Derby Bars

Since being home, I've been having the itch to make something delicious. But first let me tell you about my trip to Churchill Downs!

View of the Winner's Circle

It was so good to be back home for Derby Week! It is literally impossible to go anywhere without seeing some kind of Derby paraphernalia. I love it! This morning we went to the Turf Club for a early morning breakfast and to watch the horse's morning workouts.

It was great to see all of the Derby contenders gallop around the track. It gave me a good idea of who to bet on for Saturday's Race!

Hansen

Optimizer

Churchill Downs is all prepped for Derby! They already have the red carpet out and constructed the press boxes!

Pres Boxes by the Track

It was a beautiful morning!

But back to my delicious treat! I was browsing pinterest (per usual) and I came across some Zucchini and Carrot Bars. I have been wanting to make these for WEEKS, however without a grater in my Dallas apartment, I had to wait until I got home!

So that is just what I did!

These bars taste even better than they look! Do you want to know a secret?!?! These are virtually fat-free!!! But no one will ever guess that. If you really want to make these, extra-delicious, a nice dollop of cream cheese icing would be an excellent addition!

And do to the addition of freshly grated zucchini and carrots, I'd like to think that eating one of these is a serving of vegetables! They are perfect for breakfast, dessert, or for a snack!

Carrot and Zucchini Bars

Print this recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 whole eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup grated carrots (2 small carrots)
• 1/2 cup grated zucchini (1 small zucchini)

Directions
Begin by freshly grating your zucchini and carrots.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine the sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix to combine and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs and egg yolk together on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Add in the sugars, oil, apple sauce, and vanilla extract until throughly combined and smooth.


Add about 1/2 of the vegetables to the wet ingredients, followed by 1/2 of the flour mixture. Turn your mixer on just to incorporate the flour (literally about 2 seconds). Add in the rest of the grated vegetables and rest of the flour mixture. Again, turn the machine on just to combine everything together. Be careful not to over-mix!

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 15 - 17 minutes. Cake should be slightly brown on top.

Allow to cool in the pan placed on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes before removing cake from the pan. Allow to cool completely before cutting into rectangles. 

Top with cream cheese icing, or just a side of ice cream!

Derby Week!

Monday was an interesting day... It ended like this:

yes, that is the inside of my car

From the beginning: Monday started out with Bootcamp, 2 hours of studying, 1 final, 3 more hours of studying, second final, then FREEDOM!!!

I was so excited to finish my finals, I went to a few shops to try to find a purse/hat for Derby! If you don't know... the Kentucky Derby is on Cinco De Mayo!!

Saturday May 5th will be the 138th Running of the Kentucky Derby! I have to go study the condensers!!

Getting back to the story: before my afternoon bootcamp, I stopped to fill up my car with gas.

PROBLEM

The gas tank wouldn't open....fail.

I then proceeded to call Marshall who looked up how I had to disassemble the trunk of my car in order to manually open the gas tank. Needless to say, that was an adventure. But through skyping, pulling, and twisting, this happened:

open sesame

SUCCESS! Now, I could effectively get gas so that I could now take my car someplace to get it fixed. That was the important part! But that had to wait because....

.... I flew home yesterday!!

[source]

That would to be Louisville, KY!! And it's the best week ever!! 

[source]

DERBY WEEK!

No need to worry, because I have some good recipes planned! Especially since I'm now officially on my three week "summer break" and I plan on baking all sorts of goodies!!! Get excited!

If you are planning a Derby Party this week, these would be a great addition to your spread.