All the flavor of gingerbread cookies in an easy bar form – and with the addition of walnuts, crystallized ginger and a drizzle of melted white chocolate. Perfect when you need to feed a crowd at a holiday office party or school. These are lightly spiced and the dark brown sugar and molasses give them that gingerbread experience you are looking for. They look really fancy, but come together rather quickly. See Tips to ensure success.
Gingerbread Bars with Walnuts, White Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger
Author: Dédé Wilson
Makes: 32 bars
Ingredients
Bars:
- 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup walnuts halves, chopped
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- ⅔ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
Topping:
- 4 ounces white chocolate, melted
- 1 cup walnut halves, chopped
- ½ cup minced crystallized ginger
Instructions
- Position rack in middle of oven. Preheat oven to 350° F. Coat a 13 x 9-inch pan with nonstick spray.
- Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl to aerate and combine; toss in chopped nuts and set aside.
- Whisk together melted butter, brown sugar and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk in molasses until smooth, then whisk in eggs one at a time until blended. Whisk in vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Stir in flour/nut mixture just until no streaks of flour show and spread evenly into prepared pan.
- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until bars have colored a little bit and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out with a few moist crumbs clinging. Do not over-bake. Cool completely in the pan set on a rack.
- For Topping: Place melted white chocolate in a parchment cone and snip a small opening in the tip. Drizzle about half of the chocolate all over the bars – you can use a random pattern or anything you like. Scatter the nuts and the ginger over the wet chocolate, pressing gently to adhere. Then top with remaining chocolate. Cool just until chocolate is set before cutting. Cut into 32 (8x4) bars. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days in an airtight container in single layers separated by parchment paper.
Bakepedia Tips
- If you want to make these without nuts, you can, but the bars will be thin.
- There is a reason for the white chocolate going under and over the nuts and crystallized ginger: it helps them stick to the bar. Do not just scatter the dry nuts and ginger on the bars and try to drizzle the chocolate only on top. It won’t work.
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