Carrot Cake Bars

Storage :

In The Refrigerator: Once your bars have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. The cream cheese swirl will keep them extra moist and flavorful.
In The Freezer: For longer storage, wrap the bars tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then place them in a freezer-safe container or bag. They can be frozen for up to 2 months. When ready to enjoy, simply thaw in the refrigerator overnight. If you’re in a hurry, you can thaw them at room temperature for about 1-2 hours.

For best results, line an 8×8 inch, straight sided, metal baking pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. If using a glass or ceramic baking dish, you may need to adjust the baking time slightly.
Be sure to use the fine (or smallest opening) side of a standard box grater for shredding the carrots. This ensures they are mixed well into the batter and the batter bakes up correctly. Pre-shredded carrots are too thick and large to use in this carrot cake recipe.
The center of the carrot cake bars should just barely have a little jiggle to them when gently moving the baking pan. If your carrot cake bars are getting a little too dark around the edges before the center is done, you can lightly cover the pan with aluminum foil for the last 5-10 minutes of bake time to prevent the cream cheese swirl from drying out while the carrot cake bars finish baking.
You can add ¼ cup finely chopped walnuts, or pecans, to your carrot cake batter if desired. You will add them when folding in the finely shredded carrots for added flavor and texture to your carrot cake bars.
When storing sliced carrot cake bars, you can place a piece of parchment paper in between the layers to keep the bars from sticking to each other if stored in a container.