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!
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.
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
more spiced cookie recipes:
- maple chocolate chip cookies
- chai spiced tahini blondies
- cheesecake filled pumpkin spice sugar cookies
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!
Equipment
- stand mixer with paddle attachment
- parchment paper
- 8x8 baking pan
Ingredients
ginger blondie
- 1 ¾ c all purpose flour (210g)
- ½ tsp baking powder (2g)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (1g)
- 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ 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)
- ¼ c granulated sugar (50g)
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste alt. use vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp lemon extract, optional
Ginger Sugar
- ½ c sugar
- ½ 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 ½ 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.
did you make this recipe?tag @olivesnthyme on Instagram
Anita says
Hi there,
Why not blackstrap molasses? I only hace that. Will it not work?
Thanks
Megan says
Blackstrap is thicker and less sweet. If you want to try the blackstrap, use 1 tbsp. Please let me know how it turns out!
Tish says
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!
Megan says
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!
Megan says
Also, yes. I use the “wholesome” brand unsulphured molasses.