carrot cake bars! But be warned:  they are addicting.

• Author: Healthy Happy Mama
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 0 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 30 small bars 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

5 medium carrots, tops cut off and scrubbed clean (no need to peel)

1 cup walnut pieces

1 cup whole almonds

1 cup whole pitted dates, packed

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats, packed

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried pineapple pieces (use more raisins if you don’t have these)

1/8 cup+1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch salt

for the frosting

8 ounces cold cream cheese (can use vegan cream cheese)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

20–30 drops liquid stevia

Instructions

Using the fine shredding attachment on your food processor, shred the carrots.  (Alternatively, use a hand grater)  Put in the S-blade and then add the walnuts, almonds, and dates.  Process until everything is broken down and you have a  crumbly mixture.  Add the oats, raisins, pineapple, maple syrup, and spices and pulse until everything is well mixed.  (Alternatively, you can chop the nuts and dates by hand and then mix in the rest of the ingredients.  The texture may be slightly different, but it should still work.  Disclaimer:  I have not tried this.)

Line an 8X8 inch pan with parchment paper or lightly oiled tin foil.  Press the carrot mixture into the pan.  Put it in the freezer to help it set while you are making the frosting.

Rinse out the food processor and put the S-blade back in.  Add the cream cheese, vanilla, and stevia and process until it is just mixed.  Don’t over process.

Use a spatula to put the frosting on top of the carrot cake bars.  Cut into the size you desire.  These need to be stored in the fridge because there is no sugar in the cream cheese.  Enjoy!

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 bar
• Calories: 125
• Sugar: 5.9g
• Sodium: 39.9mg
• Fat: 7.9g
• Carbohydrates: 12.5g
• Protein: 2.8g

Keywords: no bake

This post was originally published in 2015. A video was added in 2019.

Recommended for this recipe: Food Processor

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