Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookie Bars: The Easiest Holiday Treat (No Rolling, No Cutting!)

The holiday season is a magical time, but let’s be honest – it can also be incredibly hectic! Between juggling festive plans, gift shopping, and daily responsibilities, finding the time and energy for elaborate baking projects often feels like an impossible feat. If the thought of spending hours chilling, rolling, and meticulously cutting out gingerbread men fills you with dread rather than delight, you’re not alone. We all crave those comforting, spiced flavors of classic gingerbread without the fuss.

That’s where these incredible Gingerbread Cookie Bars come to the rescue! Baked in a simple 8×8 inch pan, these soft, chewy, and perfectly spiced bars are the ultimate shortcut to holiday baking bliss. Forget about sticky dough, flour-dusted countertops, and intricate decorating; this recipe simplifies the entire process, allowing you to enjoy homemade gingerbread goodness with minimal effort.

Why These Gingerbread Cookie Bars Are Your New Holiday Favorite

As December races by, many of us find ourselves scrambling to check off our holiday to-do lists. This year, with Thanksgiving falling late, it feels like Christmas crept up on us even faster. Between managing an Etsy shop, testing new recipes, and capturing the festive spirit of city decorations, my baking time is precious. The last thing I need is a complicated recipe, and I’m willing to bet you feel the same way!

Traditional gingerbread cookies, while charming, often demand a significant time investment. They typically require:

Chilling the dough: A crucial step for cut-out cookies to prevent spreading, but it adds an hour or more to your prep time.
Rolling the dough: Requires a floured surface, a rolling pin, and careful handling.
Cutting out shapes: Tedious, especially for large batches, and leaves behind scraps to re-roll.
Decorating: Royal icing and intricate designs are beautiful but incredibly time-consuming.

These Gingerbread Cookie Bars eliminate all those steps! Just like my popular gingerbread blondies, these bars are packed with the warm, inviting flavors of molasses, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. They offer that quintessential holiday taste in a fuss-free format. Simply whip up the dough, spread it into an 8×8 inch pan, bake, and then get creative with your toppings. It’s the perfect solution for busy bakers who still want to share homemade joy this season.

Beyond the Basics: Easy, Customizable Decoration

One of the joys of these cookie bars is how easily you can customize them. While a classic cream cheese frosting is always a winner, I particularly love them with a s’mores twist! Imagine warm, soft gingerbread bars topped with toasted mini marshmallows and a decadent chocolate drizzle. It’s an unexpected combination that’s absolutely irresistible and adds an extra layer of texture and sweetness.

Essential Ingredients for Perfect Gingerbread Cookie Bars

Creating these delightful molasses bars requires a handful of pantry staples, each playing a crucial role in achieving their signature soft, chewy texture and rich, spiced flavor. Here’s a breakdown of the key components:

All-Purpose Flour: The structural backbone of our bars, flour provides the necessary framework, preventing the dough from being too wet and ensuring a cohesive texture. Make sure to measure it correctly by spooning it into your measuring cup and leveling it off.
Baking Soda: This essential leavening agent reacts with the acidic molasses in the recipe. This reaction creates carbon dioxide bubbles, which cause the bars to rise and become wonderfully light and tender.
Ground Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Clove: This quartet of warm spices is what defines the classic gingerbread flavor profile. Ginger provides its characteristic zesty warmth, cinnamon adds a sweet and woody note, nutmeg offers a hint of earthy sweetness, and clove brings a deep, pungent aroma that rounds out the blend beautifully.
Salt: Often underestimated, salt is a flavor enhancer that balances the sweetness and brings out the nuanced notes of the spices and molasses, ensuring your bars are never bland.
Melted Unsalted Butter: Using melted butter, rather than softened, is a secret to achieving a softer and chewier cookie bar. Melted butter incorporates more evenly into the sugar and molasses, leading to a denser, fudgier texture compared to creaming softened butter, which incorporates more air and results in a lighter, cakier crumb.
Packed Brown Sugar: Beyond just sweetness, brown sugar contributes to the bars’ moistness and provides an extra layer of molasses flavor, thanks to the molasses naturally present in it. This makes it superior to granulated sugar for this particular recipe.
Full-Flavor Molasses: This is the heart and soul of gingerbread. Opt for a full-flavor dark molasses for the most authentic and robust taste. You can also use light or mild molasses, but avoid blackstrap molasses, which is much stronger and more bitter, and will overpower the other flavors.
Large Egg: The egg acts as a binder, holding all the ingredients together and contributing to the overall structure and moisture content of the cookie bars. Ensure it’s at room temperature for better emulsification with the other wet ingredients.
Vanilla Extract: A touch of vanilla enhances all the other flavors, adding a subtle depth and aroma that makes any dessert more inviting.
Semisweet Chocolate Chips: While optional, I highly recommend including chocolate chips. The combination of warm gingerbread spices and rich chocolate is simply divine. It adds pockets of melted goodness throughout the bars.
Mini Marshmallows (for topping): For a delightful s’mores-inspired twist, mini marshmallows are toasted on top, creating a gooey, slightly caramelized layer.
Cream Cheese Frosting (for topping): For a more traditional, tangy, and creamy finish, a luscious small batch cream cheese frosting is an excellent choice.

Not a fan of molasses? While these bars celebrate its unique flavor, you might enjoy my Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars or rich Brownie Cookie Bars for other easy-to-make treats!

Simple Steps to Baking Your Gingerbread Cookie Bars

Making these molasses-rich gingerbread bars is incredibly straightforward. Follow these steps for a delicious and hassle-free baking experience:

Prepare Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. This ensures the leavening and spices are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Combine Wet Ingredients: In a separate large mixing bowl, beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, egg, and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth and well combined. This can be done with a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
Mix Dough: Gradually add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, as this can lead to tough bars. Gently fold in the semisweet chocolate chips.
Prepare Pan & Bake: Lightly grease an 8×8 inch baking pan. If you plan to toast marshmallows, do NOT use parchment paper, as it can catch fire under the broiler. If you’re using cream cheese frosting, parchment paper can be used for easy removal. Spread the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (a few melted chocolate streaks are fine).
Decorate: Once baked, you have two fantastic decoration options:
- For Frosting: Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan before generously spreading with your favorite cream cheese frosting.
- For Toasted Marshmallows: Turn your oven broiler on high. Top the hot bars with an even layer of mini marshmallows. Broil for 1-2 minutes, watching carefully, until the marshmallows are lightly golden brown and gooey. If desired, melt an additional 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in a plastic bag (microwave in 10-second increments on power level 5), snip a small corner, and drizzle over the toasted marshmallows once they’ve cooled slightly. Let the chocolate set before cutting.

Storage Tips

Store any leftover Gingerbread Cookie Bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. If you’ve opted for cream cheese frosting, which is perishable, make sure to keep the bars refrigerated and consume them within a week for the best quality.

More Gingerbread Delights to Explore

If you find yourself with leftover molasses after making these delicious cookie bars, or simply can’t get enough of that classic gingerbread flavor, you’re in luck! Here are some other fantastic gingerbread recipes to satisfy your cravings and continue your festive baking:

Gingerbread Cake: A moist and tender cake, perfect for a cozy holiday dessert.
Gingerbread Cheesecake: A rich and creamy twist on a classic, infused with gingerbread spices.
No Bake Gingerbread Pie: A wonderfully simple yet elegant dessert, ideal when you need a quick but impressive treat.
Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies: The perfect fusion of two beloved cookie types.

Gingerbread Cookie Bars Recipe

Yield:
12-16 bars

Prep Time:
15 minutes

Cook Time:
25 minutes

Total Time:
40 minutes

Don’t have the time (or energy) for traditional gingerbread men? These soft and chewy Gingerbread Cookie Bars, baked in an 8×8 inch pan, are a fantastic alternative. They require no chilling, rolling, or cutting, making them incredibly easy to prepare. Customize them with toasted mini marshmallows for a s’mores twist or a luscious cream cheese frosting with festive sprinkles.

Ingredients

1 + 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons full-flavor molasses (do not use blackstrap)
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (plus another 1/2 cup if doing the chocolate drizzle)

To Decorate (Pick One Option)

2 cups mini marshmallows
1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease an 8×8 inch baking pan. Important: If you plan to toast marshmallows, do not line the pan with parchment paper, as it can catch fire under the broiler. If you are using cream cheese frosting, you can add parchment paper slings for easy removal of the baked bars.
In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat together the melted unsalted butter, packed brown sugar, and full-flavor molasses on medium-high speed until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat in the room temperature large egg and vanilla extract until fully incorporated.
Reduce the mixer speed to low. Gradually add the reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the dough. Once the flour is mostly incorporated, gently stir in the initial 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips.
Evenly spread the gingerbread cookie dough into the prepared 8×8 inch pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean. A few streaks of melted chocolate from the chips are normal.
If using frosting: Allow the baked bars to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before frosting them with your prepared cream cheese frosting.
If using marshmallows: Once the bars are out of the oven, turn on your broiler. Immediately top the hot pan with an even layer of 2 cups of mini marshmallows. Place the pan under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, watching constantly, until the marshmallows are lightly golden brown and perfectly toasted. They can burn very quickly, so do not walk away!
Once the marshmallow-topped bars are cool enough to handle, melt the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Place them in a plastic sandwich bag and microwave for 30 seconds. Massage the chocolate to help it smooth out. Continue microwaving in 10-second increments on power level 5 (or 50% power) until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
Push the melted chocolate to one corner of the bag and snip off a tiny piece of the corner to create a small opening. Pipe the chocolate in a decorative drizzle pattern over the toasted marshmallows. Allow the chocolate to harden completely before cutting the bars into squares and serving.

Notes for Success

Measuring Flour: Always spoon flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a straight edge rather than scooping directly, which can lead to too much flour and dry bars.
Molasses Choice: For the best gingerbread flavor, choose “full-flavor” or “dark” molasses. Avoid “blackstrap” molasses, which is too strong and bitter for baking.
Don’t Overbake: Overbaking can result in dry, crumbly bars. Keep an eye on the baking time and remove them from the oven when a toothpick comes out clean.
Cooling is Key: If you plan to frost your bars, ensure they are completely cooled to room temperature. Frosting warm bars will cause the frosting to melt and slide off.
Enjoyed this recipe? Be sure to check out my other delightful gingerbread creations like Small Batch Gingerbread Cookies, Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Gingerbread Blondies.

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8×8 Square Pan

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Originally published November 18, 2014