Beyond Carrot Cake: 5 Carrot Dessert Recipes
It’s carrot season! Our farmers markets and CSA boxes are filled with these versatile orange beauties. Carrots are a unique vegetable in that they have a higher sugar content than most veggies. While we love carrots in savory salads (like our organic heirloom carrot salad) and as a crunchy, healthy snack all on their own, carrots can also be the star of a sweet recipes. And not just in carrot cake! Try these five creative carrot sweets.
- Indian Gajar Halva (Carrot Pudding): With the decidedly Indian flavors of cardamom and pistachios, this creamy carrot pudding will delight the pallet. If you’ve never made your own pudding (and I’m not talking about the powder that you pour out of a box), know that it does take a little hands-on time investment. The pudding will spend about an hour on your stove top.
- Cashew Ginger and Carrot Torte with Rum Lime Sauce: This rich, rum sauce-topped torte is a grown up version of carrot cake. The recipe boasts cashews instead of carrot cake’s usual walnuts, and the delightfully sweet and spicy combination of orange zest and ginger.
- Carrot Cake Bars: While the ingredients are similar to carrot cake, this vegan treat’s texture is more like a chewy brownie. Recipe creator Susan Voisin, of Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, says the texture of the bars is somewhere between a Larabar and a creamy slice of pumpkin pie.
- Cherry Carrot Breakfast Cookies: These vegan treats are great for breakfast or dessert. And, they’re super healthy since the ingredients include oats, millet, carrots, dried cherries and ginger. Yes, you can have cookies for breakfast and not feel the least bit guilty. A bit of tartness from the cherries and spiciness from the ginger makes the flavor unique.
- Oatmeal Raisin Carrot Cookies: The flavor of these treats is a combination of spicy, moist carrot cake and oatmeal raisin cookies. You can add a layer of cream cheese frosting between two cookies to make them a truly decadent dessert.
Looking for a new savory carrot dish instead of a dessert? Try one of these five savory carrot recipes.
Follow Kristi on Twitter at @VeggieConverter
Image: lablasco
