Keto carrot cake bars are an easy sugar free treat for carrot cake lovers. With a delicious swirl of cream cheese, they will disappear before your eyes!
Carrot cake deliciousness in a blondie style dessert bar – how fun is that? These keto carrot cake bars are so moist and tender, with a rich swirl of cream cheese baked right in.
What’s not to love?
And if you’re a carrot cake fanatic, don’t miss my Mini Keto Carrot Cake, as well as the Keto Carrot Cake Scones. Just in time for the Easter holidays.
Are carrots keto friendly?
There are many ways of practicing the keto lifestyle and it’s not a one-size-fits-all proposition.
I know not everyone will agree with me, but I am of the mind that a small amount of carrots is acceptable on a keto diet. Particularly in keto dessert recipes, which only take a little bit of shredded carrot as it is.
Let’s look at the numbers, shall we?
1 cup of shredded carrot has 10.5g grams of carbs. This pan of carrot cake bars takes only 3/4 cup of shredded carrots. The recipe serves 16 people. Which means that each bar has only 0.5 grams of additional carbs.
That’s unlikely to kick anyone out of ketosis. Hence, these keto carrot cake bars are definitely keto friendly.
Carrot Cake Bars Inspiration
Carrot cake is delicious any time of year, but it tends to be quite popular around the Easter holidays. Is that because we associate carrots with the Easter Bunny? Or is it because carrots are planted in the spring?
Regardless, I recently spotted a conventional recipe for carrot cake bars on Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt. They were just begging for a keto makeover.
I love that the cream cheese was swirled in, rather than frosted on top. It makes the bars super tender and extra moist. You’ve got to try it!
How to make carrot cake bars
Ready for an easy keto dessert bar that tastes like your favorite cake? Here are my best tips for getting it right:
Prep the filling
You want to make the cream cheese swirl first so it’s ready to go when the batter is ready. Make sure your cream cheese is properly softened so that it doesn’t clump up.
Whisk the wet ingredients
This is a little different than many of my keto blondie recipes. For these carrot cake bars, you want to whisk the melted butter and the Swerve Brown first, to help dissolve the sweetener.
Brown sugar replacements like Swerve can clump up a bit so use a fork to break up those clumps before proceeding.
Stir in the dry ingredients
You can add these all at once, there is no need to stir in each one at a time. The spices are key to making any kind of carrot cake. I particularly like the flavor of a little cloves in spice cakes like this.
Stir in the shredded carrot
Shredded carrot is added last and you will find that it adds a fair bit of moisture. The batter should be easily stirred but not pourable.
Spread in the pan
To start, spread only two thirds of the batter in the bottom of a greased pan. Then spread on the cream cheese mixture. Dollop the remaining batter over the top and swirl everything together with a knife.
Sprinkle with chopped nuts
Or not! That’s entirely up to you. Personally, I love chopped walnuts in my carrot cake.
Look for the jiggle
You don’t want these bars to be completely set during baking. The sides should be set and the center should jiggle just slightly when you shake the pan.
Chill the bars
Don’t dig in right away, as tempting as that may be! These carrot cake bars need to cool first, and then set up in the refrigerator for a few hours. Otherwise they will be too messy and soft to cut into slices.
Can you make keto carrot cake bars in advance?
Absolutely! Since this is a dessert that is best refrigerated, you can make these bars a day or two in advance.
They should freeze well too.
Can you make these dairy free?
You can easily make a dairy free version of these keto carrot cake bars. I made a batch for my next door neighbors with some dairy free cream cheese and some coconut oil. They were a hit too!
More delicious keto dessert bars
- Keto S’mores Bars
- Salted Caramel Butter Bars
- Keto Magic Cookie Bars
- Sugar Free Keto Tagalong Bars
- Sweet Keto Key Lime Bars
- Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars
Keto Carrot Cake Bars
Ingredients
Filling:
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) powdered Swerve
- 2 tbsp whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
Bars:
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, melted
- 2/3 cup (121.33 g) Swerve Brown
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups (210 g) almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) ginger
- 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) cloves
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 3/4 cup (96 g) shredded carrot
- 1/4 cup (27.25 g) chopped pecans or walnuts, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a 9×9 inch metal baking pan well.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth, then beat in the sweetener. Add the cream and vanilla and beat until well combined.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the butter and sweetener, breaking up any clumps. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Stir in the shredded carrot until well combined.
- Spread about two thirds of the carrot cake mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan, then spread on the cream cheese mixture. Dollop the remaining cake mixture overtop and swirl lightly with a knife.
- Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until the edges are set but the center still jiggles slightly. Remove and let cool, then chill at least 1 to 2 hours to firm up.
Nutrition
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Man oh man – when my new oven gets here, I’m gonna make these early one morning and have a piece with my coffee. What a grand way to start the day. Thanks Carolyn !
These were absolutely awesome! Never did I think so much flavor could be wrapped up in a small bar. Try them, you will be glad you did.
Wow! This is so good! I was looking for a dessert that tasted like carrot cake and cheesecake and this is it! Thank you for a fantastic recipe.
I had been craving carrot cake when I came upon this recipe so I was inspired to try it right away. I will be honest I had low expectations and was not only blown away by the results but also that after a week of eating carrot cake every day, I actually lost weight!!! Carolyn, you’re a magician!!!
That’s so great to hear!
Just made these for Super bowl Sunday & they are incredible! What’s not to love? Carrot cake, cheese cake = 2 of my favorites & this recipe is out of this world.
There is no way to contact you regarding one of your E cookbooks. You charged my cc but I haven’t been able to download your E cookbook keto2.
How do I remedy the situation?
There most certainly is a way! 🙂 Trust me, I am not trying to screw you and the confirmation email has my email address attached to it. Please email me at carolyn@alldayidreamaboutfood.com so we can take a look at what’s happening.
Hi!! Made these for a friend and they were a big hit… Question… during what step would I add walnuts if desired?
Did you want them in the batter, not the cream cheese swirl? If so, add them at the end of the batter making process.
Oh my goodness! You’ve just made my entire family INCREDIBLY happy! We went low carb just over 3 years ago and we haven’t had carrot cake since that day. This slice is amazing. It disappeared so quickly and I’ve been asked to make more already. Thank you for this amazing recipe – it will be well used. <3
Wonderful!
I don’t have the brown sugar on hand, can I use swerve granulated sugar to substitute? TIA!
Sure, it’s not quite the same but it works.
What can I sub for the swerves?
I can’t stand the mouth cooling of the erythritol
Just so delicious. They hardly made it to the table!! Super moist too. Definitely a keeper!
Hi! I just made this today and we all love it!! It turned out a little too sweet though. I used brown monk fruit erythritol blend sweetener since its hard to find Swerve in our country. I plan to reduce the sweetener next time. How much sweetener do you think I should use?
Since I don’t even know what brand you are using, I can’t possibly guide you.
Still warm from the oven but it smelt SO good we just had to taste it. Grandkids new favorite! Nanna’s new favorite too. A perfect treat…
I love keto friendly desserts! Great recipe
These keto cake bars are amazing and I’m so glad I can eat a couple of these with this recipe! Can’t wait to make these cake bars again!
I follow you and have made several things this particular recipe is a first for me and oh my it is delicious thank you for this you are awesome!!!
Oh my goodness, these cake bars are the next best thing since sliced bread!
Hi!
Can covonut flour be substituted for almonf flour?
Not in this recipe, no.
FABULOUS! I LOVE Carrot Cake and have not had any in literally years! This is a definite for my Easter dessert! Thank you for giving us another Keto version of a classic!
So glad you like it!
Another great recipe that I plan to make today! Can you leave these in the pan and cut as needed or do you have to cut all 16 squares and save in a container in the fridge?
Yes, you can easily leave them in the pan.
In your blog part you mention mixing the brown swerve with the cream cheese but in the recipe it just says swerve in the cream cheese mixture and brown in the cake mix. Is it brown swerve in both of them? I have overwintered carrots from my garden in the fridge that would be perfect for this recipe.
I don’t think you’re reading that correctly. In the blog, I talk about mixing the BUTTER with the brown Swerve…
So sorry-that’s what I get for reading it at 5:30 in the morning before my coffee! thanks!
These look delicious! If I only have a glass 8×8 pan, will that work and do you think bake time will need to be altered? Thanks!
It will probably work but you will need to reduce the temp by 25 degrees and bake for quite a bit longer. I can’t say how long because I haven’t made them that way.