carrot cake cheesecake bars*

Happy belated Easter! Most bloggers post their holiday recipes before the holiday. I, on the other hand, blog after. There is no rhyme or reason for it, except that I don't make my holiday recipes before the holiday. I need to work on being someone that makes things to lead up to the holiday, not just the day of. Another goal to add to my long list.

Easter. Easter is one of those holidays that really is only fun if you have kids. Do you want to know what I did on my Easter morning? Put these cute little stepping stones in front of our deck stairway.

We are quite the celebrators at the Cundy household. This weekend my husband and father-in-law slaved away and expanded our tiny deck into a big beautiful masterpiece! I will post pictures when it is completed. This weekend, if it actually doesn't rain for a couple of days, Landon and I are planning on staining the deck. Cross my fingers!

I made these carrot cake cheesecake bars for dessert after my mother-in-laws delicious Easter feast. I really really liked them. Awhile back I made this carrot cake cheesecake, and I liked this bars a million times better. They are the perfect amount of cinnamony carrot cake to cheesecake ratio. Although both my husband and my head cook, Karen, thought the cheesecake was a thick dollop of frosting and scraped it right off! What a shame!

Carrot Cake Cheesecake Bars
adapted from Sandra Lee's Red Velvet Cheesecake Bars, as seen on Sweet Treats and More

For the Carrot Cake Bar:
1 box Betty Crocker Carrot Cake Mix
1 egg
1 stick butter, soft

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat the cake mix, egg, and butter until it turns into a thick dough.

Press dough into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.

Set aside while you make the cheesecake layer.

Cheesecake Layer:
16 oz. cream cheese, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

1.  In a medium sized bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla and continue beating until creamy and smooth.

2. Pour the cheesecake layer over the carrot cake bar in the pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the edges start to pull away from the pan.  Let cool completely. 

3. Cut into squares and top each square with a dollop of Betty Crocker's Rich and Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting.  I just colored some frosting and put it in a piping bag and made these cute little flowers. Seemed much more fitting for the holiday :).

Even though it's too late to make this for Easter, it is the perfect Spring dessert - flowers and all!

-alyssa*