Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl

That cheesecake swirl is everything! What a perfect spring blondie. Have a great weekend, Stacy!

Thank you, Laura! You have a great weekend, too!

I love me my blondies but this takes it a to a different level! Absolutely loving the cheesecake swirl.

Thank you, John!

This looks so decadent and must taste divine Stacy. I absolutely love your take on desserts, I know this would be a winner when I make it.

Hope you are doing well dear.

xx

Thank you, Asha! I have missed you girl. Headed over to your blog soon to see what wicked goodness you have been up to in the kitchen and with your incredible food styling and photography! xo

Scrumptious! Just like a cross between Blondies, Carrot Cake and Cheesecake! Our buttery Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl are packed with flavor and spiced just right. They’re everything you dreamed they would be. The perfect spring and Easter, fall and Thanksgiving or everyday dessert treat—especially for a crowd. Everyone will love them!

Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl:

For Spring and Easter, or Fall and Thanksgiving… or Anytime!

My sweet friends, do I ever have something special for you today… Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl. Seriously, these bars are just like a cross between blondies, carrot cake and cheesecake!

No joke. These bars taste phenomenally scrumptious. The “cheesecake swirl” is definitely that—complete with just the right amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Mmm. They are the perfect bar form of Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cake! My new favorite blondies.

Whether you enjoy your blondies with a slightly cake-like or fudge-y texture, you will love our Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl recipe. Plus, our recipe includes an irresistible gluten free option. Just scroll down to the Notes section following the recipe and read how to make this fun recipe gluten free. Honest and truly, the gluten free variation is incredibly good.

In fact, you simply cannot tell that they are gluten free! And there is an important reason why this is so. It all starts with the right gluten free flour blend—in this case, King Arthur Flour® Gluten Free Multi-Purpose Flour—and the perfect amount of guar gum. Yes, I prefer guar gum to xanthan gum for my gluten free baking for allergy reasons in addition to many other reasons. But, I will leave that for a future post on gluten free baking and ingredients.

Here at Wicked Good Kitchen, we hope that our recipe for Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl becomes a new tradition for your family. As I mentioned above, they are phenomenally scrumptious!

Bon appétit!

xo,

Below are Pinterest-friendly sized images to pin at Pinterest!

Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl

Scrumptious! Just like a cross between Blondies, Carrot Cake and Cheesecake! Our buttery Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl are packed with flavor and spiced just right. They’re everything you dreamed they would be. The perfect spring and Easter, fall and Thanksgiving or everyday dessert treat—especially for a crowd. Everyone will love them!

4 ounces (½ 8-ounce package/113 grams) cream cheese, such as Philadelphia®, softened

1 egg yolk from large egg (mine weighted 18 grams w/o shell), at room temperature

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) pure vanilla extract, such as Nielsen-Massey®

1¼ cups (155 grams) organic unbleached all-purpose flour, such as King Arthur Flour®

1½ teaspoons (3.75 grams) fine-quality ground cinnamon, such as Penzey’s

¼ teaspoon (.625 grams) ground allspice

¼ teaspoon (.625 grams) ground ginger

¼ teaspoon (.625 grams) freshly grated whole nutmeg

10 tablespoons (141 grams) unsalted butter, melted

2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract, such as Nielsen-Massey®

1 large to extra large egg (50 to 60 grams w/o shell), at room temperature, lightly beaten

¼ cup coarse-chopped raisins or golden raisins, or fresh pineapple, optional

Butter or vegetable shortening, for the pan

Preparation

Arrange oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350ºF (about 180ºC). Lightly grease 9-inch square (about 22 cm) baking pan with butter or vegetable shortening (I like to use my Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch® Nonstick Square Cake Pan), then line with baking parchment creating handles to easily remove blondies from pan after cooling. Lightly greasing the pan first will prevent the parchment from sliding when spreading batter into the pan with a spatula.

Prepare the Cheesecake Swirl: Beat cream cheese and sugar until well blended, creamy and there are no remaining lumps, scraping down bowl as needed. Add egg yolk, lemon juice and vanilla and blend until thoroughly incorporated and smooth. Cover and set aside.

Prepare the Blondies: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir until well combined. Add lightly beaten egg and stir until smooth and thoroughly combined. Gradually, add dry ingredients stirring until few flour streaks remain. Do not overmix. Gently fold in grated carrots, walnuts, coconut and, if desired, raisins or pineapple until just combined. The batter will be very thick.

Assemble the Blondies: Reserve 2/3 cup batter and set aside. Scrape and pour remaining batter into prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula or offset spatula. Spoon Cheesecake Swirl batter over the top, in small dollops, to within ¼ inch of edge of pan and top with reserved batter. With a knife, create a swirled or marbled effect by running it through the batters. The batters may look messy but will bake up nicely.

Bake the Blondies: Bake in preheated oven until light golden brown, Cheesecake Swirl appears to be set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it (versus uncooked batter), about 30 to 35 minutes. If desired, to prevent over-browning, cover with sheet of aluminum foil during last 5 minutes of baking.

Remove foil, if used, and carefully transfer to wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours. Once cooled to room temperature, use the baking parchment overhang to lift the blondies from the pan and transfer to cutting board. Cut blondies into 9 or 16 squares, depending on size of blondies or number of servings desired. (See Notes section for Tips on how to cut neat squares.) Serve immediately, chilled or at room temperature.

Cool blondies completely before cutting and serving. To store leftovers, cover airtight and refrigerate up to four (4) days. How to Quickly Bring Eggs to Room Temperature: Should you forget to bring your eggs to room temperature by setting them out for an hour before starting recipe, do not worry. To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, fill a medium bowl with warm tap water—not hot, but warm so the eggs do not cook. Carefully place the eggs into the bowl of water so they are fully submerged. Allow eggs to soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove eggs from water and towel dry. Eggs should now be at room temperature and ready to use in recipe. How to Cut Neat Squares: Chill the blondies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, slice using a large sharp knife (I like to use my chef’s knife) and run it under very hot water from the kitchen sink tap. Then, carefully (be careful!) wipe the knife dry with a kitchen towel just before making each cut with a clean, hot knife. This way, you will always have nice, clean-sliced bars, blondies and brownies. As soon as you cut the blondies, store them in an airtight container because their exteriors (all that fudgy goodness) dries quickly when exposed to the air. Variations: For Fudgy Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl: Omit baking powder and continue with recipe as directed. For Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Blondies with Cheesecake Swirl: Substitute 1¼ cups (200 grams) King Arthur Flour® Gluten Free Multi-Purpose Flour and ¾ teaspoon (about 2 grams) guar gum, such as by Now Foods, for the regular all-purpose wheat flour called for in the recipe. Whisk together until well blended and then continue with recipe by whisking in the baking powder, salt and spices. Be sure to use gluten-free vanilla extract as well. Original Recipe Source: WickedGoodKitchen.com Copyright © Wicked Good Kitchen. All content and images are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words. Alternatively, link back to this post for the recipe

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