vegan carrot cake blondies

Note to self: when stocking up on vegan cream cheese make sure you are getting the right flavor, otherwise you might end up with five containers of Chive and Garlic cream cheese. Sigh. Lucky for me, I managed to pick up one container of plain cream cheese.

It seems like anytime I see a recipe call for vegan cream cheese, they all seem to recommend Tofutti, but I prefer Galaxy Nutritional Foods Vegan Cream Cheese. It tastes great and has great texture, and of the two brands, I think it tastes more like Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Cream cheese is one of the staples that I try to keep in my kitchen at all times. Smear it on a bagel and you have an easy breakfast. Add it to pasta or veggies for a quick dinner.

Cream cheese frosting has been on my mind a lot lately, and I knew I better do something about that before I go insane with cream cheese frosting dreams. I also knew I needed to bake something to go with the frosting, because just making and eating frosting by itself would be a little sad. The added carrots in these blondies make them a little more moist than normal blondies, but they are still delicious!

Vegan Carrot Cake Blondies

12 tbsp Earth Balance Buttery Spread, melted

1 1/2 c brown sugar, tightly packed

1 banana, smashed

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)

1 1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/2 c shredded carrots

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 baking pan with foil and spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and brown sugar until combined. Add the banana, vanilla and soy milk and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until just combined. Fold in the carrots.

Scrape the batter into the lined and sprayed baking pan and smooth the top. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 c Earth Balance Buttery Spread, softened to room temperature

1/2 c vegan cream cheese, I prefer Galaxy Nutritional Foods

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 1/2 c powdered sugar

Whisk the Earth Balance and cream cheese until well combined. Add vanilla and cinnamon and whisk until combined. Add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and whisk until all of the powdered sugar is incorporated.

If you prefer your frosting thicker you can add more powdered sugar until you reach a consistency you like. Don’t want cinnamon cream cheese frosting? Just leave the cinnamon out.