Flavoured with warming spices, filled with chopped walnuts and swirled with cheesecake – these carrot cake blondies are absolutely divine!
Why you’ll love these carrot cake blondies
- Ease – There are no technical skills needed to make these blondies. Just mix together the blondie ingredients, mix together the cheesecake ingredients, layer them up in the baking tin, swirl together and bake. It’s that simple!
- Flavour – warming spices, creamy cheesecake and deep caramel undertones from the blondie mixture. This is a winning flavour combination.
- Texture – Imagine the texture of a fudgy brownie combined with the moisture of a slice of carrot cake. Dreeeeeamy! The chopped walnuts also add a lovely crunch throughout.
Top tips for baking success
Leave the blondies to COOL COMPLETELY for slicing. This is the most important step in the recipe.
The blondies will still be a little raw when you take them out the oven, don’t worry this is a good thing as they will continue to cook as they cool down. But if you try to cut into them whilst they are still warm they will fall apart and end up looking like a hot mess!
Leave them in the baking tin for at least 4 hours to let them cool down completely. Or if you’re short on time, pop them in the fridge for two hours to set up. You can always bake them the night before and leave them overnight in the baking tin covered with foil – this will give the flavours chance to develop and produce the best texture.
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Carrot Cake Blondies recipe (makes 12)
Ingredients
For the blondies:
170g unsalted butter
220g light muscovado sugar – I used Billington’s
1 teaspoon vanilla extract – I used Nielson Massey
2 medium eggs, at room temperature
200g self-raising flour – I used Allinson’s
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
100g chopped walnuts
1 large carrot (approximately 150g)
For the cheesecake swirl:
50g caster sugar
120g full-fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 medium egg yolk, at room temperature
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C and line an 8x8inch square baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- In a large bowl, melt the butter either on the hob or in the microwave until it turns to liquid.
- Add the light muscovado sugar and mix until combined.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix again until combined.
- Now add the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves and fold everything together.
- Grate in the carrot and add the chopped walnuts. Fold into the mixture and set the bowl aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix all the cheesecake ingredients together until smooth. Set aside.
- Spoon two thirds of the blondie mixture into the baking tin, spreading it out into an even layer.
- Now drop spoonfuls of the cheesecake mixture on top, followed by the remaining blondie mixture.
- Using the tip of a knife or a skewer to swirl the two mixtures together.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until risen, golden on top and the edges are started to show small cracks.
- Cool completely in the baking tin for at least four hours, or overnight for best results.
- Once cool, lift the blondies out using the greaseproof paper and slice into 12.
Your carrot cake blondies will keep at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.