These carrot cake bars are soft, warmly spiced, and layered with a fluffy cottage cheese cream for a lighter twist on classic carrot cake. Like our Mini Berry Cottage Cheesecakes, they are easy to make ahead and portion for the week, and fans of creamy healthy desserts will also love the Tall and Fluffy Cottage Cheese Casserole.
Ingredients
- 80 g (1 cup) carrot, grated
- 20 g (1.5 tbsp) nuts, chopped
- 1 egg
- 60 g (1/4 cup) kefir, 2.5% fat
- 1/3 tsp baking soda or baking powder
- 50 g (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) flour (whole-grain rice or any)
- Cinnamon to taste
- 30 g (2 tbsp) sugar or sweetener
- For the cream: 100 g (3.5 oz) soft cottage cheese, 3% fat; sweetener or powdered sugar to taste
Instructions
- Grate the carrot and chop the nuts.
- Mix the carrot, nuts, egg, kefir, baking soda (or baking powder), flour, and cinnamon; add the sugar or sweetener. Stir and let rest for 1–2 minutes.
- Cook the batter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat on both sides to form flat cake layers.
- For the cream, blend the soft cottage cheese with sweetener or powdered sugar until smooth.
- Spread cream over each layer and stack. Serve right away, or chill for 1 hour to let the layers soak.
Tips
- Let the batter rest for 1–2 minutes before cooking so the whole-grain flour hydrates and the layers stay tender.
- Chill the stacked bars for at least an hour — the cream sets and the flavors meld, just like a classic layer cake. For more on resting batters, Serious Eats is a great resource.
- Swap the nuts for raisins or add a pinch of nutmeg for variety; Allrecipes has plenty of spiced cake inspiration.
Nutrition: per 100 g: 126.4 kcal, protein 6.9 g, fat 3.7 g, carbs 17.2 g