Cracker Barrel Baby Carrots

 

Have you ever ordered the baby carrots at Cracker Barrel?  They are so delicious.  I saw a copycat recipe online and tried them.  They were SO good.  I've made them several times now.

Cracker Barrel Baby Carrots

2 lbs. baby carrots

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Place the carrots in a saucepan.  Cover with water, cover the pan and boil for about 20 minutes.  The carrots should be fork tender.

Pour half of the water out of the pan.  Stir in the butter, brown sugar and salt.  Cover and cook for another 5 minutes or so.  Taste and add more of what it needs: butter, brown sugar, or salt.  

Glazed Carrots

 These are so yummy!

Glazed Carrots

1 lb, carrots, peeled and sliced

Put the carrots in a large skillet and add:

1/4 cup butter

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

Salt and Pepper

Stir and cook until the butter is melted.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Stir and add 1-2 Tablespoons of white vinegar.  Stir and cook until thickened and browned.  

Carrot Cake

 I have an amazing carrot cake recipe on here that beats all.  It is so delicious.  It is a layer cake with a delicious filling and a delicious frosting.  It is a lot of work, but very much worth the effort. But, I wanted to try a simpler carrot sheet cake and saw this recipe on lovefromtheoven,com.    It was delicious, moist, and easy.

Carrot Sheet Cake

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsps. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsps. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsps. cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups grated carrot

1/4 cup raisins, opt.

1/4 cup finely chopped nuts

Frosting

1 8 oz package cream cheese, room temp.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups or so powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat ovent to 350.  Lightly spray a sided sheet pan baking sheet.

Cream together the oil, butter, sugar and brown sugar for about 3-4 minutes.  Mixture should be fluffy and smooth.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla.  Turn off the mixer and add the dry ingredients.  Mix until incorporated.  Fold in the carrots, raisins, and pecans.

Pour onto the prepared pan and bake for 24-26 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool completely.

For the frosting, beat together the cream cheese and butter for at least 3 minutes, until fluffy.  Add the vanilla and salt.  Gradually add the powdered sugar until you have a fluffy frosting.

When cake is cool, top with frosting.  You can sprinkle on chopped pecans if desired.

Carrot Cake as a side dish

This cake, my friends, is heaven in my mouth. It is lightly sweet, moist, and texturally delightful!

1/3 cup canola oil

2/3 cup applesauce, unsweetened

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup sugar

4 large eggs (room temp.)

1 cup cake flour

1 cup whole wheat flour (can substitute half of it with almond flour)

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

1 TBSP cinnamon (be generous)

3 1/2 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix oil, applesauce, honey and sugar well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flours and other dry ingredients. Add to oil and honey mixture and mix until just blended. Fold in grated carrots and nuts. Pour into two greased and floured 8x8 inch Pyrex baking pans for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or cake begins to pull away from the edges of the pan. I let it cool for a few minutes then serve it warm.

I originally got this recipe from an amazing book I read called, Eat Cake. It was a delightful read. 

Honey Glazed Carrots in the Microwave

This is my go-to vegetable side, winter and summer.  We love these carrots and they are so simple and fast and healthy.  We eat them at least once a week.  

Honey Glazed Carrots

Peel and cut up desired number of carrots.  They kind of shrink, so do more than you think.  Put them in a microwaveable bowl.   Put in a hunk of butter, a little bit of water (Not much  maybe a couple of tablespoons) and put in a few tablespoons of honey.

Cover with plastic wrap.  Make a few slits in the plastic wrap.

Microwave until the carrots are soft. 

Remove the plastic wrap and serve.  I often add frozen peas at this point and put them back in until the peas are warmed.