Goodbye pumpkin, hello gingerbread and molasses.
I love these flavors so much and am so excited to be baking with them. Actually, I bake with them all year, but it’s safe to blog about them now.
Last week I started a Gingerbread & Molasses pinterest board in preparation for all the ginger and molasses recipes I know I’ll see online and want to remember. Food blogs are so predictable this time of year. First pumpkin, then ginger and molasses, then mint. I hope we linger in this phase for awhile.
My new board inspired me make something to kick off ginger and molasses season.
These bars are my heaven. They’re dense to the point of being almost like molasses fudge, with an abundance of chocolate chips that melt, making them even closer to fudge. Like a fudgy gingerbread brownie of sorts.
If you’re looking for a traditional, soft and fluffy ginger or molasses cake, or traditional cakey gingerbread cookies that you’d decorate, these bars are not that. There’s no chemical leaveners in them because I wanted them to stay flat and dense. Back to that fudge factor.
They follow the pattern of my trusty blondies recipes, and are made in one-bowl, no mixer required, and the batter is whisked together in minutes before being turned out into a pan and baked.
Simple melt one stick of butter in a bowl in the micro, stir in an egg, brown sugar, molasses, 3 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon each of cloves and nutmeg.
That’s 7 teaspoons of spices for a small pan of bars, and the bars definitely have a zippy kick. Not overwhelming for me personally, but they’re bold. There’s nothing more disappointing than lackluster-spiced pumpkin, ginger, or molasses-based recipes so I use a heavy hand. If you don’t like bold flavors, dial the spices back, possibly even halving them.
I recommend using a light to medium molasses so the bars don’t taste bitter or too pungent, a likely result if you use blackstrap molasses.
After stirring in the flour, add 1/1 4 cups chocolate chips, turn batter out into the pan, and top with 1/4 cup additional. I always place a few chocolate chips, white chocolate chips or candy pieces on top of my cookies and bars. It adds a visual pop to your treats so they really glisten and shine.
Bake the bars until they’re done. For me, that was 32 minutes. Because ingredients, climates, and taste preferences vary, always bake things until they’re done in your oven and to your taste. It’ll be a little tricky testing with a toothpick because you’ll keep hitting melted chocolate patches. There are worse things.
If you prefer more well-done, drier, bars, bake longer. Easy enough, but I can’t tell you how many people write to me, ‘But I baked it for exactly as long as you said and it wasn’t done’. Okay, then bake a little longer. Maybe you live in a humid climate or your oven runs 25 degrees cooler or you like drier food than I do. I’m an admitted under-baking queen.
I let the bars cool overnight. It makes cutting them much easier because the chocolate fully sets, they’re not as gooey, and they have a chance to rest, and for the flavors to marry. Ginger and molasses treats really do taste better in the few days after baking them.
The thick molasses, the softening and tenderizing effects of the brown sugar, coupled with the chocolate that melts and then sets up, they’re like eating a piece of dense, rich, molasses fudge with bold spices. The chocolate stands up beautifully to the boldness of the molasses and spices and is a wonderful pairing.
If you’re the type of person who frequently utters statements like, ‘Oh that’s too strong’, or ‘That’s so spicy’ or ‘Wow, that’s too rich’, don’t make these. They’re not going to be your thing.
However, if you’re a person who has to at least double the cinnamon in most recipes and you’re a real fan of molasses, coupled with a love of chocolate and fudgy things, they’ll be your thing. They’re definitely mine.
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Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Molasses Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup unsulphered light or medium molasses
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch salt, optional to taste
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don’t scramble it. Add the egg, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, optional salt, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
- Stir in 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
- Evenly sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips over the top, pressing them down very lightly with a spatula.
- Bake for about 32 to 34 minutes, or until done. I prefer them very moist, soft, and fudge-like, and baked for 32 minutes (shown in photos). If you prefer more well-done, dryer bars, bake for a few minutes longer; noting baking times may vary widely with this recipe based on personal preferences. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter; however, it will be hard to find a clean patch to test because you’ll likely hit chocolate. Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 30 to 60 minutes before slicing and serving; I prefer to let these bars rest overnight so the flavors marry and the chocolate fully sets, at which point they’re fudge-like. Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
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What’s your favorite gingerbread or molasses recipe?
I hope we stay in this gingerbread/molasses phase as well! It is one of my very favorites. That and mint. But I’ll hold off on that for a while ;)
You bars are so perfect looking. And the pictures definitely do them justice–they look SO fudgey. I feel like I can literally taste them through the screen!
Thanks, Laura, I love this phase too. I was ready for a changeup and yes, mint is next up! Thanks for the compliments on my bars!
These bars look absolutely wonderful!! So thick and chewy! Mmmmm!! :)
As much as I’m still kinda into pumpkin….I’m soooo ready for all things gingerbread!! Bring on the holiday baking & a huge batch of these bars.
I was thinking the same as Tieghan….your bars are always so evenly & perfectly cut.
Awww, thanks for the compliments on my bars, Kelli!
YES YES gingerbread and molasses! You and I are on similar wavelengths (just shared a ginger/cinnamon/chocolate sweet roll recipe today), and I can’t wait to see what else you have pinned. Mint will come, so let’s live up this fab combo before the mania hits :)
Just saw your rolls…chocolate.chai. How delicious!! Right up my alley!
Those look so decadent. And thank you for indicating NOT the blackstrap. I once totally flubbed a pumpkin molasses pie by using the incorrect amount of blackstrap molasses.
And every time I write it, someone always thinks they’re interchangeable -and they are only if you reallllllly want to put some hair on your chest. Lol
Your bars are always cut so PERFECT! It amazes me! Mine are like a terrible zig zig line! LOL!
I am in love with these bars. I love the gingerbread, the softness and the chocolate! Perfect for the holiday season!! Bring on the gingerbread! :)
Take your time, well chilled, lift out onto a cutting board, never slice in the pan :)
These are like gingerbread brownies. I love traditional gingerbread but I think I may have found a new favorite!
gingerbread brownies = yes! I kept saying molasses fudge but you’re totally on point with gingerbread brownies!
These are spice overload and in the BEST way! YUM!
Yes!!
I loooove the flavors this time of year – and gingerbread/molasses baked goodies are some of my favorites! These seriously look amazing. The dense, fudgey nature of them is so hard to resist! So, I won’t :)
I’m right there with you!
Soooo excited for gingerbread recipes, and what a great one to kick it off! I love how fudgey these look!
I’ve never had dense, fudgy gingerbread bars–any I have tried have been very cake-y. I love the color of these with the chips–they look very brownie like. I thought I was sensitive to too much ginger until I made your gingerale–now I can’t get enough of it! Oh–I know you are a King Arthur fan and I was just looking around their website last night and saw cappuccino baking chips. I didn’t know such a flavor existed but they sound fun!
cappuccino baking chips would be perfect in THIS recipe! Big, bold flavors…mmmm, I bet they’re great! As for ginger, I am sensitive to it at times, other times, not at all. Molasses, I can eat by the spoon! Glad you’re a fan of the gingerale now!
These definitely do look chewy! And totally perfect. Yum!
These look great! I have to admit I’m not a big molasses fan, but I do love gingerbread so I’m sure these bars are delicious.
Gingerbread is typically made with molasses and in my experience, almost impossible to find a recipe that doesn’t use it, but it is one of those things that varies a ton by who’s making it :)
Wow! These look and sound amazing. You know I have never made gingerbread before. I can’t even say I’ve had a gingerbread cookie, only a latte, which I love. My family just never baked them I guess. I think this is the year to change that!
Great year to start!
These are the densest looking bars I’ve ever seen! Which is exactly how I like them:)
Me too. Total fudge factor!
I use molasses all the time in baking, it give that treacle-y depth and the hint of bitterness would work so with the ginger. You are flavour genuis here.
Also I tried your bread sticks, honestly LOVE!!! I am so ready for xmas baking
That’s awesome you tried the breadsticks already! Glad you love them! And yes, I love the flavors in these bars..my heaven!