These EASY Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars make a quick on-the-go breakfast, snack or healthy dessert made with zero refined sugar and drizzled with a delicious maple cream cheese frosting! 

These EASY Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars make a quick on-the-go breakfast, snack or healthy dessert made with zero refined sugar and drizzled with a delicious maple cream cheese frosting! 

You are going to love these cozy and delicious carrot cake oatmeal breakfast bars! I originally shared this recipe back in 2017, but over the years I’ve had a few complaints that the bars were too crumbly and fell apart. SO I have tested and re-tested this recipe a few times, made some tweaks and I’m LOVING how they turned out! Cake-like with great texture while still holding their shape. The maple cream cheese drizzle on top is literal icing on the cake!

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

  • Super easy to make all in one bowl!
  • These bars are made healthier with whole grain oats, almond milk and zero butter or refined sugar.
  • Enjoy these bars as a grab-and-go breakfast, as a midday snack or even a healthy dessert.
  • Perfect for Easter brunch and packed with a whole cup of grated carrots!
These EASY Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars make a quick on-the-go breakfast, snack or healthy dessert made with zero refined sugar and drizzled with a delicious maple cream cheese frosting! 

Ingredients You’ll Need

  • rolled oats – we are using a mixture of gluten-free oats along with some oat flour to get that delicious cake-like texture. See instructions below on how to make your own oat flour right at home!
  • baking powder – acts as a leavening agent to help the bars rise.
  • carrots – you’ll need one heaping cup of shredded carrots, about 2 medium carrots.
  • egg – adds protein and gives these bars their fluffy texture and height.
  • coconut oil – for additional moisture and fluffiness!  Feel free to substitute with another type of oil if you prefer or even butter.
  • milk – I used unsweetened almond milk in these carrot cake bars, but any type of milk will work.
  • maple syrup – naturally sweetens these bars without using any refined sugar, you could also use honey or other natural sweetener.
  • vanilla extract – extra boost of flavor.
  • spices – a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and salt

Feel free to add in some fun mix-ins such as raisins, chia seeds, chopped walnuts, pecans or any other type of nuts that you prefer or you could even sprinkle them on top of the maple cream cheese glaze!

How to Make Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars

  1. Mix ingredients.  In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla and whisk until well-combined.  Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients, add in the shredded carrots, and mix until just combined.
  2. Bake the bars.  Pour the carrot cake batter into a prepared 8×8-inch baking pan and bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the bars sit for 5 minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
  3. Make cream cheese frosting.  While the bars are cooling, add cream cheese, maple syrup, milk and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can use an electric mixer) and whip on high until smooth. Feel free to add in more milk one teaspoon at a time until you have your desired creaminess. 
  4. Prepare bars. Drizzle the cream cheese frosting over the bars once they have cooled and cut into 16 pieces. Enjoy!
These EASY Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars make a quick on-the-go breakfast, snack or healthy dessert made with zero refined sugar and drizzled with a delicious maple cream cheese frosting! 

How to Make Your Own Oat Flour

To make your own oat flour, you simply take old fashioned rolled oats (or instant oats) and blend them in your food processor or blender for about 60 seconds until they resemble a fine, powdery flour – and that’s it!  You can of course just buy your own oat flour at the store, but this method saves you money and the flour will last up to three months in your pantry.  The ratio for oat flour is one cup of oats = one cup of oat flour so it’s pretty easy to measure out.

Pin this now to find it later

Pin It

Follow on Instagram

Follow

Prepping and Storage

To Store: You can keep these carrot cake oatmeal bars stored in a sealed, airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. I like to store them in a single layer to prevent the cream cheese from

To Freeze: These bars freeze really well too!  I recommend freezing the bars individually and just pulling them out to thaw as needed.  When ready to eat, just pop them in the microwave for 3o to 40 seconds or simply thaw out at room temperature.  These will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months!

More Bars You’ll Love

Hope you all enjoy these Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars and if you love these as much as we do, please leave ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!

4.62 from 13 votes

Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

These EASY Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars make a quick on-the-go breakfast, snack or healthy dessert made with zero refined sugar and drizzled with a delicious maple cream cheese frosting! 
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 16

Ingredients 

  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup oat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup almond milk, or milk of choice
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup grated carrots

For the Frosting:

  • 3 oz cream cheese
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 Tbso almond milk, or milk of choice
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Save this recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together oats, oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla and stir until well-combined.
  • Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients, add in the grated carrots, and mix everything until just combined.
  • Pour the oat mixture into a prepared 8×8-inch baking dish and bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Let the carrot cake bars sit for 5 minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
  • While the bars are cooling, add cream cheese to a small bowl and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  Add in the maple syrup, a tablespoon of milk and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla and whisk together until smooth.  Feel free to add more milk a teaspoon at a time until you get your desired consistency.
  • Slice the bars into 16 pieces and drizzle the cream cheese frosting over top, enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1bar | Calories: 128kcal | Carbohydrates: 17.5g | Protein: 3.3g | Fat: 5.7g | Saturated Fat: 3.7g | Cholesterol: 14.6mg | Sodium: 73.3mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5.7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

As a self-proclaimed foodie and fitness enthusiast, I have a passion for cooking and a huge desire to show that living a healthy lifestyle can actually be easy and fun!  Feel free to use the meal guide above to find your new favorite meal ideas or the dietary guides to the right to narrow things down even more!

Related Recipes

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

52 Comments

  1. Stacey says:

    I made these – I substituted 1 cup oat flour based on reviews AND because I saw it at the grocery store – they turned out perfect! Cut perfectly – my 6 year old loves them! I did add a bit extra maple syrup to the frosting because I knew my kids would eat them if they were a bit sweeter. I may add some crushed pineapple just to try. These are amazing and will be a go to in our house! Thank you!!

    1. Cristina Chillem says:

      Did you substitute 1 cup oat flour for the 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, or you did 1 cup oat flour and 1/2 cup rolled oats? Thank you!

  2. R.F. says:

    1 star
    I’m sorry to say that these were a disaster. The ones in your photos clearly have some kind of flour in them, so it’s not possible for someone to follow your recipe and get the same results as depicted in your photos. That’s really unkind to your readers.

    I followed the recipe exactly. Mine came out looking like granola, and crumbled like it too. After cutting them into squares with a very sharp knife, an entire bar’s worth of oats had fallen onto the cutting board. There’s too much cinnamon and not nearly enough carrot. There’s no way to tell when they’re done baking; of course a toothpick will come out clean because there’s no batter to stick to it, so the bars passed the toothpick test at 35 minutes but were clearly underbaked in the middle once I cooled and cut them. Of course there was no way to fix it at that point.

    If I were going to try to rescue them, I’d reduce the cinnamon, double the carrot, replace 2/3 of the rolled oats with quick oats, and add at least 1/4 cup flour and more if needed for the batter to properly cohere. But at that point I might as well just go find another recipe.

    Please be honest with your readers and post your real recipes and process photos. This is just setting people up for disappointment.

    1. Kelly says:

      I’m sorry to hear these did not work out for you, but I assure you I have NEVER posted photos of a recipe that were not the exact ingredients used. I do agree a bit of flour would help with the binding and I’m happy to revisit this recipe and adjust as-needed, but I have a feeling the bars may not have been cooled completely before cutting into them which would cause them to fall apart. I have never had this issue and I apologize that this recipe was a failure for you. I’ll test this recipe again and make the necessary adjustments and I do appreciate your feedback!