A Wholesome Carrot Cake Bar That’s Almost Too Easy To Make
Reason #73 to not throw out and/or give up on the carrots your child may repeatedly refuse: let them eat (carrot) cake. This one keeps it simple and healthy: lots of carrots and cashews, some oats, and some nut butter to bind it all together. It’s not a treat, but it’s not just a vegetable; it’s whatever you want it to be. Cut it up in squares to eat like carrot cake; slice it into fingers to make an oat bar. Serve it as a snack; serve it for/as breakfast. Add chocolate chips for indulgence and/or enticement. Simple.
(Note: this will fill about half of a regular size loaf pan–or fully fill a small one–so double the ingredients and cook for 15 minutes longer if looking to make a large portion.)
- 8 Baby Carrots (or two regular sized ones)
- 1/2 cup Cashews (one large handful, essentially)
- 1 Egg
- 3/4 cup Milk
- Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 cup Rolled Oats
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- Chocolate Chips (optional)
- Cream Cheese
- Honey or Maple Syrup
- In a blender or food processor, break down carrots and cashews until they are small bits.
- Preheat your oven to 350. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Take cream cheese out of fridge and allow to soften.
- Blend egg, milk, and a drizzle of maple syrup–add two more if not using chocolate chips–in a large bowl. Add in carrot-cashew mix from the blender and the cinnamon, ginger, oats, and baking powder to the bowl; mix until blended.
If adding chocolate chips, pour roughly half of the batter into the loaf pan, pushing and smoothing the batter around the pan to ensure the bottom is covered. Spread chocolate chips around the surface area of the pan, then pour in remaining batter and cover the chips.* (If not adding chips, just pour the whole bowl in and smooth it out.)
(*See Note below.)
- Heat for 20 minutes. (If still wet in the center at time, cook for 3-5 more minutes).
- While the carrot cake cooks, make the icing: drizzle of honey maple syrup over a small chunk of cream cheese; whip rapidly with a fork to loosen.
- Remove carrot loaf from pan and allow to cool 10 minutes before spreading cream cheese over the top/slicing.
Small square- or finger-shaped pieces should be ideal and easy for most toddlers–the latter has the advantage of making it harder for your kiddo to just eat the chocolate chips out of the cake (as ours is often wont to do). Two of those slices make an ideal snack, but we especially find it helpful as a side to breakfast, where it can fill out a plate and your child’s stomach quite nicely.
If your child is ready for/can tolerate pieces within his/her cake, you can add raisins or chopped nuts to the mix; it will not affect the proportions or cook time. Zucchini can be subbed for carrots–just make sure to squeeze out the moisture in the zucchini before adding to the mixing bowl.
- * Embedding the chocolate chips is more a strategy than a necessity: it's merely a proactive move to keep your child--as ours does--from simply biting out the chocolate and nothing else. If that's not an issue for you, feel free to scatter the chips as you see fit, including on top.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
