These no bake carrot cake bars taste like carrot cake in bar form and don’t require any baking or cooking. The bars need just 4 ingredients and don’t require any wheat flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy, butter or oil. They can also easily be customized.
A stack of three No Bake Carrot Cake Bars

These healthier carrot cake bars are a great way to enjoy carrot cake without having to bake a carrot cake. You can also customize them with other mix-ins, spices and frosting.

Ingredients

  • Walnuts
  • Shredded carrots
  • Dates
  • Coconut flour

Walnuts: Walnuts are pulsed in food processor until they are finely chopped. The walnuts help absorb the moisture from the other ingredients and add texture.

Shredded carrots: I like to shred the carrots before adding them to the food processor to be finely chopped so that the carrot pieces are easy to eat.

Dates: Dates are used to sweeten the carrot cake and also act as a binding agent. This recipe uses Medjool dates which is a larger date variety that has more soft flesh. I recommend using Medjool dates because they make a better date paste.

Coconut flour: A little bit of coconut flour is added to give the bars a slight cakey texture.

How to Make No Bake Carrot Cake Bars

  • The walnuts and carrots are pulsed in a food processor until they are finely chopped.
  • Remove the walnut carrot mixture and then add in the pitted dates. Blend the dates until they are smooth. Add the walnut and carrot mixture back in. Add in the coconut flour and blend until incorporated. Your mixture should look slightly crumbly, but if you pinch it, it should hold together.Ingredients for carrot cake bars blended in a food processor
  • Transfer the mixture to your prepared loaf pan. Press firmly on it to compact it evenly across the bottom of the pan.
  • Place into the fridge to set.
  • Once set, cut into bars with a sharp knife. You can also add a healthier cream cheese or yogurt frosting on top before serving.

Texture

These cake bars have a texture similar to a carrot cake that is packed with mix-ins. It has a lot of texture as well as a little bit of a cakey crumb from the coconut flour.
No Bake Carrot Cake Bars topped with frosting, chopped walnuts and shredded carrots

Expert Tips

  • You can add spices if you prefer your carrot cake to have a spiced flavor. If using, you can add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Pumpkin pie spice contains most of the spices often associated with carrot cake without needing to use or purchase several spices.
  • You can increase the amount of dates if you prefer a sweeter cake. Or add a sweet frosting on top.

No Bake Carrot Cake Bars cut into squares with a frosting

More No Bake Bar Recipes

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4.86 from 7 votes

4 Ingredient No Bake Carrot Cake Bars

These 4-ingredient no-bake carrot cake bars are made with simple, healthier ingredients and come together in minutes—no oven required. Naturally sweetened with dates and packed with carrots and walnuts, they’re soft and chewy.
Servings: 8 bars
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups (146g) pitted Medjool date halves, see note
  • 1 1/4 cups (145g) chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup (78g) shredded carrots, see note
  • 3 tbsp (21g) coconut flour

Instructions
 

  • Line an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang for easy removal later.
  • Add the walnuts and shredded carrots to the food processor. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped and resembles coarse crumbs, with finely chopped pieces of nuts and carrots throughout. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
  • Add the pitted dates to a food processor and process until they form a mostly smooth paste, about 1–2 minutes.
  • Return the carrot mixture to the food processor along with the coconut flour. If adding pumpkin spice, also add it at this time. Pulse a few times until evenly combined and no large chunks remain. The mixture should look slightly crumbly, but if you pinch some of it together, it should hold together.
  • Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press firmly into an even, compact layer. Refrigerate for 1–2 hours, to allow the bars to firm up. Once set, lift the bars from the pan and cut with a large sharp knife. If desired, you can also frost the bars with cream cheese or yogurt frosting before serving. I share recipes for both in the recipe notes.
  • Store uneaten bars in an airtight container in the fridge.

Notes

  • Adapted from Minimalist Baker.
  • If you want a spiced flavor, you can add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to the mixture.
  • Carrot note: I shredded my carrots using a box grater, using the larger set of holes. A box grater has four sides. One side is meant for thin slices. There are three sides that have holes. I used the largest set of holes.
  • Date note: If you are using an older package of dates or your dates seem dry, you will need to rehydrate the dates. To rehydrate them, soak them in warm water for 10-15 minutes. Then drain out the water and thoroughly pat dry the dates with paper towels. Then add dates to food processor to make the date paste.
  • Weight and measurement for the dates is after they have been pitted. I used whole dates, broke them in half and removed the pits. I find that dates that have already been pitted are usually more firm and not as soft as whole dates with the pits. I used Joolies Medjool Dates*
  • *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
  • Optional Healthy Frostings: I have two frostings I usually use, a yogurt frosting and a healthier cream cheese frosting:
  • Yogurt Frosting 
    • 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
    • maple syrup, if needed
    • To make the frosting, add the yogurt to a medium bowl and whisk until it is smooth and creamy. If needed, you can add a little bit of maple syrup to thin it out or to add sweetness.
  • Cream Cheese Frosting
    • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
    • 1-2 tbsp maple syrup, to taste
    • Whisk together the cream cheese and maple syrup in a small bowl until smooth and evenly combined
  • Estimated nutrition does not include optional frosting.
Serving: 1bar, Calories: 183kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 9mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 13g, NET CARBS: 14
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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