Ginger Cookie Bars

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

17 Comments

5 from 8 votes
24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
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Ginger Bars are chewy cookie bars full of sweet, spiced gingerbread flavor. These rich molasses brown sugar brownie-like bars are perfect Christmas treats!

Chewy, flavorful Gingerbread Cookies meet Brown Sugar Brownies for an easy Cookie Bar Recipe that’s a dream come true for holiday parties and cookie exchanges!

Ginger Cookie Bars in stack

GINGER BARS

Gingerbread is one of those classic holiday flavors that you can’t imagine not being on a Christmas cookie platter. These delicious holiday bars have all the gingerbread flavor but without all the work. No need to chill, roll out the dough or get out the cookie cutters, to make the perfect holiday dessert.

These easy Ginger Cookie Bars come out so soft and chewy! The molasses along with brown sugar make the bars sweet and moist with the sweetness is balanced out with plenty of warm ginger. The addition of wheat flour makes these a little bit healthier but if you don’t have it on hand, feel free to use all white flour instead.

This recipe for Ginger Bars uses all ground ginger instead of a combination of wintery spices like cloves and cinnamon so the ginger flavor stands out. You can always reduce the ginger and add other warm spices to cut back on the bold ginger taste. If you want more ginger, add some chopped crystallized ginger pieces into your batter.

Ginger Cookie Bars in baking pan

If you want thinner, shaped Ginger Cookie Bars, bake your dough in a jelly roll pan for about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting the soft bars with cookie cutters. Or cut the bars, cooked regularly, into triangles and drizzle with White Chocolate Ganache for an easy, beautiful holiday gift.

Ginger Bars are a simple, elegant dessert, but go so well with frosting or other dessert toppings. Serve these Ginger Bars warm with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream or Whipped Cream. Frost your Ginger Cookie Bars with a thick layer of Cream Cheese Frosting and decorate with nuts or red and green sprinkles.

What kind of molasses to use for Ginger Bars?

|Molasses important for the chewiness of these delicious Gingerbread Cookie Bars and the recipe calls for a ¼ cup for maximum holiday flavor! You want to use dark, unsulfured molasses for the best taste and sticky, sweetness. If you don’t have molasses on hand, or want to cut it down, you can use honey. Simply replace all or some of the molasses with raw honey.

MORE HOLIDAY COOKIE CLASSICS:

Ginger Cookie Bars in stack, top view

VARIATIONS ON GINGER BARS

  • Chocolate Chips: Chocolate and ginger are a tasty sweet combo. Fold in ½ cup chocolate chips like white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or semi-sweet chocolate chips into the dough.
  • Nuts: Add some crunch to these Ginger Cookie Bars with a ½ cup chopped nuts like walnuts, pecan, hazelnuts, or almonds.
  • Pumpkin Spice: For fall flavored Pumpkin Molasses Bars, use 2 tablespoons Pumpkin Pie Spice instead of ginger in this recipe and add 1 can or 1 cup homemade Pumpkin Puree.
  • Flavors: Fold in ½ cup shredded carrots, sweetened coconut shreds, or chopped crystallized ginger for extra flavor and moisture in these Ginger Bars.
  • Chocolate: To make Chocolate Ginger Bars, replace ¼ cup white flour with ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder. 
  • Wheat: You can make these Ginger Cookie Bars a little healthier, use all wheat flour instead of half white flour. The bars will be a little denser but still very delicious and soft.

MORE HOLIDAY DESSERT RECIPES

 

HOW TO STORE GINGER BARS

  • Serve: You can keep Ginger Cookie Bars at room temperature, covered in a cool dry place, for up to 4 days.
  • Store: Refrigerate Ginger Bars in an airtight container for up to 1 week and serve at room temperature so they are soft and chewy.
  • Freeze: Cool Ginger Bars completely before freezing in a single layer for one hour. Transfer bars to a plastic bag or sealed container and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator before serving.

Ginger Cookie Bars in stack

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Dinner, then Dessert

Ginger Bars

Ginger Bars are chewy cookie bars full of sweet, spiced gingerbread flavor. These rich molasses brown sugar brownie-like bars are perfect Christmas treats!
Yield 24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Ginger Cookie Bars in stack
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 2/3 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 1 3/4 cups brown sugar , packed
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons coarse sanding sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with baking spray.
  • To your stand mixer add the butter and brown sugar on medium speed for 1 minute, until creamed together.
  • Add in the molasses, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
  • Sift together the flour, whole wheat flour, ginger, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  • Lower the speed on the stand mixer to the lowest setting and add in the dry ingredients until just combined.
  • Spread batter in to your baking pan evenly and sprinkle with sanding sugar.
  • Bake for 35 minutes, let cool completely before cutting into squares.

Nutrition

Calories: 163kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 120mg | Potassium: 123mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 177IU | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg

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Ginger Cookie Bars collage

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. These are sooo good! I made them for a Christmas cookie exchange and received so many compliments. I did frost them with a light glaze when they were cooked instead of adding casting sugar. I lined the baking pan with parchment paper, lightly coated with baking spray, for easy cutting and removal. I will be making them every year for the cookie exchange.

    Reply

  3. Omg, these are amazing! They have that perfect, classic, soft gingerbread-people taste without all the rolling and cutting! I will be making these many more times in the future. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  4. I am by no means an expert baker, but these came out awesome for me! My brand new oven runs a little hot, so I took them out three minutes early. We all have a sweet tooth so I topped them with cream cheese frosting. They are dense and chewy – in a really good way! Great recipe, thanks!

    Reply

  5. Really disappointed in these. I followed the recipe exactly and they came out super dry and much harder than I expected. Was really hoping this would be my new go to because I love soft gingerbread.

    Reply

    1. Oh no! It sounds like there might have been too much flour added. Next time, make sure to measure the flour by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling off vs possibly just scooping it.

      Reply

  9. What a simple and delicious recipe! Perfect for the holidays. I love the focus on the gingerbread flavor with these. YUM!

    Reply