Gingerbread Bars
Grab some holiday spirit with easy-to-make gingerbread bars. Moist and flavorful, topped with a thick layer of vanilla cream cheese frosting.
Servings: 20 servings
Equipment
- half sheet pan,
- stand mixer or electric beaters
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- grated zest of one orange
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
dry ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
liquid ingredients
- 1 cup warm tap water
- 1/2 cup molasses (not blackstrap, which is bitter)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
cream cheese frosting
- 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature (1 stick)
- 8 ounces brick style cream cheese
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla or vanilla bean paste
- 3 Tbsp milk to thin the frosting to spreadable consistency, add more if needed.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray and flour your half sheet pan.
- Cream the butter, sugar, and orange zest until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl a couple of times to get everything incorporated.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the bowl again.
- Whisk together your dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Mix the warm water with the molasses and maple syrup in a bowl or glass measuring cup.
- With the mixer on low, alternately add the dry ingredients with the molasses mixture, beating after each addition, beginning and ending with the dry.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and make sure to get your spatula down to the bottom of the bowl, giving the batter a final mix by hand.
- Turn the batter into your prepared pan and smooth out the surface evenly from edge to edge. Take a minute to get it even. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, just until done through and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter on it. Note: this is a very thin cake so it will bake quickly. Being confident of your oven's temperature is important. I recommend using an oven thermometer to be sure and remember, your baking time could differ from mine.
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack. You'll want it to be pretty much completely cooled before you frost it.
- To make the frosting you can use electric beaters or a stand mixer, but I prefer to use my food processor! I load everything into the bowl and process until silky smooth. Add more milk if your frosting is too thick. This method is great because you can use cold cream cheese. If you use another method you'll want to soften your cream cheese at room temperature first.
- Spread the frosting on the cooled cake and enjoy!
Notes
The bars should be refrigerated after a few hours because of the cream cheese frosting. They will keep, covered in plastic, for 2 days.
I don't recommend freezing these bars.
Nutrition
Calories: 325 kcal · Carbohydrates: 49 g · Protein: 3 g · Fat: 14 g · Saturated Fat: 8 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g · Trans Fat: 0.4 g · Cholesterol: 45 mg · Sodium: 182 mg · Potassium: 205 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 35 g · Vitamin A: 450 IU · Vitamin C: 0.002 mg · Calcium: 56 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Did You Make This?We love seeing what you've made! Tag us on social media at @theviewfromgreatisland for a chance to be featured.