Carrot Cake Blondies

If you’re looking for a new dessert that will knock your socks off, Carrot Cake Blondies are here to save the day! This brown sugar blondie is filled with what we love most about carrot cake but with the fudgy texture of a brownie. Cream Cheese marbled throughout keeps people coming back for just one more bite. I took a big plate of them with me when we were setting up for the Huntsville Homeschool Prom last weekend and a dear friend said “I’m just going to eat half of one. I don’t eat a lot of sweets.” She came and found me moments later and said “Christy, I’m going to need my other half now…”

If you’d like the recipe, just scroll on down a paragraph or two and I get into that. If you have time to visit a bit, keep reading.

Ricky and I have been married almost 21 years now and our kids are 19 and 14 years of age. They’re growing up. We’re growing older. We’ve been through many seasons together and there are more still to come, if the Father wills it. We have enjoyed them all and are looking forward to the future. But the most important season in our lives, at any given time, is the one we are in that very moment. Rather than look back wistfully, we look back and know we lived each season to the fullest, having no regrets – because we have always focused fully on the season at hand.

Having said that, I want to tell you about the blessings of the season we are in now. Brady is off living at his university and Katy homeschools here with her best friend each day. We use a wonderful online program that does all of the grading and I sit at my desk working away while they learn just a few feet to my side.

On the weekends, we unplug Friday around sunset each week and sit down to a special meal. Saturday is a wonderful day of rest with no guilt whatsoever and Sunday we generally work together on projects around the house. Sometimes we join our friends at local spots for coffee, sometimes we join our them for studies that lead well into the evening hours.

However, despite the steady and peaceful pace that our lives have fallen into, the world hasn’t slowed down one bit. In fact, in all respects as far as we can see, it’s sped up. But the key is learning that the world ends where our front door closes. In learning to value our peace, through time and intentional effort, we taught ourselves how to guard that peace.  While we can have no real effect on the outside world, we’ve definitely slowed the pace and appreciation of life within the walls of our home.

Having said that, the world has tried it’s best to get in this week, as it often does when special occasions are being prepped for. We’ve had air conditioners go out, cars break down, unexpected expenses at every corner, and schedules interrupted by just about everything you can imagine. But in each of those lies a blessing. And we’ve been focusing on the blessings for so long that sometimes it feels like that is all we can see. Life is good and when we take the time to realize that, it gets even better.

I hope you can take time to sit back and appreciate the blessings this weekend. Maybe starting with one of these carrot cake blondies will help.

You’ll need: butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, all purpose flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, shredded carrots, and cream cheese. As always, the recipe is at the bottom of this post in a printable recipe card.

In large mixing bowl, stir together melted butter and brown sugar. Add egg, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt and stir again, by hand, until well combined and smooth. Add in shredded carrots and stir until incorporated. 

In a separate mixing bowl, place cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. 

Place half of the carrot cake batter into the pan. Drop spoonfuls of 1/2 of the cheesecake batter over the top. Don’t swirl just yet! Drop spoonfuls of the rest of the carrot cake batter on top of this and then follow with the remaining cheesecake batter. Take a knife and swirl all of this together a bit over the top. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until it is lightly browned and set in the center. Remove and allow to cool before serving for the prettiest pieces. 

These things taste as wonderful as they look, if not better!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Blondies

• 1/2 cup butter melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla nope, not kidding!
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup carrots shredded

Cream Cheese Swirl

• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 ounces cream cheese at room temp

Instructions

• Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. In large mixing bowl, stir together melted butter and brown sugar. Add egg, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt and stir again, by hand, until well combined and smooth. Add in shredded carrots and stir until incorporated. 

  In a mixing bowl, place cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. 

  Place half of the carrot cake batter into the pan. Drop spoonfuls of 1/2 of the cheesecake batter over the top. Don't swirl just yet! Drop spoonfuls of the rest of the carrot cake batter on top of this and then follow with the remaining cheesecake batter. Take a knife and swirl all of this together a bit over the top. 

  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until it is lightly browned and set in the center. Remove and allow to cool before serving for the prettiest pieces. 

Notes

Now y'all know I don't generally fuss over recipes so having you put one egg yolk in the cream cheese mixture may seem petty, but it makes a difference. If you use the whole egg your mixture will be runny. It will still work, but you won't be able to swirl it as well. 

Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.

~George Patton

This recipe is featured on Meal Plan Monday and Weekend Potluck