Dense and chewy, these date-sweetened, vegan carrot cake bars are packed with spicy flavor. Plus they’re soy-free and can be made gluten-free.
I love getting recipe ideas from readers! Next to traveling and dining at vegan restaurants, it’s my favorite way to discover new foods. So I was thrilled to receive an email recently from Sharon Starr in San Francisco asking me to figure out the recipe for Whole Foods’ Vegan Carrot Spice Cake, which she described as “moist, dense and somewhat chewy.” I’m always up for a challenge (especially when it involves dessert), so I told her I would give it a try.
Before I get to the recipe, I have a little housekeeping to do. A few weeks ago I added a feature that should make searching for recipes a little easier for you. If you go to the top of the page and click on Recipe Index, you’ll see a new link to Master List of All Recipes. When you click on that, you’ll find a list of all the recipes on this blog, alphabetically by category, on one page. No photos, just titles. Now you have four ways to look for recipes: the search box in the upper right corner, by category (such as Salads), by tag/topic (such as Eat to Live), and this new page. You’ll also find this feature on the main Fatfree Vegan Recipes site, up in the top menu bar as Index. I hope it helps you find what you’re looking for.
Now on to this recipe:
Sharon sent a photo of the Whole Foods cake along with the ingredients list from the package. Her photo showed a dense bar, almost like a blondie, with lots of dark areas that I assume were the dates and raisins and just a few hints of orange from the carrots. The ingredient list was as follows: Carrots, Unsweetened Applesauce, Dates, Whole Wheat Flour, Raisins, Walnuts, Baking Powder, Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Allspice, Clove.
By law, ingredients must be listed on packages in decending order by weight, with the main ingredient listed first. Knowing the order of ingredients is a help, but it’s certainly not a formula, and if you don’t know the exact proportions, it’s hard to duplicate a recipe, especially a baked item. But I gave it my best shot. I began by weighing all the ingredients and deciding on a starting amount of my first ingredient, carrots. The 5 medium carrots I used weighed 7.4 ounces; once I had that measurement, I tailored the amounts of the other ingredients in descending order, using a little common sense and a lot of guesswork.
In the end, I guessed wrong about the amount of flour. My desire to avoid too much refined starch probably had a lot to do with my underusing the flour (according to my calculations, I could have used almost twice as much and still been on target, weight-wise). So my bars came out moist and dense and a little chewy, but not cake-like. However, my family absolutely loved them, so much so that we ate the entire pan in one day.
I considered trying again, using more flour and baking powder, but we’d already blown our family’s weekly sugar budget because even though these treats are refined sugar-free, they still contain a lot of sugar from the dates and raisins. I decided having another batch around would be too much temptation. And besides, my husband told me to leave them alone–they were perfect this way.
I may make the recipe again, once my sugar high wears off, and aim for a cake-like bar next time. But I think these bars stand on their own as a different kind of dessert, somewhere between a raw “Larabar” and a piece of Impossible Pumpkin Pie. Thank you, Sharon, for sending me off on this quest!
Carrot Cake Bars
Ingredients
- 10 medjool dates , pits removed (about 5.5 ounces)
- 2 cups shredded carrots (from about 5 medium carrots)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 teaspoon double-strength vanilla extract (or 2 tsp. regular)
- 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour , white whole wheat flour, or gluten-free flour (such as brown rice flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Lightly spray or oil an 8×8-inch glass baking dish (or use a non-stick silicone pan). Preheat oven to 375F.
- Place the pitted dates in a food processor and pulse until the dates are chopped and begin to form a paste. Scrape them into a bowl and add all ingredients EXCEPT flour, baking powder, and walnuts. Stir until all ingredients are well-blended.
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a small bowl and mix well. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just blended. Spoon it into the prepared pan, sprinkle with walnuts if desired, and press them lightly into the batter with the back of a spoon. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into bars and serving.
Nutritional info is approximate.
P.S. Try not to eat the whole pan!
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Vegan
I wish I have a talent in baking like yours. I was just wondering… did you also add sugar for this cake?
Missy
These look absolutely amazing! I just bought a bag of carrots and started scouring the internet for something I could actually eat (intolerant to: gluten, soy, nuts, bananas, pineapple, eggs, dairy) so it looks like I hit the jackpot! I have a ton of prunes on hand and no dates. Do you think that would sub well… maybe if I soaked them first?
Susan Voisin
Prunes aren’t as sweet as dates, so you might end up wanting to add a little stevia or other sweetener to them.
Bonnie
Hey this sounds rather interesting and yummy! 🙂
Lili
These look delicious! Can’t wait to try them! I need all the help I can get to conjure up sweet vegan treats. Thanks for sharing. Please stop by my blog http://www.simplyliliblog.wordpress.com. I would love for you to feature one of your fat-free vegan recipes on my page. I look forward to more yummy recipes.
Amy
I just made these today, they didn’t last long, everyone loved them! However I was unable to evenly mix the dates into the carrots and apple sauce, so I tossed it all back in the food processor which meant no carrot bits but a more cake like consistency. I also had no clove or allspice and it still was good! Next time I’m going to double the recipe. Also thinking of a variation with zucchini since it’s that time of year! Maybe 1/2 carrot and 1/2 zucchini.
Mythreyi
This is very nice and healthy… never tried savory cakes…pinned…
-Mythreyi
Yum! Yum! Yum!
allie
Do you think I could substitute agave for the dates? I don’t have any dates in my kitchen, but I have all the other ingredients.
These look great! I just got a whole bunch of carrots from my CSA and this is a perfect way to use them (I hate carrots, but love carrot cake for some reason. Go figure.)
Susan Voisin
I’m afraid it won’t work because the dates are what’s holding the bars together.
allie
I finally just bought the dates and made these… and they are delicious! I had to make my own applesauce because I didn’t have any on hand. I would also wonder how these would be using apple butter or crushed pineapple instead of applesauce.
Also now I have a big box of dates to try other recipes with!
admattai
I made these tonight, and they turned out great! Will make again soon. Thanks so much for the great recipes!
Christian
Oh my they are goooood!
I am going to try this using bean flour mixed with oatmeal processed into an oat flour and see how they turn out. Might add dried all natural cranberries too.
Also I keep thinking how I could add pumpkin to this recipe???
Yummy
Kim D
Hi–this recipe is great. I modified it to make a carrot cake cookie. I love the spices, really gives it a great flavor. Here’s my recipe: http://inspiredbykim.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=284&action=edit&message=6&postpost=v2
Thanks for the inspiration!
Andrea R
Would the same ounces of Del Noor dates be OK. I have heard they are not as sweet. Should I bump up the amount or look for the Medjool?
Susan Voisin
Are they smaller than medjool? If so, I would just use a few more of them so that they equal the same number of ounces. But I would try to keep the ounces the same.
Acacia Gray
These look great and very healthy too! I will definitely be trying this!
Gill
These bars sound like perfect post-run recovery bars to me – thanks for the recipe! Love your recipes 🙂
Pauline
I just made these and they turned out pretty well- I used GF flour (Bob’s Red Mill). I wouldn’t say they turned into “bars” though- more like a cake. Why do you think it didn’t firm up? Also, they were WAY too sweet. Do you think I could just cut the amount of dates in 1/2 or would that ruin the recipe and keep the batter from sticking together? Thanks!
Lana | My Happy Dessert
Hi Susan,
I’m really enjoying your blog! I love that you’re keeping the desserts healthy and fat free! These carrot cake bars look delicious:)
I just wanted to let you know you have a new follower!
Micheline
I am new to vegan cooking and my attempt at these bars and vegan pumpkin bread yesterday went horribly wrong. The bars just did not cook! I followed he recipe to the letter except I made my own apple sauce by blitzing softened (lightly cooked) apples with a touch of water. Is this where I am going wrong? Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks
Susan Voisin
I’m so sorry! I suspect that lightly cooked apples retain a lot more moisture than bottled apple sauce, so that may have caused the bars to have too much liquid. I hate to hear of all your time and ingredients wasted.
Carrie
I made a batch of these today, and they were wonderful — very nice and moist, and the perfect balance of spicy and sweet. I will definitely make these again. Thanks for the great recipe!
Genny
I love carrot cake and I would like to try making these. I have an 8×8 pan, but it’s not glass. Is that ok, or does it have to be a glass pan?
Susan Voisin
Glass cooks more slowly than metal, so you would just need to check them often to make sure they don’t burn.
Guy
Is there a way of cutting down the sugar?? Dates are so high in sugar, and why does fat free have to mean high in sugar?
The Vegan Junction
Oh, yumm! I hope these’ll work alright with brown rice flour. And for just that purpose I like the size that you made them. Slim, but not too thin. They’ll just be the perfect trail snack, so thank you!
kaye Ruoff
I can hardly wait to try this recipe, sounds delicious! Does anyone know if these freeze well?
Melissa
Hi Susan! I’ve made this recipe once before and I love it! I’m thinking of multiplying it by 1.5 to make a slightly larger quantity. Do you think it’d be ok to do that and bake it in a 9×9 square pan? How long do you think I’d need to bake it in that case? Or do you have any other recommendations for multiplying the recipe?
Thanks!
Susan Voisin
I think it should work, Melissa. I would give them 5-10 more minutes so that they get done in the middle. I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe that much!
Alyssa
Made these this morning, and they are very tasty! I omitted the walnuts, but I think next time I will add them in for a bit of texture. I think also next time I will cut back on some of the spices, as I found them almost a bit too spice-y. But overall very good, and very easy!
Jeannie
Hi Susan! I LOVE your recipes and look forward to a cookbook 🙂 In the past I have been able to just hit “print” and print out the recipes…now I have to save them first and go thru several hoops before printing. Is there a way to simply print them? Thanks!
Susan Voisin
Aw, thanks! There should be a print button right under the small photo in the recipe. It should let you print easily. Let me know if it’s missing for you.
-M
These look delicious! Do you think they’d work with blanched almond flour instead of brown rice flour? I need them to be GF. Thanks!
Susan Voisin
I’ve never use almond flour, so I don’t know. But brown rice flour is gluten-free and works well.
Susan
Very flavorful. I brought these to a party where I was the only vegan and two people asked me for the recipe. I sent them the link for this page. Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Kylee
I am going to try this today but using carrot juicer pulp, arrowroot flour and honey instead of dates. I hope it turns out as good as these look!
-M
These look great! Thoughts on using almond flour as the (gf) flour?