Christmas is one of the best times of year. It’s SO fun and festive and my favorite time of year to bake. There is something so special about baking around Christmas time for family and friends. It’s so fun and nostalgic and the flavors of Christmas are amazing and so tasty.
Gingerbread is one of the most loved and popular Christmas flavors. I love the taste of sweet spicy gingerbread paired with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Or decorated gingerbread cookies iced with buttercream frosting.
These Gingerbread Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting are so good. They are flavorful and SO easy to make. Cookie bars are even easier to make than cookies cause you put the dough into one pan to bake at once. In this recipe, you can save some of the dough to make some little gingerbread men to put on top of your gingerbread cookie bars.
If you are looking for the perfect recipe to bring to a Christmas Party, family get together or to make at home, these gingerbread cookie bars are it. They are so easy to put together, and quick to make but also very convenient for a party cause they are ready in one dish and can be cut into rectangles or squares. You can even top them with Christmas sprinkles if you want them to be even more festive.
What You’ll Need:
- unsalted butter
- brown sugar
- sugar
- eggs
- molasses
- vanilla bean paste
- ginger
- cream of tartar
- salt
- nutmeg
- cinnamon
- baking soda
- cornstarch
- all purpose flour
- cream cheese
- powdered sugar
- heavy cream
- parchment paper
I like sharing a list of everything you’ll need for my recipe at the beginning of the post so that way you’ll have an idea of what you need to buy and what you already have. All these ingredients are super easy to find whether that’s already in your kitchen or at your local grocery store.
What is Brown Butter & How Do You Make It?
Basically brown butter is just butter that’s been cooked on the stove. It foams up and the milk solids caramelize giving it it’s delicious deep nutty flavor. It takes a few quick minutes on the stove and the smell is like no other. Let’s just say it’s amazing and it’s a GAME CHANGER when baking. It’s hard to go back once you make it a few times and super simple to make so the extra step is optional but 100% worth it.
You can still make this recipe without using brown butter it just won’t have the nutty flavor but will still be delicious. If you also want the texture to be the same, I would use melted butter because the consistency of brown butter and melted will be the most similar.
I have a quick video on how to make brown butter- HERE!! It takes just a few minutes to make but this video is a visual way to see if that helps you out!!
Let’s Get Started!!
Gingerbread Cookie Bars
Ingredients
For Cookie Bars:
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks, browned, unsalted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 + 1/3 cup sugar separated
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 3 tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp cinnamon separated
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 1/2 cups flour all purpose
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese 1 block
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
For Cookie Bars:
- Pre-heat your oven to 350℉ and line a 9 by 13 inch pan with parchment paper allowing the sides to go over.
- In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add your butter and let melt. Once it's melted, keep it on the heat and let it cook for 5-10 minutes until it foams up and then turns a amber brown color. Transfer into a glass measuring cup and let cool.
- In a large bowl add your cooled browned butter, brown sugar, and 1/3 cup of your sugar and stir until well combined.
- Add your egg, egg yolk, vanilla bean paste and molasses and whisk until well combined and mixture is light and fluffy.
- Next, add all your spices and dry ingredients including your ginger, nutmeg, half your cinnamon (1 tbsp) baking soda, cornstarch, salt, cream of tartar and flour. Fold until just combined.
- Transfer your cookie dough (reserving a small ball, about 1/2 cup) into your 9 by 13 inch baking pan and flatten out until smooth.
- Stir your remaining sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the top of the cookie bars. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes until it starts to set and turn golden.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Whip together your butter and cream cheese until well combined and fluffy.
- Add your heavy cream, vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, and powdered sugar and whip until it comes together.
Assembling the Cookie Bars:
- With remaining ball of dough, chill for 10 minutes, roll out and cutout baby gingerbread men shapes. Bake for 8-10 minutes and let cool. Decorate if desired. These will go on top of the cookie bars.
- Once your cookie bars have cooled, use a butter knife or offset spatula to go around the edge of the pan to release corners. Remove the cookie from pan using the parchment paper.
- Using an offset spatula, add your cinnamon cream cheese frosting to your cookie and spread out to edges using a circular motion. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired and top with mini gingerbread cookies.
- Cut into 12-16 cookie bars, share and enjoy!!
Notes
That’s it!! This recipe is so fun and simple to make but big impressive results!! You did it!! I am so glad you made these!! I would love for you to try out another one of my recipes below. 🙂 Please, if you have a minute, consider writing a review at the bottom of this page. This helps food bloggers so much.
Did you enjoy this recipe? If so, I would So APPRECIATE if you write a review so others can try it out too! Don’t forget to smile because you are loved! <3
I hope that you enjoy this recipe with your loved ones and that it brings people together. This recipe was meant to be enjoyed!!
If you make it, I would love to see! Please tag me on my socials and on my instagram @whiskfullyblessed. I can’t wait to see how you like it and I’m so excited to reshare your cute photos!!
Merry Christmas!! JESUS LOVES YOU!!
THESE ARE SO GOOD! I don’t have too much baking experience but this recipe was easy to follow and turned out fantastic! I didn’t have vanilla bean paste so I substituted with a bit of vanilla extract which worked just fine. These bars are perfectly soft and the cream cheese icing is to die for. Will definitely be making these again next holiday season!