Julie Clark
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Carrot Cake Bars with Cake Mix
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Skip complicated steps. These cake mix carrot cake bars bake up soft and rich every time with simple ingredients and no guesswork.
These carrot cake bars are made with a boxed cake mix, but they bake up soft, rich, and just dense enough to feel homemade. With only 4 ingredients in the cake mix bars, this is one of the fastest ways to get a carrot cake dessert on the table without extra steps.
They’re perfect when you want something simple for Easter dinner, a potluck, or just a quick dessert that you know will turn out right.
Carrot Cake Bars with Cake Mix That Turn Out Soft Every Time
I love a good homemade carrot cake recipe with fresh grated carrots. But I also am a fan of shortcut recipes using a box cake mix. In fact, our carrot cake trifle is one of our most popular Easter recipes!
These carrot cake bars come together with just a few ingredients, but each one plays a specific role in getting the texture right.
- The cake mix gives you consistent flavor and structure
- Cream cheese adds richness and keeps the bars soft
- Butter creates a dense, cookie-like base
- The egg binds everything together
The result is not a fluffy cake. These are soft, slightly dense bars with a smooth bite that holds together well when sliced.
You might also love our easy carrot walnut cake and carrot cake bread.
Enjoy! -Julie
Ingredients You’ll Need
You only need 4 ingredients for the cookie bars:
- 1 box carrot cake mix
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup butter, softened
Optional frosting takes it over the top, but the bars stand on their own just fine.
How to Make Carrot Cake Bars with Cake Mix
These come together quickly, but the texture depends on doing a few small things right.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8×8 pan.
- Mix the cake mix, cream cheese, egg, and butter until fully combined.
- The dough will be thick. That’s exactly what you want.
- Press evenly into the pan.
- Bake for 14–18 minutes. The edges should be set, but the center should still look slightly soft. If you wait until the center looks fully baked, they’ll turn out dry.
Cream Cheese Frosting (Homemade is Worth It)
If you want a more classic carrot cake feel, add frosting.
You can use store-bought to keep this recipe quick, but our homemade cream cheese frosting gives a better texture and balance.
Make It Your Way
Once you’ve made these carrot cake bars with cake mix once, it’s easy to change them up.
- Add chopped walnuts or pecans
- Stir in raisins
- Sprinkle coconut on top
- Swap frosting for a light glaze
For more easy desserts like this, try our cake mix cookies or brownie cookies.
Carrot Cake Bars with Cake Mix
These 4 ingredient Carrot Cake Bars are made from a cake mix! They’re good enough without frosting, but for a special treat top them with cream cheese frosting.
Servings 12 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 33 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 box Betty Crocker carrot cake cake mix (15.25 ounces)
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup salted butter room temperature
For homemade frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 6 tablespoons salted butter room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray an 8×8" baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, mix together the dry cake mix, cream cheese, egg and butter until completely mixed. The dough will be very thick. 1 box Betty Crocker carrot cake cake mix, 4 ounces cream cheese, 1 large egg, ¼ cup salted butter
- Press the dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 14-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool.
- For homemade frosting: Using an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese, scraping down the sides as needed, until the mixture is light and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar, ½ a cup at at time, until it is thoroughly mixed. Add the vanilla and beat the frosting on medium speed for about 3 minutes. 4 ounces cream cheese, 6 tablespoons salted butter, 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar, ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- Frost the carrot cake bars with the frosting and top with the chopped walnuts. ½ cup chopped walnuts
Notes
We baked our bars for 14 minutes exactly and thought the texture was perfect (very soft). If you want them just a bit “cakey-er” or if your bars seem too “raw” for your liking, let them bake an additional 3-4 minutes.
Store these covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerate for up to 5 days.
They also freeze well. Slice first, then freeze for easy grab-and-go portions.
Nutrition
Serving: 96g | Calories: 416kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 455mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 570IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 1mg
I didn’t have a cake pan on hand so I made them in muffin pans and they were awesome! Dumb question though, where do you store them? I put them in the fridge and when I took them out, they were a little hard.
I made these for my family last week, with the addition of raisins and coconut. I added a light glaze that I had leftover from another recipe, and they were great. I am making them again today for a marching band bake sale tomorrow. If I can manage, I will try to pipe a little carrot on top of each one.
Thank you for the recipe!
I made them into cookie sandwiches today… I formed balls then flattened them and once they were cool used that cream cheese icing as filler ???? they are yummy soft cookie sandwiches… Now to make sure there are some left for when my SO gets home lol.
These look so great! Can I use a butter substitute, like Smart Balance?
Yum,yum, yum! These would be good with a spice cake mix too.
Are you sure about the 14 minute cook time? Mine were mostly raw at 14 minutes and 350 degrees (in a brand new oven). The cake mix box says close to 30 minutes – ?
These were gummy and tasteless. What happened..
Made these carrot cake bars this past weekend! They were great! and we all know who enjoyed them the most, right Julie?!!!
These sound delicious! I adore carrot cake anything, and this recipe is a sure winner 🙂 Thank you for linking up to Moonlight and Mason Jars, pinning <3
Thank you, Diane!
Love the idea of carrot cake bars…genius and so simple. Would love for you to link up at the Friday Pin Fest link up.
oh so yummy
come see me angie at annies home ( http://shopannies.blogspot.com )
Oh wow! These look amazing! I’ll definitely have to try these. Pinning 🙂
Mmmm these sound awesome. Love that it uses cake mix. Thanks for sharing at Simple Supper Tuesday.
These sound soooo good!