Ahhhh, springtime. In Florida, that means, humidity and heat. But also baby animals and flowers. However, the best part of spring this year is these vegan carrot cake blondies! Simple enough for my 9 year old daughter to make. So impressively delicious, people will be asking you for the recipe. Perfect for spring holiday get togethers. They are guaranteed to get you invited to any party next year!
What You Need For These Blondies:
- Vegan Butter: To start building the base for the blondies, but also a bit goes into the frosting.
- Brown Sugar: To create a sweetness that is rich and flavorful.
- Vanilla, Cinnamon, Ginger and Nutmeg: To flavor your blondies.
- Apple Sauce: This is the best egg replacer for these babies.
- All Purpose Flour: For the base of the blondies.
- Carrots, Raisins and Pecans: The raisins and nuts are optional, but I highly recommend.
- Vegan Cream Cheese: I used Violife.
- Powdered Sugar: Just make sure you are getting vegan powdered sugar.
- Vegetable Shortening: This helps provide bulk and firmness to the frosting.
Full disclosure: I am so obsessed with these vegan carrot cake blondies. The cream cheese frosting. The dense moistness and the alluring aroma, that I had one for breakfast this morning. I mean they do have a vegetable in them. And fruit and nuts. It’s pretty much a breakfast, right?! All I’m saying is, these blondies won’t last long!
Why Should You Make This Carrot Cake Treat?
- They are so perfectly dense and moist. The perfect blondie.
- The flavor is incredible, the spiced carrot cake flavor, the golden raisins and pecans.
- Super simple to make, even easier to eat.
- The cream cheese frosting is so good, I kinda want to put it on everything.
- Kid and adult approved!
Vegan Carrot Cake Blondies
Spiced carrot blondies, topped with cream cheese frosting. Plant-based, of course!
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Blondies
- 1 Cup Vegan butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups Brown sugar
- 1/3 Cup Apple sauce
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 1 Cup Shredded carrots
- 1 1/2 Cups All purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Ginger powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1/2 Cup Pecans, chopped
- 1/4 Cup Golden raisins, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees(F).
- In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the vegan butter and brown sugar. Using a hand mixer, or the paddle attachment for the stand mixer, beat together for 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add the apple sauce and vanilla, and continue to beat until combined. About 1 more minute.
- Fold in the shredded carrots with a rubber spatula. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, sift the flour, and then add the cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg. Whisk to combine.
- Now, while the hand mixer or stand mixer is running, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, a little at a time, until everything is fully combined. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Then fold in the chopped pecans and raisins.
- Pour the batter into a 9×9 inch baking dish that is lined with parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick spray. Spread the batter out evenly with a rubber spatula and bake for 32-35 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean from the center of the blondies.
- Once the blondies are done, let them cool completely before frosting them, that will take an hour or two.
- When ready to frost the blondies, add the vegan cream cheese, vegan butter and vegetable shortening to a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer.
- Using the whisk attachment for the mixer, begin to whip together the cream cheese, butter and shortening until fully combined. About 1-2 minutes.
- Then add the vanilla, and begin adding the powdered sugar a little at a time as the mixer runs until the sugar is fully incorporated.
- Add a pinch of salt, mix again briefly.
- Pour the frosting on top of the blondies and spread out evenly with your spatula. Top with extra pecans and raisins if desired.
- Chill until ready to serve. Then cut the blondies into squares and serve. Keep refrigerated when not serving.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 376kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 323mg | Potassium: 125mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 55g | Vitamin A: 2593IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg
I love carrot cake. I love blondies. I love whoever made this recipe.
We made these and followed the recipe and made sure we used the correct amount of ingredients. They came
out looking underbaked so we gave even another 12 mins and took them out. They seemed very oily/buttery and were like raw batter. Is it possible some of the liquid measurements are off?
Hi Carla! I’m so sorry to hear that this happened! I did just look over the recipe again to make sure I hadn’t made any typos, but as far as I can tell, everything looks correct. I’m not sure how this happened, did you make any substitutions? Again, I apologize! There is a video you can watch to see my process, if that is at all helpful.
These were incredible! Turned out perfect. I made them for family this weekend and all the non-vegans loved them.
Hi! Question before I start making…. does the Violofe cream cheese need to be room temp also? Or should it be kept I’m the fridge until use? Thanks!
10/10, flavor and texture are both incredible! I only needed half the amount of frosting, and it was still super flavorful and delicious. Everyone loved these at Easter!
Question: is there a substitute for the vegetable shortening that you think might work in the frosting? Please let me know. Thank you! 😊