Carrot Cake Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 cup grated carrots
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9 x 9 square pan with parchment paper on all sides. Combine the brown sugar and butter together in a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the vanilla extract, eggs and carrots and mix.

2. 2

   Add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and orange zest and mix until only just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix!

3. 3

   Pour the carrot cake batter into your prepared pan and set aside while you make the cheesecake layer.

4. 4

   Combine the softened cream cheese, egg, granulated sugar and vanilla together in a mixing bowl and beat together (if using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment) until creamy and homogenous. Don’t over mix as this will beat too much air into your batter.

5. 5

   Drop dollops of the cheesecake batter on top of the carrot cake batter and use a butter knife to make big swirls. Bake the bars at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean.

6. 6

   Allow the bars to cool completely to set up before slicing into squares and enjoying!