Vegan Carrot Cake Banana Bread Bars
Vegan Carrot Cake Banana Bread Bars are a one-bowl dessert naturally sweetened with bananas, dotted with raisins and topped with a Greek yogurt cream cheese frosting. Great for any spring gathering or an easy weekly dessert to prep.
Gluten Free, Nut Free, Egg Free, Soy Free, Dairy Free
My husband is OBSESSED with carrot cake. I’m not going to lie… I don’t quite get his obsession… and have even belittled it before. *not my best moment to yuck someone’s yum*
HOWEVER, these bars may have change my mind. Maybe I was just defensive because I had carrot cake FOMO since most carrot cakes contain nuts and I’m allergic?!?
After years of making a fancy (nut free) carrot cake for his birthday, I wanted to create something that was so much easier, baked quicker, and would satisfy every every carrot cake craving.
AND I think they’re delicious too!
These Vegan Carrot Cake Banana Bread Bars are…
- Moist
- Packed with carrot cake AND banana bread flavor
- Made in 1 bowl
- Naturally sweetened with bananas
- High fiber, thanks to oat flour
This recipe uses a lot of nutritious, nourishing ingredients, WITHOUT sacrificing flavor or texture. I hope you love them as much as I do!
Ingredients to Make Vegan Carrot Cake Banana Bread Bars
You’ll need 13 ingredients to make these bars, including the Greek yogurt cream cheese frosting, including:
- Bananas naturally sweeten this recipe, so there’s no added sugar.
- Coconut oil adds moisture to this banana bread-like recipe. Be sure to measure LIQUID coconut oil. I use this one, but if you have solid coconut oil, melt it in the microwave and THEN measure.
- Oat flour is the flour base for this recipe, but naturally gluten free, making this baked good accessible for all!
- Baking powder is the leavener of choice for these bars.
- Cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg are all warm spices that add that classic carrot cake flavor.
- Carrots are obviously necessary in carrot cake! I like to grate the carrots using the small setting on a box grater.
- Golden raisins are a great addition with some chewiness. You can, of course, use regular raisins too.
- Greek yogurt, along with cream cheese, makes the base of the frosting with a protein boost.
- Cream cheese is the base of the frosting, because every carrot cake dessert needs a cream cheese frosting!
- Powdered sugar sweetens the frosting, but you don’t need much!
- Pure vanilla extract enhances the flavor of the frosting.
Kitchen Tools You’ll Need to Make Vegan Carrot Cake Banana Bread Bars
You’ll need a few kitchen tools to make this recipe, including:
- Mixing bowl
- Fork for mashing the bananas
- Box grater – you’ll use the small grate to finely shred the carrots.
- 8 x 8 baking dish
- Measuring cups and spoons
How to Make Vegan Carrot Cake Banana Bread Bars
This recipe is quite straightforward to make in just one bowl.
- Preheat the oven and grate the carrots so you’re ready to go.
- To make the carrot cake banana bread, mash the bananas in a large bowl and mix with the coconut oil.
- Then mix in the dry ingredients.
- Last before baking, fold in the carrots and raisins.
- Bake at 350F for just 20 minutes for a perfectly moist bar!
- While the bars are baking, prepare the cream cheese frosting using a handheld mixer. Beat together the Greek yogurt, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until fluffy.
- Wait for the bars to cool before frosting them. Enjoy!
Tips to Make the Best Vegan Carrot Cake Banana Bread Bars
- Finely grate your carrots! This is not the place you want to bite into big chunks of carrots. Be sure to use the fine grater!
- Squeeze out excess moisture from your carrots. While grated carrots don’t produce a ton of extra moisture (like zucchini does), I do still like to squeeze the grated carrots to make sure I’m removing any excess moisture that occurs when grating the carrots.
- Don’t over-mix the batter.
- Use a spatula to ensure the top is flat and even when pouring it into the 8 x 8 dish.
Other Spring Baked Goods You May Wish to Try:
- Copycat Reese’s Eggs (Nut Free)
- Healthier Carrot Pudding
- Vegan Banana Bread
- Strawberry Banana Muffins
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Vegan Carrot Cake Banana Bread Bars
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake Banana Bread:
- 3 extra ripe medium bananas (scant 1 1/2 cups mashed)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1 3/4 cups oat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup finely shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
For the Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ½ cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
- ½ cup cream cheese
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Carrot Cake Banana Bread:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8×8 pan with nonstick oil spray or line with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas + mix in coconut oil.
- Add the oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Mix until just combined. Do not over-mix. Fold in shredded carrots and raisins.
- Pour batter into your prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges brown.
- Let the bars cool completely before slicing and frosting with the cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!
For the Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting:
In a large bowl, beat the Greek yogurt, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together until fluffy. Store in the refrigerator if made in advance. Frost the carrot cake banana bread liberally.
Don’t Forget to PIN this recipe!
XO