Easy and delicious carrot cake blondies for your Macmillan Coffee Morning
It doesn’t take a showstopper to bring people together. A simple traybake at a Macmillan Coffee Morning can turn a cuppa and a slice of cake into vital support for people living with cancer – because small acts of care add up to something extraordinary
It’s a small thing, baking a cake – but it’s also a wonderful way to bring people together and do a bit of good. Macmillan Coffee Mornings prove as much, turning cups of tea and slices of something sweet into vital support for people living with cancer. Because while almost one in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime, not everyone gets the same care – and Macmillan is working to change that.
These blondies are a quieter take on carrot cake. All the familiar warmth is there – cinnamon, ginger, a whisper of nutmeg – but baked into a single tray with no layers, no icing and no stress. Just a handful of seasonal carrots, a swirl of cream cheese and a bake that feels quietly celebratory.
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The ingredients are unshowy – butter, sugar, flour, eggs – and the method is unfussy enough to pull together the night before. Once cooled and cut, they’re easy to carry, easy to serve and easy to eat with one hand while holding a cuppa in the other.
Carrot cake blondies with cream cheese swirl
Makes: 12 generous squares or 16 smaller bite-sized blondies
Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 25-30 minutes | Cooling time: 1 hour (optional, but recommended for clean slicing)
Equipment
20cm square baking tin
Baking paper
Mixing bowls
Whisk or electric hand mixer
Rubber spatula or spoon
Fine grater (for carrot and optional orange zest)
Small bowl and spoon/skewer for swirling
Ingredients
For the blondie base
150g unsalted butter, melted
150g light brown sugar
75g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp fine sea salt
160g plain flour
100g grated carrot (about 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely grated)
50g chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Zest of ½ an orange (optional but recommended)
For the cream cheese swirl
100g full-fat cream cheese
1 egg yolk
30g icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 170C fan (190C conventional) and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and caster sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until glossy.
3. Stir in the spices, salt, and flour, mixing until just combined. Fold through the grated carrot, optional nuts, and orange zest.
4. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the cream cheese swirl ingredients until smooth.
5. Pour the blondie batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Dollop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture over the surface and swirl gently with a knife or skewer for a marbled effect.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the edges are set and golden, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs (but not raw batter).
7. Allow to cool completely in the tin, then chill for 30 minutes before slicing into squares for clean edges.
Tips for Coffee Morning hosts
- These blondies can be made a day in advance and stored in an airtight container.
- Add mini “thank you” flags or QR code toppers linking to your fundraising page for a thoughtful touch.
- Serve as is, or warm slightly and offer with creme fraiche on the side.
Signing up to host your own Macmillan Coffee Morning this year couldn’t be easier! Find out more today on the Macmillan website
Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604). Also operating in Northern Ireland.