The Best Zucchini Bars
These are the best zucchini bars! They taste like a moist spice cake with a cream cheese frosting. You'll find cinnamon, shredded zucchini and carrots, and walnuts in these zucchini bars. This is one of the best zucchini recipes I can think of!
Zucchini Bars
The best, folks. I got this zucchini bars recipe from my aunt and I have to tell you these are amazing. My aunt named this recipe literally "the best zucchini bars." I can't argue.
This is a healthy zucchini bars recipe, too. It has to be. It has zucchini AND carrots. I'm kidding! I know it's not healthy. The bar is cinnamony, moist, nutty, and heavenly. The cream cheese frosting I whipped together was the perfect complement to these bars. It's the same frosting I use on my cinnamon rolls. SO perfect.
You can see the bits and pieces of shredded zucchini and carrots in the zucchini bars. I think this is why my husband was hesitant to eat them. The man freaks out anytime a vegetable is involved in baking.
I tried to just say that they were spice bars, but that was a big FAIL. The bits of colorful veggies gave it away. So, I'm not sure how many pieces he ate of this, but myself, mom, and my uncle scarfed these zucchini bars with cream cheese frosting right down.
This zucchini bars recipe makes a huge pan of bars! You can serve a large family dessert with this recipe or eat a dozen yourself. Get yourself a large jelly roll pan.
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If you don't have a jelly roll pan, I would recommend using two square pans but pay close attention that the bars aren't too thin. They bake up to be about an inch thick. They come to the top of the jelly roll pan when I bake them.
Questions About the Zucchini Bars Recipe
- Do I have to add nuts in these zucchini bars? Of course not!
- Do I have to use shredded carrots? No. You can substitute the carrots for more zucchini.
- Can I leave the cream cheese frosting off of the zucchini bars? Noooo. They're so good with the frosting.
How to make the best zucchini bars
The Best Zucchini Bars
Ingredients
Zucchini Bars
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- 1 small carrot shredded
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup salted butter room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Bars
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Grease a 17x11x1 or 15x10x1 pan.
- In a large bowl, add oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix with a hand mixer for 1 minute until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients. Mix with a hand mixer on low until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.
- Fold in rolled oats and walnuts.
- Spread out on prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake for 24 minutes. Let cool completely and frost.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, combine butter and cream cheese. Beat with the hand mixer until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
- Add in vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix on low until the powdered sugar is well incorporated. Turn mixer on high and mix for an additional minute or two.
- Spread on cooled bars with an offset spatula.
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
These were delish! One question, my oatmeal seemed uncooked & a little "hard or chewy"(??), did I do something wrong? I used old fashioned oats. XX
The next time I recommend using quick oats and it will have less of a chew to the oats in the bars.
These zucchini bars are delicious!! I love the fact that there are carrots and oats in it! I used pecans and I also used about 3/4ths of the cube of butter and I used 1 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. I will make again. I didn’t have the right size pan but it still worked out. Thank you for sharing.
I have made this recipe more times than I want to admit! So good!!
I am so glad you enjoy the recipe so much Miranda! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Do you have to drain the zucchini first
Yes drain off the liquid of the zucchini.
My daughter made this recipe with our fresh garden Zucchini and it was absolutely delicious! We used more Zucchini and less carrots and the flavor was just right for us.. We will be making this again.
I swapped the flour for the same amount of gluten free all purpose flour and it worked perfectly. These are incredible, I made them earlier this week and have already gotten requests to make them again!
Will be a staple 🙂
Do you need to squeeze the zucchini dry before adding to recipe?
Yes! Getting as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible is a good idea to help the bars bake properly.
Turned out great. Easy recipe and doesn’t take a lot of time.
Very curious about a couple of things in your recipe, as this recipe sounds and looks delicious
What do you mean by "Small" carrot? A little mini one?
And what type of rolled oats? Quick oats or old-fashioned?
By small carrot I mean a full sized carrot, about 6-8 inches long. Some carrots you find in the grocery store are massive and way too big- a full sized carrot on the smaller side works best.
Old fashioned rolled oats are best!
Can you freeze these?
Yes you can freeze these! I recommend freezing the bars and adding the cream cheese frosting after thawing, before serving. The frosting part is best when made fresh!