Gingerbread Cookie Bars
These Gingerbread Cookie Bars are an incredibly soft and chewy Christmas dessert. These are a great alternative to making individual gingerbread men. These cookie bars are great by themselves with a little dusting of powdered sugar or with cream cheese frosting on top.
GINGERBREAD COOKIE BARS
I was so excited when the Six Sisters asked me to share 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.
OTHER CHRISTMAS RECIPES:
- Grinch Heart Cookies
- Melted Oreo Snowmen Truffles
- Christmas Tree “Cheese” Ball
- Soft Eggnog Cookies
- Peppermint Eggnog Punch
- Eggnog Gingerbread Trifle
- Cranberry and Feta Pinwheels
- North Pole Cupcakes
- Eggnog Eclair Cake
- Santa Claus Cookies
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
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and molasses on medium speed until creamy.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Always my go to. Such a great recipe!
Thank you!
10 stars!! My favorite holiday treat!!
Thank you!
My sister in law has been bringing these to family parties for the last few years and they are a huge hit! I finally asked her for the recipe as they’ve become pretty legendary at our gatherings. I was so excited (but not surprised because they are so amazing!) to see that the recipe was yours!! <3
Ha that’s awesome!!
Have made these the past few years and they’re always a favourite! How long would these last in the fridge after frosting? I wanted to make them a few days ahead of time.
They definitely would be good up to a week.
Oops, forgot to put a 5 star rating 🙂
THank you!
I had to comment on this. I have made these every year for 3 years and my whole family inhales them each time. I always have to make 2 batches. They are SOOO good. Thank you so much for posting this – it brings us all so much joy each year! 🙂
Awww that makes me happy.
Just made these for my colleagues and they are yummy! Not sure how long they stay edible though and how to store them?
I would store them in a resealable bag on the counter.
Just made these for the first time. They have been on my Xmas Pinterest board for a few years now. I ended up halfing the icing recipe which was perfect. Plus, I would say these are more like a chewy brownie. Mine are underbaked liked a brownie. Which is fine but I couldn’t keep them in my oven any longer or they would burn.
I topped them with a gold sugar sprinkle and mini gingerbread men sprinkle too. Thanks for the recipe! I guess I shouldn’t wait so long next time.
So happy you liked them!
Only needed half the recipe for the frosting.. very tasty.. I love gingerbread cookies…
This recipe was amazing. Although, I made a few tweaks with available ingredients (i used 3/4 cup white sugar and 1/3 cup of honey only but I used 1TBSP of fresh grated ginger for that extra gingery flavor) as I didn’t want to run to the store. Lol. But overall, it turned out great. Can’t wait to eat them all…
Awesome! Glad you liked them.
Very good! I want to try candied ginger for the next batch but it doesn’t need anything else.
Whenever I have a recipe where I have the option of using cream cheese frosting, I always make half the frosting recipe, otherwise it’s just too thick and my family doesn’t like it that way. They like it spread onto the bars or cakes or whatever I’m making, while it’s still warmish, so it kind of melts into the cake and what remains is a very thin, almost opaque frosting layer . But we love gingerbread of any kind, and these were delicious and easy and fast. Great item for church potlucks but I have to make 2 pans or else!!
I agree! Love it!
I added…chopped almonds..currents..chopped walnutsand Tbs of ground fresh ginger to squares..also added orange rind to recommended icing….OMG.
Haha seems like a Christmas recipe but I’m glad you are enjoying it now!
Delicious & so easy to make!
Thank you! I agree.
Would love to know how strong of a gingerbread flavor this has. More gingerbread-y, the better for me!
Can you make this in a sheet cake pan 11×17.? Would I double or 1 1/2 times the recipe if so?
They are pretty thin as 9×13 so I would 1 1/2 it.
These Gingerbread Cookie bars are delicious! My husband had a potluck and they requested these. Very easy to make.
So easy and one of my faves!
I halved the recipe (still using 1 egg), put the dough in a 8×5 inch pan, and it turned out so good!
So happy to hear that!
I am excited to make these! Is the butter salted or non salted?
i always use unsalted unless specified.
I don’t see the answer to the question Regarding whether or not the butter that is creamed with the sugars is melted?
Tonya,
In the recipe it states that the butter is melted. Hope that helps.
Do these need to be refrigerated if not served right away?
Nope. They are fine at room temp.
i have made these a few times and the are delicious especially with the cream cheese icing!!!
my family’s new fav dessert!
thanks for sharing
They really are fabulous!
These are awesome!! One of the best gingerbread bar recipes I’ve made!
Glad you agree!
The recipe asks for melted butter. Then says to beat the butter with the sugars until creamy….which isn’t happening with melted butter. In addition, with melted butter, it doesn’t press into the pan…it is much softer.
Was it your intention to have the butter melted, or is that a typo?
OH my gosh….These are AMAZING!!!! I have made them three times in the past few weeks for three different occasions. Each time, they disappeared since they were so good! Each time I come home with an empty pan and my 11-year-old son is disappointed. I told him I would make another batch for Christmas just for him. They are so easy to make too!!!! A new favorite recipe for our family!!!
I’m so glad you love them. I was actually thinking about these today.
Can these be frozen with icing on?
Yes!
These are fantastic! Made two batches, with one batch of frosting. Everyone loved them! Thank you! I will make these often, I’m sure. 🙂
Did you use frosting or not?
Hi! What’s the texture of these bars? Is it on the cake or the fudge side? Thank you!
They are chewy.Not cake-like at all.
This icing is to die for, thank you so much for the recipe! I love it so much that I used it as a filling to my beautiful white macarons, you can check it out here (I linked back to you)!!
https://turquoisetoffee.wordpress.com/2017/05/29/white-macarons-with-sweet-cream-filling/
These are delicious! Followed the recipe to a T. Only thing that I wasn’t sure about, was the doneness of the bars. Like others have said above, every oven varies. So with that being said, I treated it like a cookie and think they are done-cooling now. I did however try some of it right out of the oven and already love the chew and flavor! Definitely doesnt need the frosting, but am going to add tomorrow in stripes/swirls rather than a spread (halve it) Thanks for the great recipe! It was very easy too.
I agree a stripe of frosting would be perfect!