I’ve been feeling rather guilty lately, and it’s all because of juice. See, I’ve started making my own homemade veggie juice on a regular basis, but the problem is the leftover pulp. I’d love to compost but 1) we live in a high rise apartment building, and though we have a balcony, there’s not a whole lot of room to do composting, and 2) I have no idea what I’d use the compost for because I don’t actually grow anything (brown thumb). So, I end up having to throw out the leftover pulp, which really bums me out.
I got to thinking about my pulp problem, and I had an idea: carrot cake! Since carrots make up the bulk of the pulp, I thought that I could at least save that and put it to good use. Turns out that many other inventive juice makers had the same idea, because when I started looking around there were carrot pulp recipes all over the place. Yes!
These carrot (pulp) bars are ridiculously good – so very moist, too, and when autumn rolls around (if I can hold out that long), I’m totally trying this recipe using pumpkin puree in place of carrot pulp.
Bonus: I think I’ve finally concocted a sugar free cream cheese frosting recipe that can be put into regular rotation. Sure, it may cancel out some of the nutritiousness of the carrots, but it’s so freakin’ good that I’m not losing any sleep over it.
recipe makes 12 bars
Ingredients
FOR THE BARS
1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup blanched almond flour
6 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup carrot pulp
4 oz. unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup xylitol
1/2 tsp. liquid stevia
FOR THE FROSTING
1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup xylitol
1/2 tsp. liquid stevia
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 inch pan with oven parchment, or lightly coat the bottom and sides of the pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the millet flour, almond flour, cornstarch, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a medium mixing bowl and hand-held electric mixer), combine the carrot pulp, applesauce, eggs, canola oil, xylitol, and liquid stevia. Beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, or until well mixed.
Add the dry ingredients to the carrot mixture, half at a time, on low speed and mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and spread evenly in the pan using a rubber spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center with just a few crumbs on it.
While the cake is cooling, add all of the frosting ingredients (minus the cinnamon) to a medium mixing bowl. Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat on high for 2-3 minutes, or until the frosting is fluffy and the xylitol granules have dissolved. Add the cinnamon and mix for another minute. When the cake has cooled completely, frost and cut into bars to serve.
Posted in Alternatively Sweetened, Cakes and Cookies, Desserts, Favorites, Food, Gluten Free | 2 Comments »
I LOVE this idea!
actually, I was using foodgawker to find recipes for my leftover carrot pulp, so this is absolutely perfect.
thanks for sharing!
posted: July 6th, 2011 at 5:27 pmThese were very tasty and I was able to utilize, not only carrot pulp, but some of my almond pulp from making almond milk.
posted: March 10th, 2013 at 9:45 pmI did not have xylitol and used just 1/4 cup of sucanat along with the stevia and it was plenty sweet.
thanks!