Gingerbread Cookie Bar

30 MIN PREP TIME

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30 MIN BAKE TIME

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1HR TOTAL

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30 MIN PREP TIME 〰️ 30 MIN BAKE TIME 〰️ 1HR TOTAL 〰️

Get your gingerbread and cookie fix in one with these Gingerbread Cookie Bars. The chewy gingerbread base is topped with a gooey chocolate chip cookie to give you the most amazing flavour combination. It’s a really quick and easy recipe for a fun and delicious Christmas bake.

Why you will love this recipe:

• Adorable and festive | Gingerbread men are the cutest part of the festive season and they make these gingerbread cookie bars so cute and christmassy,

• Delicious flavours and textures combined | It’s hard to resist the flavour and texture combination of a fudgy rich gingerbread and chewy cookie. As you bite into the gingerbread you crunch down into a delicious chewy vanilla cookie, but then are immediately greeted with a soft gooey rich brownie. I don’t think a bake could get any better.

• Bake and freeze | Christmas is a busy time and there isn’t always time to bake when you need to and those last minute guests will always need something to snack on. These Gingerbread Cookie Bars are ideal as they can be baked and frozen for up to 3 months, meaning you can have a stash on hand in the freezer ready to thaw when that unexpected guest arrives.

Ingredients:

This delicious recipe uses lots of ingredients that you are likely to already have in your cupboards at home, but there may be a couple of specific extras you need. 

Unsalted Butter | Butter adds a creamy richness to your bakes ensuring a moist gooey gingerbread and a soft and chewy cookie. Use room temperature butter so it’s easier to cream together with the sugar when making the brownie. 

Caster Sugar, Light Brown Sugar and Dark Brown Sugar | Caster sugar is used to give the cookie structure while brown sugar is the key to making the cookies super fudgy and chewy. The Brown Sugar gives the gingerbread its rich molasses flavour whilst also boosting the gingerbread flavour.

Treacle | Treacle gives the gingerbread base it’s rich golden tone and provides the best flavour.

Plain flour | Measure the flour out properly as if you add to much it was dry these cookie bars out make them cake as opposed to gooey and chewy.  

70% Dark Chocolate Chips | The better the quality the more rich and delicious your bake. Ideally you want anything from 70% or above. 

Large Eggs | Use the best-quality eggs you can find and make sure they are at room temperature. 

Vanilla | Vanilla is the secret to all delicious baking as it enhances all the other flavours in the recipe.

Spices | Gingerbread spice is a combination of Ginger (obvs), Cinnamon and nutmeg. You could also add in mixed spice and cardamon. You’ll want to add more ginger than the rest to ensure you get the gingerbread hit we’re after with this bake.

How to make these gingerbread cookie bars:

The steps to making this delicious Gingerbread and Cookie Bar are really straight forward.

Make the gingerbread men | Now homemade gingerbread men are not compulsory for this recipe but they do make the most adorable little decoration for these gingerbread cookie bars. You don’t need to make your own but if you want to go the extra mile then you can find the recipe of my gingerbread cookies in my Gingerbread Cookie Sandwiches recipe. They’re really quick and easy so don’t take up to much additional time, plus any spares you have make excellent snacks whilst you wait for the gingerbread cookie bars to bake.

Of course the other option is to use shop bought gingerbread cookies but make sure that you get the ones that are hard and crispy, not the softer shortbread style.

Make the Cookie Dough | To get started you’ll need to create the cookie dough first. Ideally you want a cookie dough that spreads quite easily as you want the cookie to bake over the brownie once in the oven. Some recipes like my Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe use a high flour ratio which is great if you want a cookie that can go straight into the oven as it doesn’t need to be chilled, but a cookie dough with a lower flour ratio is better for this recipe as you want it to spread out more.

Make the Gingerbread base | You want the gingerbread base to be chewy and gooey with lots of rich gingerbread flavour. To get this texture and flavour you will want to mix together the butter and sugars until creamy then add in treacle which gives the mixture a rich tone and a delicious molasses flavour.

To assemble the cookie bar:

• Layer on the gingerbread base | Spread the gingerbread base evenly along the bottom of the lined baking tin. I use a 7×11 inch rectangle baking tin in this recipe but you can use an 8×8 square one if you prefer. Your cookie bar just may be a little bit thicker.

• Top with balls of cookie dough | Spoon out balls off cookie dough and add them to the top of the gingerbread base. You can be random with where you place the cookie dough in this step and the cookie balls don’t need to all be the same size.

• Decorate with gingerbread men | Bake the cookie bar for 15 minutes initially and then have your gingerbread men ready to decorate. Press them down gently into the mixture so they can stick down and then pop it all back into the oven for the final 10-15 minutes of baking.

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Gingerbread Cookie Bars

Servings: 16

Author: My Kitchen Drawer

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

Get your gingerbread and cookie fix in one with these Gingerbread Cookie Bars. The chewy gingerbread base is topped with a gooey chocolate chip cookie to give you the most amazing flavour combination. It's a really quick and easy recipe for a fun and delicious Christmas bake.

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Ingredients

For the Gingerbread Base

• 130 g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 110 g unsalted butter
• 100 g dark brown sugar
• 80 g treacle
• 1 egg medium
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer

• 110 g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 150 g unsalted butter
• 50 g light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 50 g dark chocolate chips 70% cocoa
• 1 egg medium

Instructions

For the Gingerbread Men

1. If you're making the gingerbread men yourself you'll need to make these first. Find the recipe on my Gingerbread Man Sandwiches recipe

For the Gingerbread Base

1. Combine the Gingerbread spices, flour and salt together in a large bowl then set it aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until soft and slightly whipped.
3. Add the treacle, then add the egg and vanilla and whip them all through until well combined.
4. Sift in the flour mixture, then fold it through until you have a thick and sticky batter.

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie layer

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla and whisk it through until well combined.
2. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold it through until you have a sticky cookie dough.
3. Pour in the chocolate chips and fold them through until evenly distributed.

To Assemble

1. Preheat the oven to 170℃ and line a 7×12 inch rectangle baking tin.
2. Pour the gingerbread base out into the bottom of the lined tin and spread it out evenly.
3. Take spoons of the cookie dough and place them on top randomly. If you want add a few extra chocolate chips on top too.
4. Bake for 15 minutes initially, then add the baked gingerbread across the top and bake for a further 10 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before slicing into rectangle bars.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

248

Fat

15 g

Carbs

26 g

Sugar

14 g

Protein

3 g

Disclaimer: The information is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or diagnosis. The nutritional information may vary based on the ingredients used, their freshness, and how they are prepared.

https://mykitchensdrawer.com/recipes-blog/gingerbread-cookie-bar

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Other cookie bars you should try:

Chocolate Orange Brookie Bar

Funfetti Brookie Bar

Love Monster Brookie

I would love it if you tagged me @mykitchendrawer on Instagram if you make this recipe. It’s the biggest honour to see my recipes come to life in your kitchen and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to drop me a message or let’s chat in the comments. Happy baking!