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Gingerbread Cookie Bars are an easy way to make a holiday classic! Soft gingerbread is sliced into sticks and decorated with candy and icing. They taste like gingerbread blondies and are so fun to eat!

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Three gingerbread cookie bars decorated for the holidays and stacked on top of eachother


Hands down, these bars are my favorite Gingerbread Cookie recipe of all time. Instead of the hassle of cutting out cookies, I cut the gingerbread into cookie sticks and decorate them with candy, white chocolate, or icing.

There aren’t many recipes I always make the same way, but these gingerbread cookie bars are an exception. I make them every Christmas, and if I ever stop, my family will stage an intervention! They are seriously good – soft, perfectly spiced, and one of my family’s all-time favorite holiday cookie bars.

Why you’ll love this recipe

  • These are soft and pillowy cookie bars.
  • This gingerbread recipe is super simple and basic.
  • The best part is that there’s no rolling or mess! Instead, the rich, thick cookie dough is pressed into a 10×15 jelly roll pan. Once baked, slice it into sticks.
  • Just like regular gingerbread, you can decorate the sticks with candy bars, sprinkles, icing, melted chocolate… pretty much anything you would use for cut-out gingerbread cookies will work.
  • I also call them gingerbread blondies because the texture is so similar. They are thick, soft, chewy, a little fudgy in the middle, and taste like Christmas. That’s the perfect holiday cookie recipe if you ask me.
ingredients in gingerbread cookie cake laid out on a white counter

Gingerbread Ingredients

  • Sugar: These are made with granulated sugar.
  • Butter: Use softened unsalted butter – if you use salted butter then reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon in the recipe.
  • Molasses: I use unsulfured molasses, just the kind you get in the regular baking aisle.
  • Egg: Be sure to buy large eggs.
  • Salt, Baking Soda: Typical cookie ingredients.
  • Spices: I use ground cinnamon and allspice in these cookies.
  • All-purpose flour: Be sure to measure it correctly.
Six photos showing the process of making gingerbread cookie sticks
  1. Whisk the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
  2. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, butter, and molasses. Add the egg and salt and mix to combine.
  3. Slowly mix in the dry ingredient and keep mixing until a thick dough forms.
  4. Line a 10×15″ jelly roll pan with enough foil so it hangs over the sides. This will make it easier to lift the bars out while they’re still hot. Coat the foil with cooking spray. Press the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes at 350°F. The gingerbread is done when it’s no longer glossy on top and springs back slightly when you press it with your finger.
  5. Cool it in the pan for five minutes before lifting it out. If you want to decorate with candy bars, press them into the dough while it’s still hot. If you don’t want to use candy bars, you can slice them into bars and let them cool, then decorate as you’d like.
Overhead shot of decorated gingerbread cookie bars on parchment paper

There aren’t any rules, but these are the things I use to decorate the gingerbread cookie bars. Do all of the same or mix it up to make them all different!

  • Candy bars: As mentioned, if you want to use chocolate bars like fun size Kit Kats, Twix, or chocolate bars, press them into the dough while it’s still hot and before you slice it. The heat will melt the chocolate, and then, as it cools, the candy bars will adhere to the sticks.
  • Chocolate: Melt chopped white or milk chocolate (or both!) and drizzle them over the bars.
  • Simple Icing: Mix powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream to make a white icing. You can drizzle it for decoration, or it’s a great way to “glue” candy to the bars – including candy bars if you forgot to add them when the bars were hot.
  • Other Decorations: Add your favorite sprinkles, crushed candy, or mini chocolate chips while the melted chocolate or icing is still wet.
Close up shot of gingerbread cookie bars decorated with white icing and red and green sprinkles

Tips for Success

  • What pan to use for gingerbread bars: If you don’t have a jelly roll pan, you can use a rimmed sheet pan instead. Use one that is close to 10×15″. It’s better to go bigger rather than smaller with the pan.
  • Kid Friendly Recipe: This is a really fun recipe to make with kids. You can make and bake the bars and, once they’re cooled, hand over the icing, sprinkles, and candies to the kids and let them go to town!
  • How to cut cookie bars: For easy slicing, use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter.
  • How to store and freeze gingerbread: Bars will keep at room temperature for up to four days. Or, you can freeze them for up to a month.
Three gingerbread cookie bars decorated for the holidays and stacked on top of eachother

Gingerbread Cookie Sticks

4.56 from 18 votes
This is the BEST gingerbread cookie recipe and my absolute favorite. It bakes in a sheet pan and is sliced while it’s still warm. Top it with your favorite candy, like Twix, or drizzle it with white chocolate and sprinkles!
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 24 bars
Serving Size 1 cookie stick
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Ingredients
 

  • 4 cups (492g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter , softened
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (237ml) unsulfured molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup (170g) white chocolate chips plus 1 teaspoon Crisco or vegetable oil to aid in melting and sprinkles OR
  • 24 fun size Twix or your favorite candy
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Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 10×15 jelly roll pan with foil (let the foil hang over the sides for easy removal of the hot bars) and spray with cooking spray. (If you don’t have a jelly roll pan you can use a rimmed cookie sheet that’s close to 10×15” in size, but opt bigger instead of smaller.)
  • Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
  • Beat sugar, butter, and molasses in the large bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix in the egg, salt, baking soda, and spices. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until a thick dough forms.
  • Press dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake about 15 minutes, until indentations in the dough bounce back slightly. The top will no longer be glossy.
  • Cool gingerbread for 5 minutes in the pan, then carefully remove the full sheet of gingerbread using the foil overhang to a cookie sheet. If you’re using the fun size Twix bars, press them in two equal rows onto the gingerbread, use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut the slab into 24 sticks. Otherwise, just cut them into sticks and cool.
  • If drizzling with white chocolate, melt the white chocolate chips and oil or Crisco in a small bowl on half power in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Place chocolate in a small baggie with the tip cut off and drizzle over sticks, sprinkle with sprinkles.
  • Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to one month.

Recipe Video

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie stick | Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 908mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern

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More Gingerbread Recipes You’ll Love for the Holidays

These Gingerbread Cookie Bars are the best! Instead of the hassle of cutting out cookies, I cut the gingerbread into cookie sticks and decorate them with candy, white chocolate, or icing.

Last Updated on February 2, 2023



Dorothy Kern

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53 Comments

  1. Hello! I’ve just tried Trader Joe’s Gingerbread cookie sticks and fell in love. I have to find a way to make them at home! So I found this recipe while doing a search for Gingerbread cookie sticks. Anybody know if this recipe will make a similar tasting cookie? In any case, I am for sure going to try this, but will add ground ginger to make certain they’re spicy, and sprinkle sugar on the top. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

    Reply

    1. I just called my Trader Joe’s to find out these have been discontinued so we will never see them again. This recipe is very close. It’s a little more molasses forward. I added one teaspoon of ground ginger and sprinkled with turbinado sugar on top. The next time I’ll just freeze molasses by a little bit more and add more Ginger to get closer to the Trader Joe’s version. The texture is dreamy though. Try it you won’t regret it.

      Reply

  2. Is there no ginger in this recipe or is that a typo? Also, more reviews from people who have actually made the recipe would be greatly appreciated 🙂

    Reply

  3. Just baked, drizzled, sprinkled and ate these yummy bars! They’re the perfect balance of soft (not too) spicy gingerbready goodness.

    Reply

  4. Ok, so I was totally laughing at your red carpet comment…I never make the same dessert twice now. Everything gets a twist if it’s going to be made again! And soft pillowy cookie sticks…yes, please. I have never been a big fan of crunchy gingerbread men, but these I could fall in love with!

    Reply

  5. OMG!! It’s not Christmas until I can smell Gingerbread in my house..and right now I can smell it coming from my screen!!

    Reply

  6. Oh my goodness these look absolutely amazing!! They are so creative and such a fun treat for the holidays! I love the sprinkles as a finishing christmas touch!! 🙂

    Reply

  8. These gingerbread cookies look fantastic. I love a good gingerbread recipe and this one looks like one I’ll have to try soon. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply