Filed Under: Christmas, Cookie Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Recipes
All the flavor of your favorite gingerbread cookie, in bar form! These soft gingerbread cookie bars are quick to make—no refrigeration or rolling necessary! This post contains affiliate links.
You might also like our no-chill sugar classic cookie dough! Perfect for rolling out for Halloween or Christmas cookies.
gingerbread cookie bars
Watch our step by step video!
Soft Gingerbread Cookie Bars
Years ago I turned my all time favorite sugar cookies into sugar cookie bars and never looked back. Oh my goodness—what a time saving hack. All the flavor, very little mess, and NO rolling. I decided to do the same with one of my favorite Christmas cookies this holiday season—- gingerbread cookies! All you need to know is that they taste amazing, are full of ginger, cinnamon, molasses and nutmeg, and make your entire home smell divine as they bake.
gingerbread bars cut and placed on parchment paper
If you’re baking up dozens of cookies this year, cookie bars are a great hack! Unlike most gingerbread cookie recipes these do not need to chill before baking. This is because we aren’t worried about the dough spreading like we are when we cut cookie dough out with cookie cutters. Simply dump your dough into a 9″x13″ baking dish and press evenly. I use the same frosting for my soft gingerbread cookie bars that I use on my sugar cookie bars. It’s very basic; butter, vanilla, milk and powdered sugar. Beat together until smooth and pour over bars. If you’d prefer to use cream cheese frosting I’ll share a recipe below for that too!
gingerbread cookie bars on rack
Gingerbread Cookie Bars Ingredients
Gingerbread Dough
melted butter: melted butter makes the dough smooth and soft, easy to press into the pan. I always bake with salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter if you’d like.
sugar: I use a combination of brown sugar and white sugar.
egg: for richness and texture
molasses: molasses gives the cookie bars wonderful flavor and texture. It is a staple in gingerbread recipes.
all purpose flour, baking soda and salt
ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves: my favorite gingerbread spice blend is heavy on cinnamon and ginger with hints of nutmeg and cloves. Perfection!
Buttercream Frosting
butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk
Cream Cheese Frosting
melted butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract
3 gingerbread cookie bars stacked
How To Make Gingerbread Cookie Bars
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13″ baking dish.
Mix melted butter and sugars together until smooth. Add egg and molasses.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until soft dough forms.
Press dough into the baking dish and bake for 16-20 minutes. Let cool completely then frost with buttercream or cream cheese frosting.
gingerbread cookie bars with frosting and sprinkles cut into squares
Tips for Making Cookie Bars
Tip: when you cut the bars, use a sharp knife and clean the frosting off with a paper towel after each line of cutting. This makes for clean edges and beautiful sugar cookie bars when they come out of the pan.
Tip: Use an angled frosting spatula for perfect spreading!two cookie bars stacked
How many soft gingerbread cookie bars does this recipe make?
You can easily get 24 bars from one batch. Perfect for a crowd.
How many days will the sugar cookie bars stay fresh?
The bars will stay delicious and fresh for 2-3 days. Wrap the baking dish with plastic or add a lid to keep the air out.
gingerbread cookie bars frosted with buttercream and holiday sprinkles
Soft Gingerbread Cookie Bars Recipe
(printable recipe)
3 gingerbread cookie bars stacked
Soft Gingerbread Cookie Bars
All the flavor of your favorite gingerbread cookie, in bar form! These soft gingerbread cookie bars are quick to make—no refrigeration or rolling necessary!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 15 minutesCook Time: 18 minutescooling: 30 minutesTotal Time: 1 hour 10 minutes Servings: 24 bars Calories: 160kcal
Ingredients
3/4 cup melted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg room temperature
1/2 cup molasses
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tbsp. ginger
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Buttercream Frosting Option
1/2 cup butter room temperature
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar sifted
Cream Cheese Frosting Option
6 oz. cream cheese softened
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix melted butter and sugar until smooth. Mix in egg and molasses.
Combine dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
Add dry ingredients, 1 cup at a time, to the wet ingredients until completely mixed.
Transfer dough to a greased 9″x13″ baking dish.
Sprinkle dough with small amount of flour to keep your hands from sticking as you press the dough into the pan. Continue to press until entire pan is evenly covered.
Bake at 350 degrees for 16-20 minutes. Edges should be set, but the center will still be soft.
Allow to cool completely.
While cookie bars cool, make frosting.
Beat frosting ingredients together until smooth. Add an additional teaspoon or so of milk if the frosting isn’t the desired spreadable consistence that you are looking for. Spread over cooled cookie bars. Add sprinkles if desired.
Notes
Note: if you use salted butter, no additional salt is necessary in this recipe (other than the 1/2 teaspoon listed). If you use unsalted butter, add an additional1/2 teaspoon of salt to the recipe. I always use salted butter and only use unsalted butter when I buy it on accident.
Nutrition
Calories: 160kcal
