Gingerbread Cookie Bars

These Gingerbread Cookie Bars are incredibly soft and chewy. These are a great alternative to making individual gingerbread men. I immediately fell in love with these. They are great by themselves with a little dusting of powdered sugar or with cream cheese frosting on top. I’m so excited to be sharing a recipe out of the Six Sisters’ Stuff new cookbook! Their book, 12 Days of Christmas with Six Sisters’ Stuff, is packed full of holiday recipes that are totally doable and incredibly tasty.

I had so much fun going through and bookmarking the things I wanted to make. I’ve already gifted this to some of my friends because if you’re friends with me, you love food.

I immediately was drawn to these gingerbread bars. I don’t think the pictures do them justice. They are so chewy, probably due to the molasses, and full of spices. They tasted just like gingerbread men but WAY better.

I loved that they were soft but still cut really well. Honestly, they didn’t need frosting. All by themselves, they are a treat.

You can definitely add cream cheese frosting to make them super decadent but it does calm down the spice flavor when you do that which may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you prefer. The batter comes together quickly and is pressed into a 9×13 pan. After only 15 minutes they are done. Seriously. I mean seriously. Delish. These are my new favorite holiday treat.

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4.72 from 7 votes

Yield: 24 bars

Gingerbread Cookie Bars

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter , melted
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Frosting: (or just dust with powdered sugar)

• 1/2 cup butter , softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 lb (3 3/4 cups) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and molasses on medium speed until creamy.
3. Add the egg and stir until completely incorporated. Add baking soda, flour, spices, and salt and mix until well combined. Spread dough into prepared pan, using clean hands or a rubber spatula to press the dough to the edges of the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes; do not overbake! Cool in a pan with a wire rack.
4. When bars have cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting or dust lightly with powdered sugar. They are delicious with nothing on them! Cut into squares and serve.
5. For the frosting: Cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Slowly mix on low and then beat it on high until fluffy.

Recipe Notes

Source: bars by 12 Days of Christmas with Six Sisters' Stuff; frosting from me

Author: Christy Denney