I found these wonderful no wheat, low sugar bars on the even more wonderful site The Lean Green Bean and I would love for you to wander that way to see what other wonderful things she has on her web page. Trust me, there are more great recipes and witty commentary to be found.
So, without further ado, here are the wonderful bars I served for Resurrection Sunday:
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| photo credit to Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean |
No-Bake Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Bars
Makes 9 bars
Bottom Layer
- ½ cup walnuts
- ½ cup almonds
- 1 cup dates, pitted (~20 dates)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup carrots, grated
- ½ cup 2% greek yogurt, plain
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons coconut, shredded & unsweetened (optional)
Directions
1. Place walnuts and almonds into a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Constantly stir for ~5 minutes, or until nuts are slightly toasted (be careful not to let them burn).
2. Into a food processor, add toasted nuts, sea salt and dates. Process until the mixture forms a dough.
3. Place grated carrots into a couple paper towels and squeeze the excess moisture out of the carrots.
4. Dump the shredded/squeezed carrots and the dough into a bowl and combine. Press dough into a parchment paper lined 8×8-inch dish.
5. Now make your frosting. In a bowl, use an electric mixer to combine greek yogurt, cream cheese, maple syrup and vanilla. Mix on high speed until smooth.
6. Spread frosting over pressed out dough. Sprinkle with coconut. Allow bars to set in the fridge for at least 1 hour before slicing into 9 bars.
P.S. If you dislike coconut, you can just leave the coconut flakes off.
UPDATE: I added 1tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp clove and I'm glad I did. The little addition of spice is more like the carrot cake I have made before. Adjust to your level of spice. I personally would have added a touch more of each and maybe a 1/2 tsp ginger.
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| photo credit to Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean |
