Applesauce Zucchini Cake Bars {Salted Caramel Pecan Glaze}
Hard to believe this moist, applesauce cake has zucchini in it! Know why? You can see it, but you can't taste it. It's so bland, it just blends in! Perfect for snacking, breakfast and summer going into fall!
Servings: 8
Calories:
Ingredients
Applesauce Zucchini Cake
- ¼ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup applesauce
- ¾ cup zucchini shredded, lightly packed
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Glaze
- 1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
- ⅓ cup caramel sauce or topping
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk
- optional: ½ teaspoon butter extract
- ½ cup salted roasted pecans chopped coarsely
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x9 inch baking pan with non-stick spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar and eggs until smooth and blended, then stir in applesauce.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon, then stir into the applesauce batter until well blended. Add in the zucchini and mix in.
- Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until edges become golden.
- Cool in the pan over a wire rack.
Glaze
- In small microwavable bowl, heat ¼ cup salted caramel topping for about 20-30 seconds for a thinner consistency.
- Remove from microwave and add in heavy cream, mixing together well.
- Add in powdered sugar and blend well with a whisk.
- If you have lumps, put mixture back in microwave and heat 15-30 seconds more, then stir until lumps disappear.
- For a thinner consistency, add a little more caramel topping to the mixture.
- For infused caramel flavor into the cake, pour glaze over cake while warm and cover with foil after eating a piece or two of course. The glaze with infuse into the cake as it sets for an hour or two.
- OR...
- Once the cake has cooled completely, pour the glaze over the cake and let glaze set 10-15 minutes, or longer, before slicing.
- Add salted roasted pecans to glaze, right after pouring on cake.
Notes
If you don't have salted caramel sauce, just add ¼ teaspoon to caramel sauce if desired. There will already be salt on the roasted pecans. If you don't add the pecans, you could add sea salt to the top if you want the sweet and salty aspect. :)
You can also use an 8x8 baking pan, just increase the baking time by about 5 minutes or so, since it will be thicker.
You can also use an 8x8 baking pan, just increase the baking time by about 5 minutes or so, since it will be thicker.