These delicious carrot cake bars take everything you love about your favorite carrot cake recipe but add a rich cream cheese layer to make a wonderfully gooey, moist dessert that is packed with warm spices and sweet flavors!
Carrot Cake Cheesecake Bars
These cream cheese carrot cake bars start with a box mix, significantly reducing your cooking time so you can enjoy these delicious bars in under 45 minutes!
These carrot cake dessert bars are not only easy to make but taste fantastic. The signature carrot taste is accompanied by hints of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, with a rich and creamy cream cheese filling that will have anyone absolutely smitten upon their first bite.
Why You’ll Love this Carrot Cake Bars Recipe:
- Tons of Texture: The cream cheese layer provides a creamy, moist texture that’ll melt in your mouth!
- Crowd Favorite: These dessert bars will satisfy any crowd, whether they are carrot cake lovers or not!
Email This Recipe
Enter your email and we’ll send the recipe directly to you!
How to Make Carrot Cake Bars
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- In a large bowl, beat together the dry cake mix, wet ingredients, and spices until combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, beat cream cheese with condensed milk to make the filling.
- Press about 2/3 of the cake mixture into the bottom of your prepared pan. Then spread the cream cheese mixture over the first dough layer.
- Press the remaining 1/3 of dough and cover it with more cream cheese & condensed milk.
- Place baking tray in oven and bake.
- Let bars cool in the pan before removing and slicing into squares.
Ingredient Notes
- Carrot Cake Mix: This recipe starts with the dry mix, but do NOT prepare the cake as directed on the box.
- Butter: Unsalted butter adds moisture and fat to the cake. I do not recommend using salted butter, as the cake mix already has salt added.
- Egg: Binds the cake.
- Vanilla: Enhances the flavors of the carrot cake.
- Spices: Cinnamon and nutmeg enhance the spices in the cake.
- Cream Cheese: This recipe uses the block-style cream cheese not the spreadable cream cheese found in the little tubs.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: Adds sweetness and moisture to the cream cheese filling.
Carrot cake bars are rich, dense bars made from layers of moist carrot cake and sweet, creamy cream cheese filling.
Carrot cake is usually made with less sugar than a regular cake, but because it is denser and oilier than a regular cake, it is also higher in calories. Enjoy carrot cake in moderation!
I don’t recommend it, as we’re creating a more cookie-like dough with the cake mix, and that would be difficult to replicate with a homemade carrot cake recipe. You could, however, try this recipe with a homemade carrot cake cookies recipe!
Carrot cake bars are great as is or with the addition of raisins or nuts! It’s up to you, so go with what you love.
Don’t panic! The green patches are the result of the baking soda interacting with the carrots. Because of the pH difference, baking soda can cause carrots to turn green. This is perfectly normal and not at all dangerous!
Yes! With the cream cheese in them, it’s recommended that they stay refrigerated. They can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Yes, these cake mix cheesecake bars can be frozen for up to 2 months if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight before enjoying.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- For healthier carrot cake bars, substitute the butter with ½ cup of unsweetened applesauce for a lower-calorie alternative.
- Mix in some raisins, walnuts, or chopped pecans to add extra flavor and crunch!
Make Ahead Instructions
The cookie dough can be made up to 1 day in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Storage Instructions
Store leftover carrot cake bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Enjoy cold or at room temperature.
Freezing Instructions
Freeze carrot cake bars tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before enjoying.
Substitutions
- You can swap the carrot cake mix for another type of cake mix, such as butter pecan, gingerbread, or spice cake.
- In place of the butter, you can use an equal amount of coconut oil.
- In place of the cinnamon and nutmeg, you can use a pie spice blend.
Tips for the Best Carrot Cake Bars
- Don’t overmix the cake mix; otherwise, your bars will come out tough.
- Make sure to use block-style cream cheese, not the spreadable kind in a tub!
- You can easily double this recipe and spread it into a 9×13-inch baking pan. Increase the baking time by about 10 minutes.
- Let the bars cool in the pan for at least 1 hour before removing them; otherwise, they will fall apart.
- For clean-edged squares, wipe the knife with a damp cloth in between cutting each row.
There you have it! These carrot cake bars are a delicious, easy, and fun take on the classic cake that you won’t want to miss out on. Serve them at any gathering, and they’ll be the star of the show!
If you make this recipe be sure to leave us a comment or rating. Enjoy!
Carrot Cake Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounces carrot cake mix 432 grams (1 box)
- ½ cup unsalted butter 115 grams, melted but slightly cooled (1 stick)
- 1 large egg 50 grams
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 grams
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 grams
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 ounces full-fat block-style cream cheese 113 grams, room temperature (½ brick)
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk 153 grams
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
- 8×8 Baking Pan
- Hand Mixer
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Leave the sides a little higher than the pan so the bars can be lifted out easily after they’ve cooled. Spray the parchment paper lined pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the dry cake mix, butter, egg, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg together until fully combined, about 30 seconds. Do not overmix.15.25 ounces carrot cake mix, ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- In a separate medium bowl, beat the cream cheese on high until smooth, about 30 seconds.4 ounces full-fat block-style cream cheese
- Beat the sweetened condensed milk into the cream cheese until smooth, about 30 seconds. Set aside.½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- Press about ⅔ of the dough mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. This dough will be thick (cookie dough consistency). If having difficulties spreading the dough into the pan, lightly spray a spatula with nonstick spray to help spread out the bottom layer.
- Spread the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk mixture evenly over the first dough layer.
- Press the remaining ⅓ of the dough into super flat pieces and cover as much of the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk layer with the dough as possible. It’s okay if some of the cheesecake layer is still exposed.
- Bake for 29-31 minutes – the middle will look set and the edges will be slightly browned. Do not overbake or these bars will lose the gooey texture.
- Let bars cool in pan for at least 60 minutes before removing from pan and slicing into 16 squares.
Notes
- You can swap the carrot cake mix for another type of cake mix, such as butter pecan, gingerbread, or spice cake.
- In place of the butter, you can use an equal amount of coconut oil.
- In place of the cinnamon and nutmeg, you can use a pie spice blend.
- Don’t overmix the cake mix; otherwise, your bars will come out tough.
- Make sure to use block-style cream cheese, not the spreadable kind in a tub!
- You can easily double this recipe and spread it into a 9×13-inch baking pan. Increase the baking time by about 10 minutes.
- Let the bars cool in the pan for at least 1 hour before removing them; otherwise, they will fall apart.
- For clean-edged squares, wipe the knife with a damp cloth in between cutting each row.
Leave a Review