Ugly, Delicious (Perfect) Gingerbread Cookie Bars

You need this recipe in your repertoire. Soft and chewy and flavored with all of the warm holiday spices we crave around the holidays, these gingerbread cookie bars are irresistible. The batter comes together in seconds, and the recipe yields a ton, making it perfect for gifting, too.

In late October, my friend Julie Majors pleaded with her newsletter readers to make these cookies. They taste like gingerbread, she wrote, but the “texture is chewy like the perfect brownie.”

A photo revealing a cross-section that matched her description sold me, pushing the recipe to the top of my urgent to-make pile. But as things go, weeks passed, and then a month. I had almost forgotten about them, when Julie reminded us.

“Take them to a party,” she dared, “everyone will want the recipe.”

Last weekend I put the cookies to the test, the guinea pigs being my daughter’s hockey team, a mix of mostly teenage boys, a few teenage girls, and their parents and coaches. I was sure, of course, the group would like the bars — I had tested one the day prior, of course, as had my children, whose eyes widened upon first bite, so surprised perhaps that something so unassuming could be so delicious.

Would they love them is what I wondered. As you can see, these bars aren’t winning any beauty contests. In this season of decorated cutouts and jam-filled thumbprints and snow-capped crinkles, would anyone even consider reaching for something so plain?

But Friends, who am I kidding? What teenage kid passes on a cookie? And moreover, what these cookies lack in looks, they make up for in flavor. They are just as Julie describes: like a chewy brownie but spiced with all of those warm, wintry, and especially gingery notes of the season. As soon as I saw kids (and parents and coaches) returning to the plate for seconds (and thirds), I knew they were a winner. Love is an understatement.

Later that evening multiple people texted me asking for the recipe, which I sent along immediately with words of encouragement: make them! they’re so easy! one bowl! ungreased pan! high yield!

I imagine some of you may be holiday-cookied out, and if that is the case, I understand. For those of you who are just getting warmed up, let’s go 🎉

Note: You may be tempted to doll these up with some sort of glaze or frosting or drizzle. And to that I say: don’t you dare. These bars are perfect, inside and out, just the way they are.

Gingerbread Cookie Bars, Step by Step

First, gather your ingredients:

If you wish, measure everything out first:

Place the two sugars and the molasses in a large bowl:

Pour the butter over the top:

Then whisk to combine:

Add the egg and whisk again:

Add the spices, salt, and baking soda, and whisk again:

Finally, add the flour:

Use a spatula to incorporate the flour — the batter will be thick.

Transfer it to an ungreased 9×13-inch pan.

Press it into the pan to fit:

Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 22 -23 minutes.

Let cool for about an hour before cutting: I like to cut it into 24 squares first; then…

… I cut each square in half to yield 48 little rectangles:

Can you taste the chewiness? You’re going to love them.

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