Vegan Carrot Cake Blondies
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Carrot Cake Blondies
Carrot Cake Blondies
I’d never really given carrot cake a chance as a kid, I’d always been a strong believer that carrot and cake were two foods that just shouldn’t mix. In fact, I think when Jack created the vegan carrot cake recipe for HerBivore, this was one of the first times I’d really given it a chance (and it is absolutely delicious, so you should go check it out right now).
I originally got the idea from these when I was scrolling through pinterest, and stumbled upon the most amazing looking carrot cake blondies, but of course they weren’t vegan. I took the challenge for the sake for us all, and I’ve perfected these moist, deliciously rich carrot cake blondies.
If you aren't familiar with a blondie, it's a close cousin of the humble brownie, and is simply made with light coloured ingredients to give it that 'blonde' look, hence the name!
The great thing about carrot cake is that it always keeps your mix nice and moist, if you've ever managed to have a dry carrot cake, something has gone very wrong! The moisture from the grated carrot absorbs into your dry ingredients really bringing everything together. This is an added bonus when making blondies, as you really want them moist and gooey!
Make them for your friends, family, neighbours, work colleagues or even just for yourself.
Recipe
Yield: 12 bars
Total Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
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1 cup / 250ml vegan margarine, melted
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1 ½ cups / 300g brown muscovado sugar
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2 tsp vanilla extract
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¼ cup / 60g unsweetened apple sauce
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1 cup / 50g carrots, finely grated
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1 ½ cups / 180g plain flour (+ 2 tbsp)
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½ tsp ground ginger
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½ tsp cinnamon
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½ tsp salt
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½ cup / 65g chopped walnuts
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
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½ cup / 115g vegan margarine, softened
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1 cup / 225g vegan cream cheese
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2 tsp lemon juice
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1 tsp vanilla extract
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4 cups / 400g icing sugar, sifted
Method:
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Preheat your oven to 180c and line a 9 x 9 inch baking tray with parchment. In a large bowl combine your melted margarine, brown sugar, vanilla and apple sauce.
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Fold in your carrots and then add in your flour, ginger, cinnamon and salt and mix until just combined and then fold in your chopped walnuts. Be careful not to overmix.
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Pour your mix into your prepared tin and smooth over to level, bake for about 30 minutes until set completely and slightly browned then leave the cool completely.
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To make your frosting, use the paddle attachment of your mixer to combine the cream cheese and softened margarine and then beat until smooth. Add in your lemon and vanilla and beat again for about a minute, then start to add your icing sugar about ½ cup at a time, making sure the previous lot has mixed in fully. If you don’t need all your sugar, don’t add it all.
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Simply smooth the frosting over the top of the bars and then decorate with whatever you like! Chopped walnuts, pecans, coconut or ginger are all great options!
What did you think of this recipe? Did you do anything differently? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Don’t forget that you can share all your foodie makes with us using the hashtag #HBivore.
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Written by Amy Northwood
Her-Bivore
My passion for food and conservation has led me to where I am now! My aim is to show people that veganism can be diverse, tasty and adapted to fit every lifestyle and budget!
You can find me on Instagram