Dense and moist zucchini bars with creamy cream cheese frosting are a crowd pleaser!
My neighbors have kept me stocked with zucchini this summer and I'm so grateful! This is a super easy recipe for zucchini bars and this moist sheet cake is topped with the perfect cream cheese frosting! I believe the saying is "enjoy the fruits (or vegetables) of your labor". This is the zucchini's moment to shine, so just go with it!
ZUCCHINI BARS WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Jump to RecipeStep-by-step
Add flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, oil, applesauce, eggs, vanilla, and zucchini in a bowl or KitchenAid mixer.
- Mix all together until incorporated.
- Pour into a greased 12"x17" jelly-roll pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
- Allow cake to completely cool to the touch.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Whip Softened butter and softened cream cheese together.
- Once incorporated and without lumps add powdered sugar.
- Whip until creamy.
- Frost with cream cheese frosting once cake has completely cooled.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled.
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Shred extra zucchini and store in the freezer in pint-size freezer bags. I always fill them with 2 cups. Grab out a bag and let it thaw on a plate for a couple of hours before using it. I love that I can whip up these delicious bars up in no time!
Do not squeeze the water out of the zucchini (frozen or fresh). This will ensure a moist cake.
We love the thick frosting on these bars. If that's not your thing use these measurements for a thinner frosting. Cream Cheese Frosting- 4 oz. cream cheese, 1 stick butter (1/2 cup), 1/2 Tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream, and 2 cups powdered sugar. You can even omit the frosting all together!
Feel free to omit some of the spices!
These bars freeze beautifully both frosted and unfrosted. If you freeze we highly recommend this amazing lid be used so your cake doesn't get smashed! This lid will fit 1/2 sheet jelly roll pans that measure 12x17. This is our favorite jelly roll pan and lid!
Zucchini Bars
Equipment
- Mixer
- 12"x17" Jelly Roll Baking Sheet
Ingredients
Zucchini Bars
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 3/4 cup White Sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 2 whole Eggs
- 1/2 cup Oil
- 1/2 cup Applesauce
- 2 cups Zucchini, Shredded
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese Softened
- 1 cup Butter Real , Softened
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream
Instructions
Zucchini Bars
- Add flour, both sugars, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger, eggs, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.
- Add zucchini and mix to incorporated
- Pour batter into a greased 12"x17" jelly-roll baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to completely cool.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Whip cream cheese and butter until well incorporated and smooth.
- Add and mix powdered sugar and cream.
- When cake is completely cool frost with cream cheese frosting.
- Enjoy!
Notes
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 Tablespoon Heavy Cream
Can I reduce butter to 1/2 C for icing?
Hi Julie,
This recipe does make a lot of frosting, so you can use 1/2 C. of butter....however, we would recommend halving the rest of the ingredients as well to get the right consistency. Thanks for stopping by and we hope you enjoy the zucchini bars!
-Cassie and Sadie
What size jelly roll pan?
Hi Kara,
We use a standard 12"x17" size. I'll amend the post to include the size. I hope you like the zucchini bars. Thanks for stopping by!
-Sadie
Can these be frozen?
Yes! I actually freeze them frosted. They are perfect for a quick gathering!
I made the zucchini casserole...it was so good! I will make it again! I also made the zucchini bars...also very good. I was going to put the frosting on the bars, but they were so good without it, I left it off.
Kathy,
Yay! So glad to hear you loved the recipe. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a kind word! Hope you have a good day.
Cassie and Sadie
The zucchini bars are baking and smell delicious! I do have one question half a teaspoon of vanilla listed twice hope I didn’t make a mistake . Thought maybe it belongs to icing but to late now
Hi Barbara!
Thanks for stopping by and for trying our zucchini bars out. We think you will love them just as much as we do!
As far as the vanilla goes, it appears we accidentally had it on there twice. I am so sorry. It is just 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Our cream cheese frosting doesn't call for vanilla but you can certainly add it!! I've amended the recipe so it only reflects the 1/2 tsp. vanilla now instead of 2. Thank you for asking and drawing our attention to that.
Hope you enjoy the recipe and have a good weekend.
-Cassie and Sadie
Question do you squeeze the excess water out of the zucchini or leave it the way it is for the moisture ?
Hi Christine,
You do not squeeze the water out of the zucchini. This will ensure a moist cake. Please let us know if you have any other questions.
-Cassie and Sadie
Bars sound good. But I have had to go gluten free now. Can other flours be used? Having to redo receipts.
Hi Clarita,
We haven't had the chance to try them with gluten-free flour yet. If you experiment, we'd love to hear how they turned out. Best of luck on your gluten-free journey.
Cassie and Sadie
How thick are they?
Hi Linda,
The bars will be just under the top of your jelly roll pan. Hope that visual helps answer your question. Thanks for stopping by!
-Cassie and Sadie
Have you tried it in a 9x13 pan? Wondering what the time increase would be??
Hi Carol,
We have never tried cooking them in a 9x13 before. I'm unsure of the exact cooking time for that pan, but I'd suggest checking them at our 25-minute mark and if they are not done, to check every 5 minutes until they are. Sorry to not be of more help.
-Cassie and Sadie
These bars were absolutely amazing!!! I made the recipe exactly as printed and they turned out perfectly. My 10 year-old son and my husband both loved them. They were eaten up fast!
Jodi,
It was so fun to wake up to this nice comment today. Thank you for your kind words. We are so glad you love this recipe!!! Thanks for stopping by.
-Cassie and Sadie
These are absolutely the best.
Hi there, what can I use as a substitute for applesauce please? I live in Portugal and applesauce isn’t easy to get here. Thanks a lot x
Hi Sarita!
Thanks so much for stopping by. I am unable to recommend a substitute as I haven't tried it myself. I am so sorry. A quick google search did tell me there are a few substitutions you could try. If you do try making these bars without applesauce, please let me know how it turned out and which substitute you used.
Thanks so much,
Sadie
Just made these and they are indeed yummy. It’s just me and my husband, so I’m wondering if the finished bars freeze well?
Hi Deb!
These bars can be frozen both frosted or unfrosted. We highly recommend you use a jelly roll lid on your pan. We are so pleased you liked the recipe. Thank you so much for letting us know!!
-Cassie and Sadie
Hi, your recipe sounds delicious. I only have unsweetened applesauce on hand. Any idea how much extra sugar I would need to add to balance out the taste? Thanks!
Susan,
Hello! We have used both sweetened and unsweetened and it works great either way! Let us know if you have any other questions.
Cassie and Sadie
I made this last night to take to a friends for dinner and it was delicious. IM celiac and substituted the flour for gluten free flour and it turned out so good. I baked the batter in two 8x8 pans. I will def be making this cake again, it was simple to put together in the moring and I iced it later when it cooled.
We are so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for the gluten free tip!!!
Quick and easy. I added chopped walnuts. Yum
Sounds like the perfect idea Bev! Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful delicious. I did make just a couple changes for our taste. I cut the butter in 1/2, and added Ginger to the frosting, it gives a nice color and another layer of flavor. I substituted some Splenda in both the cake and the frosting (reducing the amount of regular or powdered sugar). I also cut the cooled cake in half and stacked the layers after frosting; it reminded me of a spice cake from my younger days.
Sounds wonderful Molly!! Thank you for sharing those tips!