Soft-Baked Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting (No Nuts!)
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If you love carrot cake, these Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars are about to become your new favorite breakfast. They have all the classic carrot cake flavors you know and love- warm cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, naturally sweet grated carrots, chewy raisins, and a creamy cream cheese frosting, but baked into soft and hearty oatmeal bars. This easy one-bowl, 30-minute recipe is perfect for meal prep, a grab-and-go breakfast, or an afternoon snack. These bars are wholesome but still feel like you’re eating a slice of carrot cake for breakfast!
This recipe is one of those that truly surprises me with how good it ended up being! I don’t necessarily love carrot cake, but I also don’t not like it- it’s just not my first choice of cake flavors if I had to choose. Which is why I was so happy with how these turned out! The oats mixed with the carrots, coconut, and raisins make such a good flavor combo. The warm spices like cinnamon and ginger make these that much better tasting, and adding a dollop of cream cheese frosting on top is like the cherry on a sundae!
If you’re not a huge fan of cream cheese icing (no judgment), my homemade buttermilk syrup would be so good on a warmed up piece these carrot cake bars.
If you don’t believe me that these bars are delicious, my husband ate all but one (the one I ate) of these when I made them to take these photos- so I can confirm they are good! Possibly my best baked oatmeal recipe so far.
Carrot Cake Classics (Minus the Nuts)
The ingredients for this recipe are quite simple, most of them you might already have in your pantry. A few notes on a couple of ingredients-
- Shredded coconut- make sure you buy unsweetened coconut instead of the presweetened kind!
- Carrots- I 100% recommend freshly hand grating your carrots and not buying the pre-shredded carrots from the store. Those are typically dried out and don’t add a lot of moisture to the oatmeal bars.
- Raisins- I feel like most people love or absolutely hate raisins. I’m in the weird camp of loving them in most things, but inside an actual carrot cake? No thank you! But I did find them work really well in this recipe and give a nice burst of sweetness and pair well with the oats.
- Nuts- I am a firm no-nuts in my sweet treats kinda girl, but if you love yourself a nut, feel free to toss in some pecans or walnuts, about 1/4 cup.
One Bowl Batter
I’m always a little more excited about a recipe when all it takes is one bowl, and these oatmeal bars are exactly that! All you do is whisk the dry ingredients together, then add the wet. Mix it all up, fold in the raisins and carrots, and bam! You have oatmeal bars ready to be baked.
I baked these oatmeal bars in an 8×8 square pan, but a 9-inch round pan would work as well! Allow the bars to cool after baking so they slice easier, and top them with the absolute best part of this recipe, the cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting with Vanilla Bean Paste
Two notes for the BEST cream cheese frosting that is sweet, thick, a little tangy, and the perfect topping these carrot cake bars. First is to use a block of cream cheese- the tub or whipped kind doesn’t give them same texture. Second note- use vanilla bean paste if you have some! It adds such a great layer of flavor to the icing.
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Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups (160 g) old-fashioned oats
- ½ cup (46.5 g) shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ginger
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) nutmeg
- ½ cup (120 ml) milk
- 2 (2) large eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (55 g) light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup (60 ml) plain greek yogurt
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (64 g) freshly grated carrot
- ¼ cup (36.25 g) raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 oz (56.7 g) cream cheese, softened
- ½ tbsp (0.5 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp (0.25 tsp) vanilla bean paste
- Pinch (Pinch) of salt
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg until combined.2 cups old-fashioned oats, ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- To the same bowl, add in the milk, eggs, brown sugar, greek yogurt, and vanilla. Whisk together until everything is combined.½ cup milk, 2 large eggs, ¼ cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup plain greek yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Fold in the grated carrots and raisins until mixed throughout. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.½ cup freshly grated carrot, ¼ cup raisins
- Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until the oats are cooked through and lightly golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- While the bars are cooling, make the frosting. Using a bowl with an electric mixer, or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened cream cheese and butter together. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste. Mix until smooth (should be thick). Taste and add a pinch of salt to taste.2 oz cream cheese, ½ tbsp unsalted butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste, Pinch of salt
- Once bars have cooled completely, cut them into squares and top them with a dollop of the frosting.
Notes
- Oatmeal bars (without frosting) will last in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days, or in the fridge for up to a week. If you add frosting to all the bars, store them in the fridge as the cream cheese frosting needs to be refrigerated.
- These bars can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Cream cheese frosting can be frozen as well! Defrost both by allowing them to sit at room temperature.
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