Carrot Cake Jam Grilled Cheese Sandwich

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

56 Comments

5 from 5 votes
6 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
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Carrot Cake Jam Grilled Cheese Sandwiches are a fun, playful twist on a classic! Perfect for lunch, for kids’ snacks or a whimsical tea party!

Grilled cheese sandwiches are always a hit, but once you start playing with the flavors that makes them extra fun and delicious. If you enjoy sweet and savory flavors like this, you should also try my Turkey Havarti Apple Sandwich and my Fig and Bacon Grilled Cheese (The Figgy Piggy!).

Sabrina’s Carrot Cake Jam Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

This sandwich is pretty much everything that I love about grilled cheese sandwiches and about making your own take on recipes! Let’s take a trip down grilled cheese lane. Back in the day, as a really young kid, my mom would make grilled cheese with pita bread and Armenian cheeses, so you know I am open to a grilled cheese variation! It wasn’t until high school that I started making the classic American “cheese” version of a grilled cheese. Then I woke up to how AWFUL processed cheese was, and I started experimenting with cheeses/fillings.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Carrot Cake Jam Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

Carrot Cake Jam Grilled Cheese Sandwiches are a fun, playful twist on a classic! Perfect for lunch, for kids' snacks or a whimsical tea party!
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Carrot Cake Jam in jar and on bread
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 3/4 cup finely grated carrots
  • 3/4 cup apples , cored, peeled, and chopped
  • 3/4 cup crushed canned pineapple , including juice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 3/4 ounce powdered fruit pectin (1 package)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 12 slices Hawaiian Bread
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Instructions

To make the jam:

  • Recipe uses HALF of the jam this makes! I actually made a double recipe and used ¼ of it for these sandwiches and the rest in a giant three-tier Carrot cake.
  • In a large saucepan combine carrots, apples, pineapple with juice, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
  • Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently.
  • Reduce heat, cover, and boil gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Remove from heat and whisk in pectin until dissolved.
  • Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently.
  • Add sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.
  • Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
  • Let cool.

To prepare each sandwich:

  • When cool, spread a thick layer of cream cheese on each side of the sandwich and spread on a thick layer of carrot cake jam and close the sandwich.
  • Melt ½ tablespoon of butter on a griddle, on low.
  • Add the sandwich onto the butter and cook on medium low for 3-4 minutes.
  • Using a spatula pick up the sandwich, drop another half tablespoon onto the griddle.
  • Lower other side of sandwich onto the butter and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 636kcal | Carbohydrates: 94g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 414mg | Potassium: 235mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 3552IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 2mg

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About This Recipe

I started changing up my grill cheese sandwiches with jalapeno jack cheese! It was great, I even started adding sliced jalapenos. Then I did jalapenos and cream cheese. A huge breakthrough came when I was given a gift of homemade jalapeno jelly, and I used it in place of jalapenos in my cream cheese grilled cheese. WOW. Seriously. One of my favorite versions of a grilled cheese to this day! Jalapeno slices, jalapeno jelly, and cream cheese! Then, even more customizations started and I ended up with this Carrot Cake Jam Grilled Cheese recipe.

More Grilled Cheese Recipes

Grilled cheese pin collage

These photos were in a previous version of this post

Pin collage for grilled cheese sandwich with carrot jam
jam and cream cheese on plate
shaved ingredients for homemade carrot cake jam
skillet with cooking jam
prepped and ready to use jam
plate closeup of sandwich and pile of jam
cream cheese and jam sandwich on plate
carrot cake sandwich closeup
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches on plate with tea cup

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I am looking for a review from someone that made it. Looks delicious. I want to use it in carrot cake layers.

    Reply

  2. I did a quick word search on your site (as I often do when I have an Ingredient that needs to be used). In this case it’s carrots from my garden. I love pepper jams, and can’t wait to try this carrot cake jam! And pairing it with grilled cheese!?!? You never disappoint Sabrina ??

    Reply

  4. Being the evil person I am, when I make a cake and “can’t keep any,” I bake a little cake for me in a Corelle bowl! I gotta make the jam…

    Reply

  8. I absolutely love the idea of using the jam on a grilled cheese. It looks SO tasty. I’d love to try it!

    Reply

  13. Ummm… I have no words. This is amazing. I am totally drooling. You are a sandwich scientist!

    Reply

  18. Oh my goodness, yes! I love carrot cake and this jam sounds amazing… I would never have come up with it. Thanks so much for sharing

    Reply

  19. This sounds absolutely amazing! I love carrot cake, jalapenos, and cheese. I’m going to have to make this. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

    Reply

  23. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a sweet grilled cheese before. This will be made and devoured this very weekend! Huzzah!

    Reply

  24. My family would love this (believe it or not my child LOVES carrot cake! LOL) I am pretty sure this would be a win for us!

    Reply

  25. This is so creative! I’ve never thought about using jam this way – but now I’m wondering why. Sounds delicious! My mother will be in town in a few weeks and this will be perfect for her 😀

    Reply

  27. I have never had carrot cake jam before, but I love me some carrot cake,s o I am sure I would love this.

    Reply

  28. You, my friend, are a genius … a crazy, mad genius!

    That jam sounds AMAZING! And then you went and put it with cream cheese and grilled it in Hawaiian bread … crazy and AMAZING! Love this!

    Reply

      1. All of the ingredients and instructions on how to make carrot cake jam are included in the recipe card above. Enjoy!

        Reply