Carrot Zucchini Bars Recipe

Skinny Carrot Zucchini Bars for Weight Watchers

5 from 1 vote

These lighter, healthier carrot zucchini bars made with whole wheat flour and less fat for an easy, tasty and delicious treat your family will love!

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: carrot cake, carrot zucchini cake, frosted carrot zucchini squares

Servings:

Author: Martha McKinnon | Simple Nourished Living

Equipment

Ingredients

For the carrot zucchini bars:

1-1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour or white whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups shredded carrots (about 3 medium)
1 cup shredded zucchini
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup pureed carrots (I used a small jar of baby food carrots)
1/4 cup honey, or maple syrup

For the citrus icing:

8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or orange juice
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon or orange zest (optional)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees. Lightly grease the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch pan. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder and salt until well blended.
In another bowl stir together the eggs, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, brown sugar, raisins, walnuts, oil, pureed carrots and honey until well blended.
Stir the carrot zucchini mixture into the flour mixture just until blended.
Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
Sprinkle the cooled carrot zucchini bars with a dusting of powdered sugar or spread with citrus cream cheese frosting made with reduced-fat cream cheese.
To make the icing, in a mixing bowl, beat the reduced-fat cream cheese, sugar, juice and zest until fluffy.

Notes

Serving size: 1 frosted carrot zucchini bar

WW Points: 8

Check the WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app.
(Must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.)

7 SmartPoints (Green plan)

7 SmartPoints (Blue plan)

7 SmartPoints (Purple plan)

4 PointsPlus (Old plan)

These dessert bars are packed with nutritional goodness from carrots, zucchini, raisins, walnuts and whole wheat pastry flour. Low in fat, the whole recipe uses just 1/4 cup of canola oil. So you can serve these carrot zucchini bars without a lot of guilt. I also added 1/4 cup of carrot puree to help keep them moist with minimal fat.

1 bar without icing: 111 calories, 4.1 g fat, 17.6 g carbs, 0.9 g fiber, 2.3 g protein, 3 Weight Watchers PointsPlus, 5 Weight Watchers SmartPoints, 5 WW Points

Nutrition