Soft Chewy Gingerbread Bars (Printable version)
Soft, chewy bars blended with warm spices and topped with a sweet vanilla glaze.
# What you need:
→ Dry Ingredients
01 - 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2 teaspoons ground ginger
03 - 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
04 - 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
05 - 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
06 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
07 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
→ Wet Ingredients
08 - 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
09 - 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
10 - 1/4 cup granulated sugar
11 - 1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
12 - 1 large egg, room temperature
13 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
→ Glaze
14 - 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
15 - 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
16 - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
# How To:
01 - Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal.
02 - Whisk together all-purpose flour, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
03 - In a large bowl, whisk melted butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla extract, mixing until smooth.
04 - Gradually fold the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined, avoiding overmixing.
05 - Evenly spread the dough into the prepared baking pan.
06 - Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until edges are set and the center remains slightly soft. Avoid overbaking.
07 - Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
08 - Whisk powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a small bowl until smooth and pourable. Drizzle over cooled bars.
09 - Cut into 16 squares and serve.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- They're impossibly soft and chewy with a tender crumb that melts on your tongue, nothing like those hard, crunchy gingerbread cookies from the store.
- The warm spices—ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg—create this cozy, nostalgic flavor that tastes like home and the holidays all at once.
- A simple vanilla glaze on top takes them from homemade to feeling like they came from a fancy bakery, and everyone always asks for the recipe.
- They come together in under an hour from start to finish, so you can have them ready for unexpected guests or to satisfy a sudden craving.
02 -
- Temperature matters more than time. Every oven is different, so trust your eyes and the jiggle test rather than the clock. Overbaking these bars even by 2 minutes makes them dry and cake-like, and you lose that signature chewiness that makes them special.
- Don't skip cooling the bars completely before glazing. If you glaze warm bars, the glaze will melt right off. And if you glaze bars that are still slightly warm, the glaze will sink in unevenly instead of sitting on top in that beautiful, glossy way.
- The quality of your molasses affects the flavor significantly. Dark molasses will give you a deeper, almost licorice-like note, while light or unsulphured molasses keeps things brighter and more traditionally gingerbread-flavored.
03 -
- Use an offset spatula or small bench scraper to spread the dough evenly in the pan. It's much easier than a regular spoon and gives you more control and precision.
- If your glaze is too thick, thin it with milk one teaspoon at a time. If it's too thin, sift in a bit more powdered sugar. You want it thick enough to coat a spoon but thin enough to drizzle slowly.