These delicious Oat, Coconut, Carrot and Chocolate Chip Cake Bars are packed full of healthy ingredients, meaning you can feel less guilty about eating them!
Inspired by Mr Kipling…
A while ago I reviewed Mr Kipling’s new Exceedingly Good Slices and I was rather taken with them. These particular Mr Kipling slices are full of healthy ingredients – like coconut, cranberries and orange, plus lots of oats to provide extra goodness and slow release energy. I really liked the idea of using oats in the cake mix – something I had not tried before – I loved the slightly chewy texture and thought I would have a go at making something similar myself.
How I created them
My favourite flavour of the Exceedingly Good Slices was the coconut and chocolate chip one and so I decided to try recreating this flavour. I started with my basic victoria sponge recipe and began adapting – to make them as full of goodness as possible. I swapped the white self-raising flour for a mixture of wholemeal self-raising flour and oats. Adding coconut into the mix, meant I could cut back on the amount of sugar in the cake and finally I added just a few dark chocolate drops for added deliciousness.
My Goldilocks moment
It tasted fab, but sadly my first attempt was much too dry. I pondered what to do about this: I really liked the flavours – it was just all a bit too crumbly. I toyed with the idea of adding a mashed up banana, but I didn’t want to add a whole extra flavour into what was already a really rather nice-tasting cake.
Suddenly ‘ping’ the idea entered my head of adding grated carrot – it would add a little bit of moisture and hopefully help hold the cake together a bit better, but the flavour wouldn’t dominate. I tried it out and it tasted great but…this time the cake was well, quite a bit too wet!! (I was beginning to feel like Goldilocks…)
Third time lucky!
So, I halved the amount of carrot and tried again – hoorah, it was properly a case of third time lucky, the third version was just right: it’s still quite a moist, dense cake, but in a good way, and it has the delightfully chewy texture I was after from that gorgeous oat/carrot/coconut combo. And of course adding in that little bit of carrot means it has even more goodness in it. 🙂
Packed full of goodness…
Obviously this cake still has quite a bit of butter and sugar in it BUT it also has loads of goodness from the oats, wholemeal self-raising flour, carrots and coconut (not to mention the dark chocolate – that’s supposed good for you too, right?!) And best of all, it doesn’t taste like a ‘health’ food – it just tastes like a really nice cake – hoorah! Win-Win.
Works equally well as a cupcake
I chose to make this as a traybake, as I wanted to recreate the Mr Kipling cake bar ‘look’, but I also tested it in mini cupcake cases (4½cm/1¾inch across the base and 2½cm/¾inch high) and it works really well like that too – it still needs the same amount of cooking time, though, as the cupcakes are about the same thickness as the traybake.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Oat, Coconut, Carrot and Chocolate Chip Cake Bars
Ingredients
- 200 g butter (or margarine) softened
- 150 g caster sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- 100 g wholemeal self raising flour (I used Allinson)
- 100 g oats (I used Tesco Porridge Oats), plus extra for sprinkling
- 50 g desiccated coconut (I used Crazy Jack)
- 50 g dark chocolate chips (I used Dr Oetker)
- 150 g carrot (approximately 2 medium carrots), grated finely
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F.
- Grease and line a traybake tin or metal roasting tin (roughly 30x20cm or 12x9inch) with baking paper. (You only need to line the bottom and 2 of the sides as this is easier and full lining isn’t necessary in this recipe – it’s just to make it easier to get the cake out of the tin.)
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until pale.
- Add the eggs in one at a time and beat thoroughly after adding each one.
- Add the self-raising flour and stir gently to combine.
- Add the oats and stir gently, then add the coconut and chocolate chips and stir again.
- Finally, add in the grated carrot and stir gently until all the carrot is evenly distributed.
- Tip the cake mixture into your lined tray/tin and smooth to make the top as flat as possible.
- Sprinkle the surface of the cake with oats and put the cake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden on top. Check it is done by inserting a skewer (or teaspoon handle) into the cake – it should come away cleanly.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for about half an hour.
- Using the greaseproof paper, lift the cake from the tin onto a board and cut into 16 cake bars. Use a knife to carefully remove the bars from the greaseproof paper and serve, or allow to cool completely and then keep in an airtight tin until you need them.
Notes
- You can also use this recipe to make 24 cupcakes, if you prefer.
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Pin Oat, Coconut, Carrot and Chocolate Chip Cake Bars for later
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Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
Ooh these look so good Goldilocks 😉 I really like your idea of including grated carrot in the mix to add moisture, and I guess a little extra natural sweetness. I think they’d make a great change for our love of flapjack due to the added oats. Certainly going to try them. Pinning.
Angela x
Eb Gargano says
Goodness, Angela, you are quick off the mark this morning! 😉 Thank you for your kind comments 🙂 They are definitely more ‘cake’ than ‘flapjack’, despite all those oats, but they are certainly delicious – which is a good job as I have a lot to get through after baking 3 batches!! Do let me know what you think, if you try them. 🙂 Eb x
jenny paulin says
i love a flapjack type of bar and these look lovely, and i bet they tasted much better than the Mr Kipling bars (which I have tried). great colour too x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Jenny! They fall somewhere between a cake and a flapjack – which is what I was aiming for, having been inspired by the Mr Kipling bars. Thanks for the compliment about the colour! It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? Thanks to the oats and carrots I think 🙂 Eb x
Sarah, Maison Cupcake says
I’m quite partial to a Mr Kipling bar although I think yours would be nicer! Thanks for joining in with #BAKEoftheWEEK !
Eb Gargano says
Me too – I have a particular weakness for angel slices! Thanks for your kind comments 🙂 Eb x
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed says
I’ve yet to try the Mr Kipling Bars but yours look delicious Eb & I bet they taste even better. I love the idea of adding carrot as a natural sweetener, a fab recipe. Pinned for later x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks, Sarah! The carrot and coconut are great for adding a little natural sweetness, meaning I could cut down a bit on the sugar – hoorah! Eb x
Hayley @ Snap Happy Bakes says
Love a cake that is healthy too! Thanks for sharing with #CookBlogShare
Eb Gargano says
Healthy(er) cake is a lovely thing indeed! 🙂 Eb x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Mmmmm these look and sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Kirsty! They are very delicious – made another batch at the weekend (just to make sure, you understand!) – and they’re still good!! Eb x
Kathryn @ Family Food on the Table says
Loving the flavors going on in these healthy little bars – perfect snack cake or school lunch addition 🙂 I’m sure my little ones would gobble them up!
Eb Gargano says
Thank you, Kathryn. My little ones certainly liked them! And it’s nice knowing they are getting some goodness in too 🙂 Eb x
Alison says
Loving the look of these, they would be perfect for packed lunches. Did you find any bears, Goldilocks?
Eb Gargano says
Oooh yes, they certainly would be…And no, no bears, fortunately! Just a recipe that’s ‘just right’ 🙂 Eb x
Helen Costello says
Massive fan of anything oaty! I bet the carrots add such a wonderful natural sweetness. Your beat Mr K’s any day!
Eb Gargano says
Oats are fab, aren’t they? I really don’t cook with them enough – need to get my thinking cap on and come up with a few more oaty recipes! I always love carrot in cakes – the natural sweetness, yes, but also they do something lovely to the texture. They were perfect for stopping this bake from being too dry. Thanks for your kind comments. 🙂 Eb x
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
Nice! Way better than Mr K! Loving the clever addition of the carrot and it really gives the bars a fantastic orange hue too x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Kate – the carrot does give a great colour, doesn’t it? The oats help too I think! Eb x
Annie B says
I’m saying if it’s got carrots, it’s one of my five a day. So guess how many i could eat ;-)? You are totally inspiring me to get back to my kitchen. I have fallen out of love with cooking since we moved and I miss baking! #MakingHome
Eb Gargano says
Haha – there are only 2 carrots in the whole batch so I reckon you should eat about 8 of these to get 1 of your 5 a day!!! This is such an easy bake – you should totally try them to help ease you back into baking 🙂 Especially if you want to get your 5 a day 😉 Eb x
Angela says
These look amazing! I have been looking forward a good, healthy homemade bar recipe & this is perfect. Pinned & Yummed 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing at the Sunday Fitness & Food Link-Up.
Eb Gargano says
Thank you for your kind comments, Angela and thank you for pinning and stumbling 🙂 Eb x