Carrot Cake Blondies

Carrot cake lovers – these are for you! All the greatness of a carrot cake in an easy-to-bake-up batch of blondies. With cream cheese frosting, of course. These are definitely a keeper! From bakerbynature.com.

Carrot Cake Blondies

Ingredients:

4 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 cup carrots, finely grated
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (if tolerated)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (if tolerated)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (if tolerated)
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut (without problem ingredients)
1/4 cup golden raisins (if tolerated)
2 ounces unsalted butter, VERY soft
4 ounces cream cheese, VERY soft
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (if tolerated)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (if tolerated)
2 cups confectioners sugar


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Spray an 9x9" inch baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.

2. Whisk flour, ground ginger, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Cream brown sugar and browned butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

4. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

5. Mix in dry ingredients.

6. Stir in carrots, walnuts, coconut, and raisins.

7. Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth the top.

8. Place pan in the oven and bake for 26-30 minutes. The edges will be brown and the center should be set. Cool completely (!!!) in pan before removing and frosting. You don't want to rush the cooling!

9. Make your Frosting:

10. *Make sure your cream cheese and butter are suuuuuuuper soft.

11. Whisk cream cheese and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. You can also do this by hand if you're not afraid of using a little elbow grease.

12. Whisk in vanilla, ginger, and cinnamon. Add confectioners sugar a 1/2 cup at a time, and whisk until smooth.

13. Frost cooled bars by simply scooping the frosting onto the blondies and smoothing it evenly across the top. Cut into small squares and serve!

14. You can add toasted coconut or chopped nuts to the top. If you have crystalized ginger you could add that!