Recipe: Carrot Cake Cookie Bars with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting

I am always taking recipes I find online and in books and adapting them to what I have on hand. One recipe I find simple, easy and yummy is the one for cake mix cookies. Below is a twist on that using a boxed carrot cake.

Carrot Cake Cookie Bars

1 carrot cake mix

1/3 cup oil+apple sauce mixture, you pick the ratios!

(I did a little less than 1/4 c. oil and the rest apple sauce)

2 eggs

1 c. coconut

1 c. walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray (I use the butter one for baking.) Spread dough in the pan and bake for about 12 minutes. Let cool.

Frosting

8 oz. Neufchatel (reduced fat cream cheese)

1 cup butterscotch chips

I'm sure there is a better way to do this as the butterscotch chips did not melt nicely, but the result was still great (luckily).

In a glass bowl, soften cream cheese in microwave (30 seconds on defrost). Measure out your butterscotch chips in a glass measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute. Stir chips and then add them to the softened cream cheese and stir until you have a smooth butterscotch frosting. Spread on cooled Carrot Cake Cookie Bars.

Note: The butterscotch chips did not come out all creamy and melted, but looked rather crumbly, but when I added it to the cream cheese it blended right in and became creamy goodness.

These are yummy and super easy. If you like carrot cake but are open to try it in a slightly different and denser form, try these!

Do you have a favorite variation on the cake mix cookie??