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These Spiced Gingerbread Cookie Bars will definitely fill you with the spirit of the holiday season. They are slightly spicy, tender, sweet, and just delicious!
I absolutely love, love, love gingerbread. Gingerbread cookies, gingerbread loaf (bless you Starbucks), and now these Gingerbread Cookie Bars have come into my life and completely taken the top prize for favorite gingerbread treat. Did you know they even have Gingerbread Oreos now?? I’ll still take these bars over those silly Oreos any day. They are right up there with my favorite Christmas treats, like Peppermint Patty Brownies, Magic Layer Brownie Bars, and Peanut Butter Blossoms.
Spiced Gingerbread Cookie Bars
These Gingerbread Cookie Bars have the most wonderful texture – they are soft and chewy and just melt in your mouth. You can top them with a basic white icing, or with a delicious cream cheese frosting or don’t top them at all. I promise they are delicious any way you serve them.
How To Make Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees and greasing a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish with a nonstick cooking spray. You could also line the pan with parchment paper if you like.
- In a large bowl, preferably with a stand mixer, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and molasses and beat until the batter is creamy and fluffy. The batter does get thick, so a stand mixer works best if you have one.
- Mix in eggs and then flour, baking soda, and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice).
- The batter will be quite thick, like cookie dough, so you will need to spread it into the pan using your fingers or a silicone spatula to avoid sticking.
- Bake your Gingerbread Bars for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, with just a few crumbs.
- Allow the bars to cool completely before frosting, if you desire. You can use a prepared frosting or make one from scratch if you have the time. Of course some Christmas sprinkles are a must!
Freezer Storage
These Gingerbread Bars will freeze beautifully! Frosted bars will need to be frozen in a slab; you can cut into large slabs the size of your container or bag. Layer frozen slabs of cookie bars with parchment or wax paper in between and store in an airtight container or ziploc bag. Thaw, then cut into squares when ready to eat.
More Gingerbread Treats
Spiced Gingerbread Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a 9″×13″ baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and molasses and beat until creamy, about 1-2 minutes. *The batter does get thick, so a stand mixer works best if you have one.
- Add the egg and stir until incorporated.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until dough is well combined. It will be thick, like cookie dough.
- Spread the dough with a silicone spatula (or your fingers) evenly into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes and let cool. *Note – ovens vary, so you may need to bake these longer in your own. The edges should be crispy and the center a little gooey.
- Cool completely before frosting (optional) and cutting into squares. Add some Christmas sprinkles if you desire.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was adapted from Six Sisters.
Easy to make and very delicious 😋
Love the feedback Pat! Thanks for stopping by.
I’m sure this is a foolish question but… when you say melted butter, do you mean room temperature or melted to liquid?
Don’t ever feel foolish asking something you’re unsure of. 🙂 It’s melted, like to a liquid. Room temperature would say “softened”.
Soooo good! I made these last year and couldn’t wait to make them again this year (although I’d love these and time of year). They are just as good as I remember. I used Bob’s 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour instead of regular flour and I iced them with cream cheese buttercream frosting. Thanks for a great recipe!
Love the feedback Andrea! Thank you so much for stopping by.
I didn’t have any allspice so googled what was in allspice and it was everything I was already putting in the bars except for cloves so I added 1/4 teaspoon. I found the bars too spicy for me but I loved the texture.
Allspice is actually made from dried berries; it isn’t a combination of spices, although it does bring to mind cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper. Using more of a certain spice could create a different flavor profile than intended. I hope you’ll give it another try with the correct ingredients.
This was so easy and delicious! My family loved it. Keep ‘em coming
That’s awesome Michelle! Thanks for stopping by.
Such a good simple recipe!!! I made these today, used the cream cheese frosting you linked in the recipe and added a little cinnamon to the frosting! Delicious! I love the crunch on the outside edges and soft inside!
Love the feedback Brittany! Thanks for stopping by.
K.
So good! I subbed gluten free flour in as well as some xantham gum and they turned out wonderfully!
Nice! Thank you so much for stopping by Mallory.
If you double to recipe will that change the baking time?
Hi Debbie, if you divide the batter into two 13×9-inch pans you can bake them at the same time.
Hello! I’m going to make this tomorrow can you confirm the sugar amounts? 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar? I saw in previous reviews that wrong sugar amount was listed
Yes those are the correct amounts. There had been a typo in the originally posted recipe.
So good! I made these bars as written and I love them so much. Gingerbread cookies are my favorite, but this Christmas I’m just not feeling the work that goes into them. These cookie bars saved Christmas. ☺ Thanks for another home run recipe.
You are so welcome Jenn! Thanks for stopping by.
I haven’t baked these yet but I’m planning to. I was just wondering if the molasses were necessary. Thank you.
Hi Shay, the molasses is really the main ingredient for gingerbread, so it’s definitely needed.
How long will these stay good for? Will they hold up to being frozen for a few days?
Yes you can freeze these.
SOOO yummy! I made a double batch and baked it on a 12″x17″ pan with plans to share, but my kids are so into them, I don’t know if they’ll make it out of my kitchen! I used my own whipped cream cheese frosting and it just turned out great. Very easy and fast to whip up – I measured out my ingredients and my two year old plopped them into the kitchen aid one at a time and it was ready to pan within 3 minutes. I did lay parchment paper down to aid in clean up, and I needed to put another layer of parchment paper over top so I could use my rolling pin to get everything even, but that may have just been the size of my pan. 10/10 absolutely recommend.
Thank you so much Kalie! Awesome feedback, thanks for stopping by.
I believe you listed the sugar amount incorrectly… the flavors were wonderful, but with all the sugar it didn’t ever cook through.
Yes there was an typo with the sugar. I’m so sorry. It’s been corrected.
I had the same issue. Very runny!
Hi, there was an error in the recipe when it was updated last month. It has since been fixed and should work great in a 13×9 pan. So sorry for the issue!
Great flavor, but your recipe has the wrong size baking dish, it should be baked in a jelly roll pan. I used the size you suggested and it was runny in the middle and burnt on the sides! The batter spreads and raises as it bakes, so it resembles more of a cake not a bar cookie!
Hi, there was an error in the recipe when it was updated last month. It has since been fixed and should work great in a 13×9 pan. So sorry for the issue!
What type of frosting did you use? Looks amazing! I would love to use the exact frosting :)!
I used a cream cheese frosting.
I had the worst luck with these. My top burnt while the inside was still runny. But had an awesome flavor I’m super disappointed it didn’t work out I love gingerbread.
I’m so sorry to hear that! The inside is a little gooey but shouldn’t be runny.
Lovely recipe. Very sweet if you add cream cheese frosting but good with a coffee. Trust the 15-20 min bake time as very hard to judge when you take it out. I would make again but increase the amount of ginger a bit .
Awesome feedback Claire! Thanks for stopping by.
Would you frost this with a cream cheese frosting?
Yes cream cheese frosting would be delicious.
oh my goodness my taste buds just did a little dance. Please tell me you shared this at the Thursday hop ( you can link up until Sat midnight) hugs!