Flourless Carrot Cake Oat Bars

This healthy recipe for Flourless Carrot Cake Oat Bars is perfect for a clean eating fall breakfast or snack.

Even though the blog world is knee-deep in pumpkin and apple recipes this month, there are plenty of other flavors that invoke fall feelings for me. One of my favorite indulgent desserts is carrot cake, and I think it's a top contender to be considered the next "it" fall flavor. Doesn't it make sense? Carrot cake includes warm spices, a healthy seasonal vegetable, and an orange huge. Carrots don't get enough attention!

Over the past month, I have sampled two delicious slices of carrot cake and I can't get either out of my mind. The first slice was shared a few weeks ago at Chop in Sister Bay, Wisconsin, after a fun family dinner following the Run Wild race. Chop's version is a two-layer cake with creamy icing and raisins. It's famous at the restaurant, and another diner told us we "had to order it" as we were waiting for our table. The cake didn't disappoint! K and I shared the second version of carrot cake last weekend after dinner at boltwood in Evanston. This was a more modern take on the dessert, served with mint leaves, real mint ice cream, and cream cheese frosting made with parsnips. Yes, parsnips. It was crazy delicious.

Hungry yet? Please excuse the shadow-y iPhone photo :)

After all of this cake love, I had to create a healthier version at home. The goal was to make something I would feel good about eating for breakfast, but tasty enough for a late night snack. These Flourless Carrot Cake Oat Bars turned out exactly as I imagined with the smell {and taste!} matching my favorite carrot cake flavors.

Traditional carrot cake includes shredded carrots, butter, eggs, sugar, pecans, raisins, and spices. I've seen recipes using only cinnamon, and versions with a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg. I decided to use both warm spices in these bars - old fashioned oats are combined with shredded carrots, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, chopped pecans, and unsweetened shredded coconut to bring out the cake flavors.

These healthy bars are sweetened with pure maple syrup - they are delicious both warm and at room temperature!

Flourless Carrot Cake Oat Bars
Yields: 8 bars

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients~
3 medium carrots {or 1 cup packed shredded carrots}
1 egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened almond butter
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup golden raisins
2 Tablespoons chopped pecans
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

How to~
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Mix shredded carrots, egg, and maple syrup. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until just combined.
*Cover the bottom of a 9x5 shallow loaf pan with parchment paper. Evenly distribute the mixture and lightly pat it down with your hands.
*Bake for 25 minutes.