These No-Bake Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Bars are the perfect spring dessert!
Hi Friends!
I’ve got another wonderful guest post for you guys today. Kylie from Yeah…Imma Eat That is here to share a delicious Easter (or any time really…) dessert recipe with you. I fell in love with Kylie’s blog last year. All her recipes make me drool…she’s witty and hilarious…and I even got to meet her in person last Fall at FNCE. She’s on her way to becoming a Registered Dietitian! If you haven’t checked out her blog, go add it to your reader immediately.
I’m thrilled(!!) to be here sharing a post on The Lean Green Bean. Last October, I got to meet and go to dinner with Lindsay during FNCE. She’s great. And I’ve never met her husband, but according to this list of oh-so-true things…I have to believe he’s great too.
So Easter is just around the corner. The only time of year where my fascination for pastel clothing is appropriate. Dear Mint-colored denim pants, I want to wear you everyday! But I can’t…why isn’t denim considered business casual? If I had a business, wearing colored denim would be encouraged. The only problem is light colored clothing is so hard to keep clean. Don’t try to eat some juicy raspberries with those pants on…you will lose.
Luckily, there are some foods that are safe to eat in pastel colored pants, like cream cheese frosting. It’s already white…so any stain you get on your pants will be barely noticeable.
The good thing about being an adult and whatnot is that you get to pick out your own Easter outfit. I remember an Easter of Easters Past when my mom made me wear this horrible watermelon jumper outfit. I threw such a fit that I wasn’t even allowed to hunt Easter eggs. Worst.Easter.Ever. Little did I know that you have to trade being able to pick out your own clothes for being your own Easter Bunny.
So about these carrot cake bars, I’m a hopeless romantic for doughy things. I’ve only met one person who doesn’t like cookie dough…and then I married that person. In my husbands’ words, “cookie dough is like a cold ball of sand.” I assure you that he has plenty of redeeming qualities.
The point of the cookie dough discussion is that the bottom layer of these bars is doughy and sweet, kinda like cookie dough. Then you top that doughy layer with a fluffy cream cheese frosting of sorts. For me, Easter brings up thoughts of carrot cake things and coconut truffles. So these bars are those things smooshed together. It’s Easter in a bar. If only they were more pastel-y.
No-Bake Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Bars
These No Bake Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Bars are the perfect spring dessert!
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
Bottom Layer
- ½ cup walnuts
- ½ cup almonds
- 1 cup dates, pitted (~20 dates)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup carrots, grated
Frosting
- ½ cup 2% greek yogurt, plain
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 2 tablespoons coconut, shredded & unsweetened (optional)
Instructions
- Place walnuts and almonds into a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Constantly stir for ~5 minutes, or until nuts are slightly toasted (be careful not to let them burn).
- Into a food processor, add toasted nuts, sea salt and dates. Process until the mixture forms a dough.
- Place grated carrots into a couple paper towels and squeeze the excess moisture out of the carrots.
- Dump the shredded/squeezed carrots and the dough into a bowl and combine. Press dough into a parchment paper lined 8×8-inch dish.
- Now make your frosting. In a bowl, use an electric mixer to combine greek yogurt, cream cheese, maple syrup and vanilla. Mix on high speed until smooth.
- Spread frosting over pressed out dough. Sprinkle with coconut. Allow bars to set in the fridge for at least 1 hour before slicing into 9 bars.
Notes
P.S. If you have a coconut hater in your life (like I do), you can just leave the coconut flakes off.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Makes 9 Bars
Are you drooling yet? Huge thanks to Kylie for sharing this deliciousness with us today!
Let’s Chat:
Coconut- Yay or nay?
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
Oh my word these look so delicious! I need to make these.
Oh, I love these! And I love that they’re no bake.
And I find it so funny that they have coconut — which I love — since I know “some” bloggers (*ahem, cough, cough, not naming any names*) don’t like it 🙂 I guess that’s even more reason to love guest posts!
haha you know me well. mine would indeed be sans coconut 🙂 but still delicious!
no bake deliciousness. Thanks for this!
These look absolutely wonderful!!! CAn’t wait to give them a try!
I love carrot cake 🙂
I’m not a huge coconut fan but it’s growing on me. Carrot cake on the other hand will always be a love!
LOVE carrot cake. Pinned!! 😀
Yay to coconut!
Oh my goodness – these look so good!
I just splurged on a Vitamix and this recipe is perfect to make in it!! Yum! Carrot cake is by far my favourite.
Best splurge EVER!!!!!!
woohoo! enjoy!
These look amazing! I’m going to try them out this weekend.
Omg yum!!!
Thanks for letting me share a recipe!:) The post looks great!
Looks amazing!!! Wish I could have one now!
These sounds delicious! I might just have to make them for an Easter pot luck we are going to on Saturday!
hope they were a hit!
Printing these out right now!! I cannot wait to make these for Easter!
hope they turned out well!
I am most definitely drooling! I love that the bottom is like a larabar. can’t go wrong with coconut!!
TO DIE. WANT WANT WANT.
Carrot cake is my faaaaaaavorite!
This looks amazing! I love carrot cake SO MUCH. Also decreasing wheat in my diet so this recipe looks perfect.
Thanks Kylie for the recipe and thank you Lindsay for organizing this guest post!
Yum. I’ll take anyone’s unwanted coconut.
These look sooo yummy!! Cannot wait to try.
YUM! This looks incredible, and it is no bake? So perfect.
Yumm!! I love carrot cake so much 🙂 My husband hates it so I may need to make this all for me!
i love her blog too 🙂 these bars are too tempting.
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Can another dried fruit be substituted for dates in the “No Bake Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Bars”? Dried Apricots, maybe?
haven’t tried it…but it might work!
Yay I love Kylie!!! This looks totally delicious and I can totally get on board with coconut! I was totally not into coconut as a kid (see also: mushrooms, yogurt, eggplant, mayo, cooked fruit, etc. etc.) but I love it now! It looks like it would add great texture to these!
YAY for coconut. These look wonderful!
Drool!
Carrot cake is my absolute favorite. These look amazing.
I’m so making these! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love carrot cake and these easy to make bars look absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
would love to make this, love carrot cake and love cheesecake and love no bake! 🙂 any suggestions on how to substitute for the greek yogurt? I can’t stand the stuff…would I just use more cream cheese?
i think that would work just fine.
Sign me up! I’m totally making these and I’m probably not going to share them with anyone. This recipe sounds super delish and I love that it is on the healthier side of things…lets be honest I would eat them either way.
Thank you for sharing…now excuse let me excuse myself while I go eat an entire pan of these!
That Comfort Girl
haha enjoy!
Any idea on the nutritional values?
you can always put the recipe into a free recipe calculator like my fitness pal to find out!
I don’t have a food processor. Any suggestions on what to use instead?
a high-powered blender might work.
These look delicious! I’d love for you to share them at our party that’s LIVE right now! http://sewlicioushomedecor.com/show-licious-craft-recipe-party.
Have a great weekend! Marti
G’day! These look very YUM!
Viewed as part of the #SITSSharefest April 19 Party!
Cheers! Joanne
I made these tonight. Everyone gobbled them up. They were delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Ahh Lindsay these look amazing! Ive made raw carrot cake balls with like the same ingredients as your crust, so I can only imagine how good these bars are! 🙂
xoxo Sarah Grace, Fresh Fit N Healthy.
I’m two thumbs up for anything coconut!!! These look amazing!!
Looks delicious! Carrot cake is always a win at my house. Pinned!
Awesome that they are no bake! I love how the top looks like a snowball!
All my favorite things wrapped up into one bar… Plus easy recipe- boom!
I’m not a coconut lover but these do look good. YUM
This is a way healthier version of what I’m posting later this week 🙂 I love carrot cake, and am a huge coconut fan. Can’t wait to try this out!
Lovely Lindsay! I have most of the ingredients, and I would love an easy carrot cake recipe and no bake, will defiantly try! Pinned!