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Carrot Cake Magic Bars

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Do you like Carrot Cake?    These Carrot Cake Magic Bars are a quick and easy treat to serve after Easter dinner.

Carrot Cake Magic Bars - all the flavors of a carrot cake in a gooey magic bar. Great Easter dessert recipe.

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The other day I was shopping at Walmart, and I came across this season’s newest M&M flavor.  They created a white chocolate carrot cake M&M.

Now you either are an A person who decided immediately that it sounds nasty, or you are a B person who is intrigued and want to give it a try.  I am usually a B person with most new flavors, unless they are sour.  Sour candy gives me the heebie geebies!  Just can’t do it!!!

Anyway, I instagrammed a picture asking opinions on this new flavor, and sure enough, the results were about half and half on whether you guys would try these too.  Of course being a B person, I brought them home with me.  

I’m sure you are wondering how those M&M’s taste.  Let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised.  The white chocolate has enough cinnamon and nutmeg that it just gives it a very spicy taste that I actually liked!!!

Carrot Cake Magic Bar ingredients
I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with the M&M’s, until I was looking through some old recipes from last year.  Does anyone else remember these Oreo Coconut Gooey Cake Bars?  Right away I knew that is how I wanted to use the new candies.

And lucky for me, I had picked up a few different flavors of cake when they were on sale.  There was a carrot cake in my cupboard just waiting to be used.  Bars like these are so easy to make, especially when you rely on a mix.  I know some people are against cake mixes at all cost, but I am not one of those people.  Cake mixes are my friends when it comes to cookies and bars!

Let’s start with these Carrot Cake Magic Bars.  You will first mix up your dough by combining some softened butter, and an egg with the carrot cake mix.  The sticky dough will get pressed into the bottom of a greased pan.  Then the fun begins.

You need to decide on what kind of toppings you want your bars to have under the gooey sweetened condensed milk.  One of my favorite cakes is a carrot cake, so I knew I wanted to incorporate those types of ingredients in the gooey cake bars.

Carrot Cake Magic Bars

I spread some pineapple preserves over the dough that was in the pan already.  Then I sprinkled on walnuts and coconut. To get this gooey bar, you will use an entire can of sweetened condensed milk.  It bakes down into all the layers to create one glorious bar.  The carrot cake M&M’s get added to the top right before going in the oven.

These carrot cake magic bars are quite sweet, so I would recommend cutting them into little squares.  I actually cut each of these bars in the pictures into 4 smaller bite sized pieces after I took pictures.  Of course that didn’t stop me from eating 4 of them at one time.  So much for trying to be better at portion control.

Adding pineapple, nuts, and candies makes these Carrot Cake Magic Bars a fun recipe for the Easter dessert tables.

 

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Carrot Cake Magic Bars

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Yield: 24 squares

Carrot Cake Magic Bars

These easy Carrot Cake Magic Bars are loaded with pineapple and nuts. Great Easter dessert.

Ingredients

  • 1 Carrot Cake Mix
  • 1 stick of butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup pineapple preserves
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup Carrot Cake M&M's

Instructions

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix until a soft dough forms. Press the dough into the bottom of a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with non stick spray.
  2. Spread the pineapple preserves over the dough. Sprinkle with the walnuts and coconut. Spread the condensed milk over the top. Sprinkle with the M&M's. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into 24 squares.

Notes

If you can't find the carrot cake M&M's, you could substitute white chocolate chips.

https://insidebrucrewlife.com/carrot-cake-magic-bars/

Carrot Cake Magic Bars - these fun gooey bars are loaded with pineapple, nuts, and candy. Great Easter dessert recipe.

Other fun ways to eat Carrot Cake are:

Carrot Cake Donuts

Carrot Cake Donuts

Carrot Cake Cookies
Carrot Cake Cookies


More Carrot Cake goodness around the web:
Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls from Crazy for Crust
Carrot Cake Muddy Buddies from Something Swanky
Carrot Cake Shooter from Kitchen Meets Girl

Related Posts:

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Comments

    • I am glad that I got to share these treats with you. It was such a fun day full of laughs. Thank goodness for that Walmart having the carrot cake m&m’s for you to be able to stock up on! And thank you so much for the sweet comment on the picture…it was such a cloudy day and I wasn’t that crazy about any of the pics this time.

      Reply

    • Eating them all works for me! I can’t wait to see what you come up with…I’m sure it will be fabulous!!!

      Reply

  4. Oh my! First of all, since I’m such an on-line shopper (Amazon) fanatic…I already clicked and have my M&Ms coming Tuesday morning! (I am all about a cake in a box for cookies and bars, as well. ) Thank you for sharing…Can’t wait to make these as soon as my UPS man shows up! (=

    Reply

    • Now that sounds like a fun mail day for sure!!! Cake mixes are just so much easier…I will never give them up! Can’t wait to hear what you think of the M&M’s.

      Reply

  5. Jocelyn, these look amazing! I haven’t seen these M&Ms in my stores yet, but I’m going to have to go on the hunt. Carrot cake is my absolute FAVORITE! I’m with you on the sour stuff–can’t stand it! But my husband and son both love it–bleck! And thanks for linking up my carrot cake shooters. Have a wonderful week!

    Reply

    • I guess someone has to like all those nasty sour candies right? That just means more carrot cake goodness for you and I to share! I hope you have luck finding the M&M’s at Wally world…they were so much better than I expected. So much so that I went and bought more for another treat 🙂

      Reply

    • You are very welcome! Hopefully you can resist eating more than I did…they are quite addicting 🙂

      Reply

  7. These look great Jocelyn. I’ll have to hunt down those M&M’s later this week when I’m in the US…..because I know for sure Canada won’t have them! 🙂

    Reply

    • Girl, I’m wishing you hunting luck! They are a fun seasonal twist on the white chocolate M&M!!!

      Reply

    • That is such a fun memory/person to have associated with a sweet treat!!! Carrot cake M&M’s were a fun discovery this week!

      Reply

  9. I must find these M&Ms – they sound sooooo good! I am a huge fan of carrot cake though, so it’s not surprising to me at all that I want to try them 🙂

    If I don’t finish off the bag, I hope to make these bars hehe

    Reply

    • Good luck in hunting down a bag of candy…I recommend buying two! One to snack on and one to bake with 🙂

      Reply

    • I have a slight addiction to always checking out the candy aisle in every store 🙂 My cupboards are always full of candy and baking supplies!

      Reply

  12. In this recipe I was most concerned with the pineapple preserves. I think pineapple chunks would be better. Or skip the mms and use cinnamon chips and pineapple chunks. The addition of jam seems strange.

    Reply

    • The pineapple could be left out if you don’t like it. I happen to like using jam in my magic bars…it adds a fun twist to it.

      Reply

    • Thanks Regina. You could always check out amazon…but you would probably pay quite a bit more for them.

      Reply

    • Magical is the perfect way to describe these bars! I agree with you…carrot cake stuff is the bomb!!!

      Reply

    • Yes, definitely worth trying. Well, I thought so anyway 🙂 They are just a white chocolate with a cinnamon nutmeg hit! They were good!

      Reply

  19. What do you mean there are CARROT CAKE M&MS?!?!? OMG I almost want to walk to the nearest wal-mart to find them. And then eat a whole bag. And then buy another bag and add them to these amazing carrot cake bars. Easter snackage to the max 😀

    Reply

    • Run, don’t walk to Walmart…and yes, buy 2 bags. I ended up going back for another bag for more goodies!!!

      Reply

  20. These look sooo scrumptious!! …& with CARROT cake m&m’s and PINEAPPLE preserves they must be healthy too, right?! 😉 hehe! I hadn’t seen these M&M’s yet, but totally feel like shopping after seeing (& pinning ;)) your yummy & creative recipe! Thanks for sharing, Jocelyn!

    Reply

    • Hahah yes, very healthy indeed…as long as you don’t think about the sweetened condensed milk over all the top.

      Reply

    • They are a very interesting flavor…but a good one! Magic bars are always a fun and easy thing to make with candy you aren’t sure about!

      Reply

  22. All of this sounds great to me. I am in Florida for vacation and have been trying to find those m&ms everywhere… No luck.

    Reply

    • I wonder if they are only sold in certain stores? I would definitely look for them when you get home.

      Reply

    • Haha exactly my thoughts when I saw them in the store. I am so glad I opted to buy them…so good!!!

      Reply

    • They would be a great party treat. I would recommend buying the M&M’s now though. Who knows how long they will last.

      Reply

  28. Hi!! I cannot wait to try these for the kids table at Easter! They look beyond yummy! Can you give any suggestions what might also be good as a substitute for the pineapple preserves? Could I use a can of crushed pineapple or would that change the outcome?? Thanks so much!!

    Reply

    • You could try the crushed pineapple, but I would drain it very well. It also would be fine to leave that out if you can’t find it. I bought the pineapple preserves at Walmart in the jelly aisle. Hope that helps!!!

      Reply

    • There is something so fun and amazing about magic bars! It is fun to play with flavors and candy in them.

      Reply

  32. These look so good! I’m definitely in the “person B” camp and think carrot cake M&Ms sound good! I love the pretty colors too, and your photos are always great!

    Reply

  33. WOW!! These are so delicious looking! They are a definite must try! We would love to have you come and share them at our party. It is a weekly Thursday party, going live tonight (Wed.) at 8:00 p.m. MST ~ Hope to you will join us!
    Have a great day!
    Joye & Myrna (The Busy Bee’s)
    thebusybhive.blogspot.com

    Reply

  38. Delicious! I might have to make these one day. My boyfriend is a huge fan of carrot cake and these look wonderful! Thanks for sharing! Pinned and shared on my Facebook page.

    Julie @ This Gal Cooks

    Reply

    • I’m glad to hear that I am not the only one with portion issues 🙂 These were so easy to just keep munching on!!!

      Reply

  41. The carrot cake magic bars were good. I substituted white choc. chips and semi-sweet choc chips for the carrot cake m’s (since they don’t sell these anywhere in my area) I also substituted peach preserves for the pineapple (they didn’t sell this in my area). They were different and delish! Next time I’ll use brownie mix instead of carrot cake, for a different twist. 🙂

    Reply

    • It sounds like you created a winner recipe! Love the substitutions you made and I bet the brownie mix will be awesome!!

      Reply

  42. I just saw these on Pinterest and whoa, you outdid yourself! I love both carrot cake AND magic bars- perfect marriage. And with pineapple jelly no less. Delish! I used to make cake bars like this all the time with a can of sweet cond milk poured over a cake base. I loved those early days on my blog. EASY! I need to do more of that 🙂

    Reply

  45. So I actually MADE these!! I was looking for someone in the comments saying how good they were or whatnot, and there were so few! Argh! ANYWAY.
    I used Duncan Hines Decadent Cake Mix… I picked out the raisins because I wasn’t sure how they’d go with the M&Ms and nobody in my family (besides me) likes raisins with carrot cake -_-
    ANYWAY. I had to cook it like… TWICE as long! It was crazy! And on top of that, the cake like puffed up to like twice the height! o_O It was nuts. I used the right size pan and everything. Even the directions on their box said 35ish mins… I have no idea why it took so long!

    I loved the pineapple and walnuts! I’d have added even more. haha.
    I also chucked on some chocolate chips on half, just to see… And that was suuupperrr tasty.
    And just because I’m such a glutton, I made some cream cheese frosting mixed with whipped cream… and get this… cut the cake in half horizontally (Yep. It’s that thick) and put it in the middle. Also an awesome addition.

    Basically, I feel no wrong can be done with these. haha. They’re delicious! I fully endorse the chocolate chips on top though, even with the carrot cake M&Ms.
    It’s probably because my stupid cake like, doubled in height, but I’d have added more of all the toppings! Anyhoo. Delicious recipe! 😀

    Reply

    • I am so glad to hear it turned out ok and that you loved the taste. Nice addition of chocolate chips 🙂 Gooey cakes and magic bars never look done at the 35 minute mark. You just have to trust me that they are done and let them cool completely before cutting into them.

      Reply

      • It was still actually still liquid at 35 minutes when I stuck a fork in it! Was the longer cooking why it puffed up so much? It tastes really good and not over or under done… It did sorta deflate though after cooling. So about 55-60 minutes seemed to work… but I have no idea why. What’s a good consistency for a bar out of the oven, though? And what cake mix do you recommend? Maybe it had something to do with that, because I had to add water to re-hydrate the carrots it came with (and raisins, which I didn’t include). But I want to make these again for Easter ^_^ I just don’t want to risk it so much guess work… plus the color bled off the M&Ms because they were in there so long, which wasn’t very pretty. =\

        Reply

        • Yeah the mix I used didn’t have extra water for the carrots. The carrots were tiny bits that were just in the cake mix. I’m guessing that’s why it was still liquid. But it will look runny after 35 minutes because of the sweetened condensed milk…they do set up after cooling. I’ll have to go to the store to see what brand I used for the cake mix.

          Reply

  46. I saw these M&Ms in the store & thought YUCK. But I should have known some brilliant bloggie friends would come up with yummy ways to use them! I would be thrilled if you would hop over to my Easter/Passover Recipe Roundup and share this awesome recipe with us! You can find it here:http://mommasangelbaby.com/?p=2132. Hope to see you there! HUGS & Happy Easter!

    Reply

  47. So I haven’t made these yet, and I usually never comment until I make something, but I had to tell you that these were the inspiration for my Easter dessert. I actually was going to make these after reading this blog post and went to Walmart and searched high and low until i found what must have been the last 3 bags of carrot cake m&m’s in the store! I still wasn’t sure I would love them, so I only bought 2 bags, but once I tasted them, I wish I had taken them all. Now I know. Back in the kitchen, I realized my over stuffed pantry does not have pineapple preserves (note to self – check all the ingredients in the recipe, not just the star player). I then continued on with the theme of your recipe and made the exact carrot cake base, and then on the top did the classic gooey butter cake (cream cheese, egg, vanilla, powdered sugar, butter) and mixed almost the full bag of m&m’s in. All except the taste testers ;-). Now it is Easter day, and the end reaction was “Ohhhh myyyy….” as peoples eyes rolled back in their head in pure delight. My brother told my Dad “this is the best carrot cake you will ever taste”. I do still have the other bag of the carrot cake m&m’s and it is on reserve to do your posted recipe, but wanted you to know that you led me down the path to a true winner. If you have stashed a bag of the m&m’s, try it the super gooey way (took 40 minutes to bake in my oven) and I bet you’ll love it. If you like it, claim it as your recipe – I’m not a blogger, and would love to see you write about it.

    Reply

  48. I did come back to this and make the recipe exactly as written except for using pecans instead of walnuts because that is what I had open. Loved them! And I think they even got better the next day after sitting. Will be making these again! Thanks.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. […] run it into the ground.  Carrot Cake is my choice of flavor right now.  On Sunday I shared these Carrot Cake Magic Bars, today it is fudge, and I still have one more recipe in the works.  I will wait until next week to […]

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