Mango Carrot Cake Swirl Bars – carrot cake in bar form combined with one of my favorite fruits – mango. This is a match made in Easter heaven! If you love this, you will also love these Carrot Cake Cupcakes.
It’s almost Easter, and there is nothing more quintessential to serve for Easter dinner than carrot cake (well lamb is in the running too I suppose) which is why I wanted to spice things up with these mango carrot cake swirl bars.
Carrot cake is a true classic. While I don’t eat it that often, I knew I wanted to attempt some version of it to share with all of you. Something simple that’s packed with unexpected flavor was my motivation when creating this bar recipe.
I decided to mix in Chobani’s mango flavored greek yogurt, which really helped to lighten and liven these bars up. The additional mango flavor is a perfect yet unexpected complement to carrot cake. I love the tiny juicy mango nuggets from the yogurt that surprise your taste buds in each bar.
This bar recipe is also so much fun to make. It would be a fun project to try with the kids for Easter. In fact, I made a quick Vine video showing some of the steps, which you can check out here. I also love how perfect this recipe shows the use of a spring veggie like carrots, also perfect for me to share with Yahoo! Shine’s Supper Club.
Mango Carrot Cake Swirl Bars
Ingredients
- 12 ounces pureed carrots
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup mango Chobani greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 4 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 8 ounces 1/3 fat free cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons mango puree
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- For the bars, In one large bowl, add pureed carrots, granulated sugar, greek yogurt, oil, beaten eggs, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
- For the swirl cream cheese topping, In a medium sized bowl, blend cream cheese and granulated sugar with a hand mixer until nice and smooth.
- Add in one egg, vanilla extract and mango puree and mix until well incorporated.
- To prepare the bars , Pour 3/4 of carrotbatter into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.
- Next spread the cream cheese topping on top of the carrot batter until no carrot batter is showing. Spoon remaining carrot batter in random areas over the cream cheese topping.
- Take a butter knife and swirl the top of the batters to create a pretty swirl pattern.
- Bake the bars for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 20 minutes then serve.
How did you puree the carrots? How many carrots is 12 oz. pureed?
Hi Bonnie, you can add the carrots to your food processor with a tiny bit of water to puree them.
Hi Jocelyn
Can you buy mango puree.
Hi Jackie, I haven’t seen it at the market but it is super easy to make. You can add your mango to a food processor or blender and a tiny bit of water and grind it up until smooth.
Hi Jocelyn, I was just stalking your fan page on FB, and saw these scrumptious bars! I don’t know how I missed them. I love Chobani, not only for lightening up baked goods, but for the moistness it creates. Enjoy your Sunday!!!
Awww thanks so much Carol. I adore greek yogurt in my baking now. It is becoming my favorite replacement.
Yum these look so good, I especially love the sound of the mango cream cheese!
Thanks so much!! Mango cream cheese makes me happy too.
Yum! I am all about carrot cake right now and these are calling my name. I love that you used the Chobani in it to lighten things up a bit!!!
Thanks so much! It definitely lightens them up a bit but gives such an incredibly mango flavor that’s just perfect!
Very creative! I love Chobani and have seen many recipes this one is one I will need to try
Thanks so much!! Chobani is super great right?
Oooh mango yogurt & carrot, I would never think of combining them. Lovely cake squares!
Yes it is a wonderful combo that you never would think would be so great! Thanks so much!