Carrot Cake Cheesecake Bars

This recipe comes from Bake from Scratch Magazine. I thought I would test this spring recipe for the upcoming Easter holidays. I like to have an option of a pick-up dessert and one that can be made days ahead of time.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups (340 grams) unsalted butter

1 ½ cups (330 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar

1 ¼ cups (250 grams) granulated sugar

2 large eggs (100 grams)

4 cups (500 grams) all-purpose flour

2 tsp (4 grams) ground cinnamon

2 tsp (4 grams) ground ginger

1 ½ tsp (4.5 grams) kosher salt

1 tsp (5 grams) baking powder

1 tsp (5 grams) baking soda

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground allspice

1 ½ cups (161 grams) lightly packed grated carrots  

Cheesecake layer (recipe follows)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, letting excess extend over side of pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and allspice. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture or butter mixture, beating just until combined. Beat in carrots.

Evenly spread 4 cups (about 1,120 grams) dough in prepared pan. Top with Cheesecake Layer. Crumble remaining dough (about 560 grams) on top.

Bake until edges are set, center jiggles slightly 50-55 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Using excess parchment as handles, remove from pan, trim edges, if desired, and cut into bars.   

Cheesecake Layer

Ingredients:

16 oz (454 grams) cream cheese

1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar

1 Tbl (8 grams) all-purpose flour

2 large eggs (100 grams)

1 Tbl (13 grams) vanilla extract

Directions:

In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and flour, and beat until combined, stopping to scrapes sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Use immediately