Gingerbread Bars

Perfectly spiced gingerbread bars with cream cheese frosting are soft, chewy, and an irresistible crowd-pleasing holiday treat. Skip cookie cutters and make this easy recipe!

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 15

Chill: 30

Total Time: 1

Servings:

Ingredients

Gingerbread bars

¾ cup unsalted butter , softened
1 cup light brown sugar , packed
1 large large egg
¼ cup molasses
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Cream cheese frosting

4 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup butter
1 ½ cups powdered sugar , more as needed
½ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Gingerbread bars

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream 3/4 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar 1 minute, or until fluffy. Add in the egg and beat until smooth. Mix in the 1/4 cup molasses until combined.
In a medium bowl, sift or whisk 2 1/4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cloves and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix into the butter mixture with a spoon just until combined. Be careful not to overmix. Cover and chill 10 to 15 minutes.
Press into baking dish evenly with the palm of your hand. Bake 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean. Be careful not to over bake. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Cream cheese frosting

In a medium bowl, mix 1/4 cup butter and 4 ounces cream cheese with an electric mixer 2 minutes, or until creamy. Mix in 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Add more powdered sugar, if desired.
Once the bars have cooled, spread frosting evenly over the top. Slice when ready to serve.

Notes

Freezing frosted bars: Place sliced bars on a pan and freeze 1 hour. Once hard you can stack in a freezer container and freeze up to 3 months.

Storage: These cookie bars will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. I actually prefer them the 2nd day.

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