Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars
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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 my Frosted Gingerbread Banana Bread, Gingerbread Florentines, or my classic Eggless Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies.
Table of Contents
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! These are similar texture to a brownie or blonde.
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!
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.
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I created this recipe with my friends at Lake Champlain Chocolates using their Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars. These dark chocolate bars are incredibly flavorful and they are bursting with gooey maple caramel inside!
These Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars would be a present all in itself as they are so good! But, they are even better in these Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars! This recipe would make the perfect addition to any holiday cookie box!
Ingredients
Lake Champlain Chocolates Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars
Homemade Organic Dark Brown Sugar
Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
Frontier Co-Op Organic Korintje Cinnamon
Cairnspring Mills Organic All Purpose Flour (use code MIMIORGANIC15 for 15% off your order!)
Tools Needed
Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
Parchment Paper (use code MIMIBAKES for 10% off Kana, my favorite non toxic parchment paper!)
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Step 2
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.
Step 3
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 and mix on low until combined.
Step 4
Press the dough into the prepared pan evenly. Add the remaining chocolate 1/4 of the chocolate pieces on top of the bars.
Step 5
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.
Step 6
Cut into 9 bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Baker's Tips
- 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 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.
FAQ's
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.
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! I did not test these gluten free, which is why there's no Note at the bottom of the recipe. But, I've been doing a lot of testing with Tiger Nut Flour lately and it is a really to 1 to 1 replacement for all purpose flour. So, I'm confident to say that you could just replace the all purpose flour with Tiger Nut Flour. You could also try your favorite gluten free flour blend as well. Just make sure the dough resembles how it looks in the video and you can add a little more flour if needed.
Craving More?
Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars
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.
- Cut into 9 bars.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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