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Home » winter

Published on December 3, 2019 Updated on February 21, 2022. Published by Megan

spiced gingerbread blondie bars

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hello december! now i know its technically cookie season, BUT i love all things gingerbread. its easily one of my favorite holiday treats so it gets top billing this time of year. at some point I'll get in the cookie mood, but for now its all about these spicy, sweet, chewy and incredibly delicious spiced gingerbread blondie bars!

spiced gingerbread blondie bars

here's what you need to make these delicious cookie bars:

  • all purpose flour
  • baking soda and baking powder
  • ground spices: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves + cardamon
  • unsalted butter
  • light brown sugar
  • granulated sugar
  • lemon
  • molasses (not blackstrap)
  • eggs
  • vanilla bean paste (or extract)
  • white chocolate

from these ingredients you will make spiced gingerbread blondie bars, ginger sugar and melted white chocolate toppings. the ginger sugar and white chocolate are optional for the toppings. make and use one or both. it's totally up to you! personally, I'm in the, "more toppings the better" camp.

spiced gingerbread blondie bars

a few tips and tricks:

a few things I learned when developing and testing these gingerbread blondie bars

  • use a 9X9 square or 9" round baking pan
  • double the recipe for 9x13 pan
  • use parchment paper to line the bottom
  • aim for slightly under baked vs over baked
    • edges pulled slightly from the pan
    • a few moist crumbs on toothpick inserted into the center
  • use unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap
    • blackstrap isn't as sweet
    • its also very thick and not the best choice for this recipe
  • use room temperature ingredients for the best bake
  • ginger sugar can be sprinkled on top before baking or after
    • if topping before, the sugar will caramelize slightly
    • If topping after, sprinkle while the blondies are still hot from the oven
  • melt white chocolate in the microwave in 20 second intervals until evenly melted
    • I love this white chocolate for baking into cookies (or melting on to cookies)
  • for the cleanest cut, wait for the bars to cool completely to room temperature
spiced gingerbread blondie bars
gingerbread blondie bars piled on top of each other
spiced gingerbread blondie bars
spiced gingerbread blondie bars
spiced gingerbread blondie bars

more spiced cookie recipes:

  • maple chocolate chip cookies
  • chai spiced tahini blondies
  • cheesecake filled pumpkin spice sugar cookies
gingerbread blondie bars piled on top of each other

spiced gingerbread blondie bars

all the traditional spices and flavors of gingerbread, made into chewy blonde bars. for a little extra flavor and texture, you can top these bars with ginger sugar and melted white chocolate. meet your new favorite holiday cookie bar!
4.42 from 12 votes
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Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 23 mins
Cooling Time 30 mins
Total Time 1 hr 23 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 16

Equipment

  • stand mixer with paddle attachment
  • parchment paper
  • 8x8 baking pan

Ingredients
  

ginger blondie

  • 1 3/4 c all purpose flour (210g)
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder (2g)
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda (1g)
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cardamon
  • zest of one medium lemon
  • 10 tbsp unsalted butter, browned and cooled to room tempertature (113g)
  • 1 c packed light brown sugar (220g)
  • 1/4 c granulated sugar (50g)
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste alt. use vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp lemon extract, optional

Ginger Sugar

  • 1/2 c sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger, to taste
  • 4 oz white chocolate, melted

Instructions
 

  • To make the brown butter, melt butter in a clear heavy bottom pot. Once the butter starts to foam, whisk continuously until brown bits start to form. Remove from heat, pour into clean bowl, skim the foam from the top and cool to room temperature (20-25 minutes).
  • Line 8X8 baking pan with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
  • In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat browned butter, sugars and molasses until smooth and well combined. Add eggs and vanilla paste, beating well after each one until well combined. Careful not to overbeat.
  • Add dry ingredients to the wet 1/2 batch at a time. Slowly stir each time until JUST combined. A few flour streaks is okay! Drop evenly sized scoops into the prepared pan. Evenly press batter/dough into the pan. Sprinkle with the ginger sugar.
  • Bake at 350 for 28-33 minutes. Center will look slightly under baked, but toothpick should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Pull from the oven, and allow to cool min. 30 minutes. Top with melted white chocolate once cooled.

Notes

you may not use all the ginger sugar called for. just store the leftover sugar in an airtight container for later use. 
Keyword blondie bars, easy entertaining, easy holiday dessert, gingrebread blondies, kid friendly
did you make this recipe?tag @olivesnthyme on Instagram

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anita says

    November 30, 2020 at 6:45 pm

    Hi there,
    Why not blackstrap molasses? I only hace that. Will it not work?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Megan says

      December 01, 2020 at 8:30 am

      Blackstrap is thicker and less sweet. If you want to try the blackstrap, use 1 tbsp. Please let me know how it turns out!

      Reply
  2. Tish says

    December 28, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    I've tried baking this twice now. I don't have cardamom, so I subbed in nutmeg. I used maple syrup from Costco, because I don't have molasses. Both times, they turned out delicious, but more dry than I'd have liked. I also can't achieve the same beautiful color you have here -- is it because I'm using maple syrup instead of molasses? What molasses are you using -- is it the one linked here? Thanks so much in advance!

    Reply
    • Megan says

      December 28, 2020 at 4:17 pm

      Hi Tish! The molasses provides the deep brown color. These are a bit lighter because the photos are a bit older than the updated recipe. For this color, I believe I used 1 tbsp molasses. I much prefer the taste of the current recipe though. They will turn out a bit darker.

      As far as the moisture- you could try pulling them from the oven on the earliest side of the baking time (or a minute of two before that), increasing the butter by a couple of tablespoons or reducing the flour by a couple of tablespoons.

      Hope this helps!

      Reply
    • Megan says

      December 28, 2020 at 4:18 pm

      Also, yes. I use the “wholesome” brand unsulphured molasses.

      Reply

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Hi friends, I'm Megan!

Welcome to my blog, Olives + Thyme. I am a food photographer and blogger with a love of all things sweet.

Here you'll find mostly sweet recipes that are simple to make and full of flavor.

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