HEALTHY NO BAKE CARROT CAKE BREAKFAST BARS

These healthy No Bake Carrot Cake Breakfast Bars are packed with protein and a well-rounded meal to kickstart your day! Thick, chewy and with a fudgy texture, these breakfast bars are naturally gluten free, vegan, dairy free, refined sugar free and come with a tested paleo and grain free option! I think it’s safe to say, we all have that one friend who ponders over the slightly more obscure things…and continue to do so. Like the distribution of carrots within a cake.

Around this time last year, I was having lunch with my friend in the East Village, Manhattan. We decided to just get coffee and cake  because we were going to a comedy show that night (included in the comedy show ticket price was unlimited pizza). We decided to share two cakes- Carrot and coffee pecan crumble. 


After digging into the cakes, my friend randomly brought up the daily recommendation of vegetables for different age groups. This ventured into carrots and our cake we were enjoying. “How many carrots need to go into the batter and THEN distributed amongst the slices, before it could be considered a serving of vegetables?” 

“Um…this cream cheese frosting is epic.” - “No seriously. Let’s say they put 5 carrots in it, cut the cake into 12 slices, that would be just under half a carrot per slice. If they were big carrots, we could technically say 2 servings per slice. If they were baby carrots, then we’d be eating…maybe 1/6th of a serving. What do you think?”

I’m pretty sure I gave him the ‘Chloe’ face in the hopes of him stopping. He didn’t.  Well, at one stage, tomato sauce on pizza, was counted as a vegetable. If I ate 5 pizzas a day, I wonder if I would go over my vegetable quota?”

Thank goodness he didn’t bring it up again at the comedy show that night when we had pizza. He questioned what lured rats into the subway.  So while today’s recipe won’t count towards your daily vegetable quota (unless you ate the whole thing, in which case, be my guest!), it’s still one to warrant a healthy halo. 

These healthy no bake carrot cake breakfast bars are an easy, quick and fuss-free breakfast, snack or even healthy dessert option! They are also perfect frozen as individual portions, which are perfect for a grab-and-go breakfast! Unlike traditional breakfast bars, these require no baking. They also contain no butter, oil, flour or granulated sugar (or grains, if you opt for the paleo option!), but you’d never be able to tell!

Can we highlight the texture for just a second- Thick, chewy and depending on when you enjoy it, can be ridiculously fudgy or ‘just’ firm. Depending on which option you choose, these breakfast bars are naturally gluten free, vegan, dairy free, refined sugar free, paleo and grain free!  

HACK! Let’s talk frosting for a moment! As usual, I share a couple of tried and tested methods below. If you want a more ‘traditional’ carrot cake bar, use the cream cheese option. If you want a protein packed frosting (much less traditional tasting), go for the option using protein powder (I always use this vegan protein powder, this casein protein powder, and this paleo friendly protein powder). For a cheat’s way, you can simply use a thickened coconut cream blended with a dash of cinnamon and sweetener. 

Or just leave it frosting-less.  NO JUD6EMENT.

Make these healthy no bake carrot cake breakfast bars and the next time your ‘friend’ starts instigating random conversion, put on your royal outfit and… Give your best Chloe look

Healthy No Bake Carrot Cake Breakfast Bars
Serves 6
These healthy No Bake Carrot Cake Breakfast Bars are packed with protein and a well-rounded meal to kickstart your day! Thick, chewy and with a fudgy texture, these breakfast bars are naturally gluten free, vegan, dairy free, refined sugar free and come with a tested paleo and grain free option!

For the bars
3 cups gluten free oat flour OR 2 cup coconut flour (Paleo option)
1 cup vanilla protein powder (optional)
pinch sea salt
Cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sweetener of choice
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce OR carrot baby food
1/4 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (can sub for brown rice or honey if no diet restrictions)
1/2 cup drippy almond butter (can sub for any nut or seed butter)
pinch vanilla extract
1/2 cup + milk of choice*

For the high protein frosting
2 scoops vanilla protein powder (see tested recommendations under 'shop')
1-2 T granulated sweetener of choice (optional)
1-2 T nut butter of choice (optional)
Milk to form batter

For the coconut butter frosting
1/2 cup coconut butter, melted
2 T coconut oil, melted
1 tsp maple syrup

For the cream cheese frosting**
1 serving (8 oz/250 grams) of cream cheese of choice, softened (dairy free if necessary)
pinch cinnamon
2 T granulated sweetener of choice***

Instructions
1. Line a 8 x 8 baking dish or loaf pan with parchment paper or aluminium foil and set aside- For thicker bars, use a loaf pan.

2. Read Full Recipe here : HEALTHY NO BAKE CARROT CAKE BREAKFAST BARS