Easy Gingerbread Cookie Bars Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting for the Holidays

These gingerbread cookie bars are a thick, chewy spiced bar baked in one pan and topped with a spiced cream cheese frosting, so you get all the flavor of a gingerbread cookie without rolling or cutting a single shape. They take about 20 minutes of hands-on time, bake in under half an hour, and need about an hour to cool before frosting, so they’re an easy holiday dessert recipe for a crowd.

Warm molasses and a full blend of spices make these taste like a gingerbread cookie that decided to become a bar instead, and the spiced cream cheese frosting on top makes them feel like a bakery treat.

My favorite part about this one is that there’s no dough to chill, no rolling pin, and no cookie cutters. Mix, press, bake, frost, done.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Deep, warm gingerbread cookie bars flavor from real molasses and a full blend of spices
• No rolling, cutting, or chilling dough required — just press and bake
• Spiced cream cheese frosting takes these from cookie bar to bakery-case dessert
• One pan, one bowl for the bars, easy cleanup
• Freezes beautifully, frosted or plain
• Great for a crowd — makes 18 to 24 bars

Ingredients

For the bars:

• 2 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• small pinch ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup (100g) packed brown sugar (dark recommended)
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (113g) unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap)
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the spiced cream cheese frosting (optional):

• 6 oz (170g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened
• 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups (180g) confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• small pinch each of ground ginger, cinnamon, and allspice
• sprinkles, optional

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Molasses: regular unsulphured or dark molasses gives these their classic gingerbread flavor. Blackstrap molasses is much more bitter and will overpower the spices if swapped in directly.
• Cream cheese: use brick-style, full-fat cream cheese, not the spreadable tub kind. The tub version has more moisture and air whipped in, so the frosting won’t hold its shape the same way.
• Butter temperature for the bars: melt the butter and mix it with the sugars and molasses right away, while it’s still warm. If the melted butter sits and cools too long before mixing, the bars turn out drier and more cakey instead of thick and chewy.

Step 1: Prep the Pan and Oven

Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9×13-inch metal or glass pan with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang on the sides so you can lift the bars out cleanly once they’ve cooled.

Step 2: Whisk the Dry Ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt until evenly combined.

Step 3: Mix the Wet Ingredients

In a separate bowl, whisk the warm melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and molasses together until smooth. Whisk in the egg and vanilla. Work quickly here — mixing the sugars and molasses into the butter while it’s still warm is what keeps the bars thick and chewy instead of cakey.

Step 4: Combine and Press Into the Pan

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until no streaks of flour remain. The dough will be thick, shiny, and a little slick, almost like it’s not quite enough to fill the pan. That’s normal. Press it evenly into the prepared pan with your hands or the back of a spatula. The layer will look thin going in, but the bars rise as they bake.

Step 5: Bake

Bake for 23 to 26 minutes, until the top is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. Err on the side of underbaking here. The bars firm up a lot as they cool, so if you wait until the top looks fully set in the oven, they’ll be dry once they’ve cooled.

Step 6: Cool Completely

Let the bars cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before frosting. If you frost them while they’re even slightly warm, the frosting will slide right off instead of setting on top.

Step 7: Make the Frosting

Beat the cream cheese and butter together until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, the pinch of ginger, cinnamon, and allspice, and the vanilla, then beat until creamy and well combined.

Step 8: Frost, Chill, and Cut

Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled bars and add sprinkles if you’re using them. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the frosting set before slicing. Lift the whole slab out of the pan using the parchment overhang, then cut into squares.

Tips for the Best Results

• Mix the warm melted butter with the sugars and molasses right away — letting it cool first is the most common reason these bars turn out cakey instead of chewy
• Pull the bars from the oven while the center still looks a little soft; they finish setting as they cool, and overbaked bars dry out fast
• Don’t frost until the bars are fully cool, or the frosting will slide instead of set
• Want to skip the frosting? Sprinkle coarse or colored sugar over the dough before baking for a simpler finish

What to Serve With It

• A mug of hot cocoa or spiced chai alongside a square
• A scoop of vanilla ice cream if you’re serving these warm and unfrosted
• A batch of gingerbread thumbprint cookies if you want more than one gingerbread dessert on the table

Sarah

Gingerbread Cookie Bars

Thick, chewy gingerbread cookie bars topped with a spiced cream cheese frosting — an easy holiday dessert recipe made in one pan.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Cooling and Chilling Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings: 20 bars

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 230

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the bars

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter melted
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar dark recommended
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup unsulphured molasses not blackstrap
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the spiced cream cheese frosting

• 6 oz full-fat brick cream cheese softened
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground allspice
• 2 tbsp sprinkles optional

Method

 

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9×13-inch metal or glass pan with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang on the sides so you can lift the bars out cleanly once they’ve cooled.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt until evenly combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the warm melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and molasses together until smooth. Whisk in the egg and vanilla. Work quickly here, mixing the sugars and molasses into the butter while it’s still warm is what keeps the bars thick and chewy instead of cakey.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until no streaks of flour remain. The dough will be thick, shiny, and a little slick, almost like it’s not quite enough to fill the pan. That’s normal. Press it evenly into the prepared pan with your hands or the back of a spatula. The layer will look thin going in, but the bars rise as they bake.
5. Bake for 23 to 26 minutes, until the top is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. Err on the side of underbaking here. The bars firm up a lot as they cool, so if you wait until the top looks fully set in the oven, they’ll be dry once they’ve cooled.
6. Let the bars cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before frosting. If you frost them while they’re even slightly warm, the frosting will slide right off instead of setting on top.
7. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, the pinch of ginger, cinnamon, and allspice, and the vanilla, then beat until creamy and well combined.
8. Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled bars and add sprinkles if you’re using them. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the frosting set before slicing. Lift the whole slab out of the pan using the parchment overhang, then cut into squares.

Notes

• Mix the warm melted butter with the sugars and molasses right away for thick, chewy bars instead of cakey ones
• Pull the bars from the oven while the center still looks a little soft; they firm up as they cool
• Let the bars cool completely before frosting
• Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients and will vary with brands and portion size

Bake These Gingerbread Cookie Bars for Your Next Holiday Gathering

These bars give you everything you love about a gingerbread cookie, the warmth, the spice, the chew, without any of the rolling or cutting. One pan, one bowl for the base, and you’re done.

They’re also an easy make-ahead option. Bake them a day or two before you need them, keep them in the fridge, and they’ll be ready to slice and serve whenever your gathering starts.

If you give these gingerbread cookie bars a try, I’d love it if you left a star rating and a comment below — it helps other readers know what to expect.

For more gingerbread recipes you will love:

• Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies
• Gingerbread Loaf
• Gingerbread Cheesecake
• Cherry Thumbprint Cookies
• Heart Thumbprint Cookies
• Turtle Thumbprint Cookies