Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars
These decadent Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars bring together the warm spices of gingerbread with the rich allure of dark chocolate. The golden sweetness of maple and caramel tie these festive bars together!
If you’re looking for more gingerbread recipes, check out some of my other favorites like Frosted Gingerbread Banana Bread, Gingerbread Caramel Sauce, Gingerbread Florentine Sandwich Cookies, or Eggless Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Ready In: 50 minutes
- Makes: 9 bars
- Main Ingredients: butter, dark brown sugar, all purpose flour, chocolate bars
- Flavor Profile: cozy gingerbread spice with rich dark chocolate and caramel
- Dietary Info: no seed oils, gluten free swap available
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: perfect combination of gingerbread, dark chocolate and caramel
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Soft & Chewy: These Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars are soft and chewy, just like a gingerbread cookie but in bar form! These are similar texture to a brownie or blondie.
- Holiday Inspired: This recipe is holiday inspired without being overly festive, which is what I love about them! All the warm and comforting spices of gingerbread, but with the decadence of dark chocolate, maple, and caramel! These gingerbread bars are a real treat that's perfect for adding into DIY Christmas Cookie Box.
- Chocolate: Need I say more? Everything is better with chocolate! My husband is not a huge fan of gingerbread (unlike me, who’s obsessed), but he loved these Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Bars! So, if you have a chocolate lover in your life, you can still spread a little holiday cheer with this recipe.
This recipe is a collaboration with my friends at Lake Champlain Chocolates! I'm obsessed with their organic chocolates as they have such high quality chocolate and so many amazing flavors.
This recipe uses their Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars, which are dark chocolate bars filled with a maple caramel. This brings so much flavor to these gingerbread cookie bars! Also try Homemade Chewy Chocolate Caramel Candy if you love chocolate and caramel together!
If you love high quality chocolate, as much as I do, check out some of my other recipes where I use Lake Champlain Chocolates. I love Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies With Caramel for a quick and festive cookie recipe! Check out Easy Hot Chocolate Dip, Hot Chocolate Sweet Rolls, or Maple Spice Cake With Brown Sugar Frosting for more festive holiday recipes too.
Ingredients
- Dark Brown Sugar: I use my Homemade Dark Brown Sugar, but store bought also works! Dark brown sugar really gives these a gingerbread flavor because it has more molasses.
- Eggs: Make sure to use organic large eggs. Eggs that are too small can make the dough dry and eggs that are too large can make it too wet, which can cause them to sink.
- Spices: I use organic cinnamon, ginger, and cloves for what I believe is the holy trio for gingerbread. You don't need anything else!
- Baking Soda: I use baking soda because these bars have brown sugar. For more info on leavening agents when to use which one, read my post Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder.
- Chocolate Bars: I use Lake Champlain Chocolates Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars in this recipe as they provide loads and loads of flavor! They are brining the dark chocolate, maple syrup, and caramel flavor all in one ingredient. That makes this recipe incredibly easy with minimal ingredients!
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- Use soft butter. The best way to soften butter is at room temperature. I like to leave mine out on the counter overnight to soften naturally. If you must microwave it, only do 10 second intervals per ½ cup, even if you have to do that twice. This will help prevent portions of the butter from melting completely.
- I use dark brown sugar, which is key for gingerbread! If you only have light brown sugar, you can use that, but they won’t be as dark in color or as rich in flavor. The only difference in light brown sugar and dark brown sugar is the amount of molasses, which provides more flavor. You can make your own Homemade Dark Brown Sugar with my easy recipe!
- Using parchment paper is key so the bars remove easily from the pan. If you are not using parchment paper, then be sure to grease your pan incredibly well with butter.
- I sprinkle these with cane sugar right when they come out of the oven so they are a little sparkly. This is totally optional and mostly just for looks, but I also love the subtle sweetness and texture it adds.
- Make sure to allow the bars to cool completely before removing from the pan as this will prevent them from breaking. I like to stick the bars in the freezer for a few minutes before removing, that way they cut very clean and easily!
- Be sure to store these cookie bars in an airtight container so they keep their soft and chewy texture.
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 318 grams gluten free flour blend. I recommend using the Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend, which is what I used for testing.
- High Altitude — Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top looks set, cracked, and golden brown.
How to Make Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, dark brown sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Mix on low until combined and there are no butter chunks.
- Add the eggs.
- Next, add the flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking soda, and sea salt in that order.
- Mix on low until combined into a smooth dough.
- Chop the chocolate bars into small pieces. Reserve about 1/4 of the chocolate and set aside. Add the 3/4 of the chocolate pieces into the cookie dough.
- Mix on low until combined. Press the dough into the prepared pan evenly. Add the remaining chocolate 1/4 of the chocolate pieces on top of the bars.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top looks set, cracked, and golden brown. Sprinkle with cane sugar immediately after coming out of the oven.
- Allow to cool completely in the pan. Using a sharp knife cut into 9 bars.
Recipe FAQ's
These are soft and chewy!
Because it has more molasses than light brown sugar which results in a darker color and richer flavor that pairs well with the warm spices in gingerbread.
Yes, you can use another type of chocolate for this recipe. But, these Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars have a very distinct flavor and are what is contributing to the maple and caramel portion of this recipe. If you were to replace this with just plain dark chocolate, you'd just be making gingerbread bars with dark chocolate.
No, they become small pockets of chocolate and flavor in every bite!
Because of the caramel in the chocolate bars.
You can, but you'll just have plain gingerbread chocolate chip cookie bars. The maple and caramel flavor comes from the specific chocolate bars I'm using.
The rich and smooth dark chocolate pairs really well with the warm and cozy spices.
Yes, all my recipes have one simple adjustment to bake up beautifully at high altitude! Just look in the Notes section of the recipe if you are baking above 5,000 feet for the instructions on baking time.
Yes, you can! Replace the all purpose flour with 318 grams gluten free flour blend. I recommend using the Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend, which is what I used for testing. If you are using a different gluten free flour blend, make sure it's a simple 1:1 ratio for the best results.
When the edges are dry and the middle looks set.
These are cookie bars, so a toothpick should come out clean when poked in the center. But, you should let them cool completely in the pan before removing (so they don't break) as they will be too soft to remove until they are cool.
Too much flour or over baking. Be sure to use a digital food scale for accurate measurements.
If you don't let them cool completely, they can easily break when slicing.
Store extra bars in an airtight container so they stay fresh.
Yes, store in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. It's best to place a piece of parchment paper in between each bar so they don't stick together.
More Gingerbread Recipes to Love
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Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- 8×8-inch Baking Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
Ingredients
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 113 grams cane sugar (plus extra for topping)
- 113 grams dark brown sugar (packed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 318 grams all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 Lake Champlain Chocolates Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, dark brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and there are no butter chunks.
- Add the eggs, flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking soda, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined into a smooth dough.
- Chop the chocolate bars into small pieces. Reserve about one-quarter of the chocolate and set aside. Add the three-quarters of the chocolate pieces into the cookie dough and mix on low until combined.
- Press the dough into the prepared pan evenly. Add the remaining chocolate one-quarter of the chocolate pieces on top of the bars.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top looks set, cracked, and golden brown. Sprinkle with cane sugar immediately after coming out of the oven. Allow to cool completely in the pan.
- Using a sharp knife cut into 9 bars.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- Use soft butter. The best way to soften butter is at room temperature. I like to leave mine out on the counter overnight to soften naturally. If you must microwave it, only do 10 second intervals per ½ cup, even if you have to do that twice. This will help prevent portions of the butter from melting completely.
- I use dark brown sugar, which is key for gingerbread! If you only have light brown sugar, you can use that, but they won’t be as dark in color or as rich in flavor. The only difference in light brown sugar and dark brown sugar is the amount of molasses, which provides more flavor. You can make your own Homemade Dark Brown Sugar with my easy recipe!
- Using parchment paper is key so the bars remove easily from the pan. If you are not using parchment paper, then be sure to grease your pan incredibly well with butter.
- I sprinkle these with cane sugar right when they come out of the oven so they are a little sparkly. This is totally optional and mostly just for looks, but I also love the subtle sweetness and texture it adds.
- Make sure to allow the bars to cool completely before removing from the pan as this will prevent them from breaking. I like to stick the bars in the freezer for a few minutes before removing, that way they cut very clean and easily!
- Be sure to store these cookie bars in an airtight container so they keep their soft and chewy texture.
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 318 grams gluten free flour blend. I recommend using the Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend, which is what I used for testing.
- High Altitude — Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top looks set, cracked, and golden brown.
Nutrition
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Love this Christmas cookie bar!