I’m super duper over the moon excited because me and my friend Haley from Brewing Happiness have coordinated our first ever healthy #virtualEasterparty. It’s basically a virtual potluck, so we’ve gathered together some of our favorite fellow food bloggers from all over the world to create super drool-worthy, nutritious Easter recipes.
Think superfood chocolate cake, purple cauliflower tabbouleh, healthy ambrosia salad, classic vegan carrot cake, and more! You’ll not want to miss this, so scroll down to see all the beautiful entries including these chewy, vegan & gluten-free carrot cake oatmeal bars with cashew butter by yours truly.
I’ve loved carrot cake ever since my dad first made me try it at Easter brunch years ago.
My first thought (bear in mind I was only a kid!) was, “why in the world would I ever want to eat carrots for dessert?”. But one bite in and I was instantly hooked. You couldn’t even really taste the carrots! So I’ve recreated this classic Easter recipe in the form of all-natural, chewy and soft carrot cake baked oatmeal bars. And yes, the veggies are just as hidden and the bars are just as delicious as regular carrot cake.
These bars are vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, paleo, and oil-free.
I made them as allergy-friendly and healthy as possible, without sacrificing flavor at all. I threw in cashew butter, shredded carrots, and rolled oats plus one secret ingredient that really rounded out the carrot cake flavor. Can you guess what it is?
Sweet potato puree gives the bars a soft texture and natural sweetness.
Most carrot cake recipes out there call for a ridiculously long ingredient list, so I decided to keep this one simple for you. All you need are just 8 plant-based ingredients and in under 45 minutes, you can have a freshly baked batch of carrot cake oatmeal bars! Not only would these be great for an Easter potluck because they’re easily shareable, but they’d be perfect for breakfast, brunch, or an on-the-go snack too.
As promised, here’s the link to all the yummy healthy Easter recipes for our #virtualEasterparty!
Brewing Happiness /// Heathy Ambrosia Salad
Real Food Healthy Body /// Blackberry Chocolate Cups
She Can’t Eat What?! /// Easter Coconut Oat Granola with Rosewater Cream
Nourish Everyday /// Superfood Chocolate Cake with Matcha Frosting
Wholehearted Eats /// Rainbow Rolls with Creamy Miso
Rebel Recipes /// Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with Lemony Cashew Cream
Hot for Food /// Vegan Carrot Cake
Chocolate for Basil /// Green Apple Celery Slaw with Candied Pecans
Naturally Hanne /// No Bake Chocolate Mousse Tarts
Scaling Back Blog /// Spring Artichoke Pesto Pasta
Some Bits and Bobs /// Steamed Veggies with Quinoa and Sprouts
Well & Full /// Purple Cauliflower Tabbouleh
Gratitude & Greens /// Vegan Easter Egg Truffles
Nourish Atelier /// Beluga Lentil Caviar 2 Ways
Food by Maria /// Vegan Potato Gratin with a Twist
Vegetaryn /// Vegan Chocolate Covered Easter Eggs
Dower Hollingsworth /// Hot Cross Cupcakes
Pinky’s Pantry // Raw Lemon Cheesecake with Candied Lemon Peel
If you try any of our recipes, please share photos with us on Instagram and use the hashtag #virtualEasterparty so we can see! If you like these vegan carrot cake oatmeal bars, check out my recipes for vegan banana oatmeal bars and pumpkin oatmeal cookies.
Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups oat flour
- 3/4 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
- 1/3 cup sweet potato puree
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp cashew butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oat flour, rolled oats, cinnamon, coconut sugar, and vanilla.
- Add brown rice syrup, sweet potato puree, shredded carrots, and cashew butter to a blender or food processor.
- Blend until well combined.
- Pour wet ingredients into large bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Stir together until fully incorporated.
- Spread evenly into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until the edges are slightly browned.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into bars.
16 Comments
Hello Laura!
I’m launching a new FB page/blog called Dessert Porn.
My premise is to share gorgeous recipes gleaned from other sites, with full credit to the original creator. I would just love to include some of your recipes, starting with your Vegan Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars.
Would you mind?
I tried launching this 2 years ago but had trouble loading recipes. I asked for help back then but they never replied- I’m blaming the pandemic. FB reached out yesterday and said they fixed the glitches. I’m not sure it’s fully operational yet but I’m trying my best.
BTW, I love your idea of using sweet potato puree!!
Yes it makes them so yummy and soft! Perfect for fall 🙂
Hi! Thank you for reaching out to me, and congratulations on your new FB page launch. It sounds really exciting!
Thank you for thinking to include me, and yes I’d love to have you share my recipe. All I ask is that you kindly link back/credit my original blog post.
Thank you so much and wishing you all the best!
Laura
[…] A Sunshine Mission – Carrot Cake Oat Bars […]
I made these at the weekend and they were delicious! Not super carrot-cakey to me personally, but I still loved the flavour and that they are so healthy! Just wish they made more hehe I’m having a hard time resisting!
Hi Lauren! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 I’m so glad you liked them!! They’re really soft & chewy and really wanted to disguise the carrot a bit, so I added in the sweet potato puree instead of more carrots! I guess you could use more shredded carrot instead of the puree to make them more like carrot cake. Anyways, so happy you loved these healthy oatmeal bars! I want some now too haha. My treats always disappear so fast!
[…] A Sunshine Mission /// Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars […]
[…] A Sunshine Mission /// Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars […]
Oooooh I love that there is sweet potato in this! So much yum!
[…] A Sunshine Mission /// Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars […]
I love this healthified version of carrot cake, girl! 😀 Perfect for the #virtualEasterparty!!
Thanks Sarah! It’s a great way to sneak in veggies & they’re perfect for on the go snacking 🙂 yay for our #virtualEasterparty!
Beautiful!! And you snuck in sweet potato 😉 Ultra orange!
It made them so cakey and soft! I loved that these bars actually tasted like carrot cake 🙂 Who knew sweet potato could be so delicious!
[…] Sunshine Mission – Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars Brewing Happiness – Heathy Ambrosia Salad Real Food Healthy Body – Blackberry […]