These chewy & flavorful Gingerbread Blondies are made with brown butter, tons of spices, and topped with a spiced cream cheese frosting!
You might be a little tired of rolling out cookie dough non-stop, so here's a delicious and easy solution: Gingerbread Blondies! These are SO easy to make, require no chilling, and you can have blondies in your mouth in less than an hour! These Brown Butter Frosted Gingerbread Blondies are chewy, filled with spices, and absolutely a crowd pleaser, just like these Iced Gingerbread Cookies.
I love an easy cookie bar recipe, and these are mixed in one bowl, baked in one pan, frosted, and enjoyed! They're the perfect holiday treat, and a great addition to all your cookie baking! To jazz them up, add some nuts or chocolate chips in the batter, or top them with fun holiday sprinkles!
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♥ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Chewy Blondies - These gingerbread blondies are incredibly soft and chewy!
Brown Butter - Who doesn't love a brown butter dessert? These blondies are elevated with the addition of brown butter, just like my chocolate chip blondies!
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting - I love adding spices to cream cheese frosting because it turns a delicious icing into something with even more flavor!!!
Easy - This recipe comes together SUPER quickly and is very easy. Aside from browning the butter, everything is thrown together in one bowl, and then baked for 20 minutes. The icing comes together fairly quickly as well.
Holiday cookie bar - This is PERFECT for a holiday baking day. These Gingerbread Cookie Bars will be a favorite!
📝 Ingredient Notes
A full list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions are located in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Gingerbread Blondies
- Butter: For this recipe, I use brown butter, which is melting the butter, then continuing to cook it until it browns. This gives the blondies a rich and nutty flavor.
- Brown Sugar: This recipe uses all brown sugar. Either dark or light will work.
- Molasses: Make sure to use unsulphured molasses. I like Grandma's brand.
- Eggs: Just one whole. Make sure it's at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract: for flavor.
- Salt: balances out the sweetness and adds more flavor.
- Baking soda: I usually don't add leavening to my blondies, but I found that it needed a little in this recipe. I didn't want it cake-like, so I opted for baking soda. The molasses as well as the brown sugar help activate the baking soda.
- Flour: All purpose flour works best with this recipe.
- Spices: To keep with gingerbread theme in these cookie bars, I use a whole teaspoon of gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream Cheese: Make sure your cream cheese is cold and brick-style.
- Butter: Just a little butter. I use unsalted, room temperature.
- Spices: Just like the blondies, we use a little cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.
- Powdered sugar: To sweeten and stiffen the frosting.
- Salt: It helps balance the sweetness and rounds the flavors.
See recipe card for quantities.
🍴Special Equipment
Kitchen Scale: It's so important to use a kitchen scale for accurate results.
Baking Pan: My favorite 8 inch Square USA pan is from USA pan. It has straight edges, bakes evenly, and never fails. I highly recommend purchasing a good quality baking pan for your bakes.
Mixing bowls: I love using glass Mixing Bowls when making batters and doughs.
Mixer: You can use a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer for the frosting.
⇄ Substitutions
Brown sugar - You can use either light or dark brown sugar in this recipe.
Spices - You can reduce or add more spices if you like. You can even add different spices like cloves!
✨ Variations
Chocolate Chips - Add some white or dark chocolate chips to the batter for a little more flavor.
Nuts - Pecans or Walnuts would be a nice additions.
Frosting - You can leave the frosting off if you add other additions, or you can switch it up and leave it a place frosting.
𓎩 Step-by-Step Instructions
A few instruction photos to help you nail this recipe every time.
Step 1
Make the brown butter: Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes.You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan.
The entire process of browning butter from start to finish should not take more than 10 minutes on medium heat.
Once butter is browned, pour it into a heat proof bowl and set it aside to cool for about 5 or 10 minutes.
Step 2
In a small bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, whisk, and set aside.
🎩Trick: Using a spatula instead of a hand mixer reduces the chances of over mixing, but once your ingredients come together, stop mixing.
Step 3
In a medium bowl, add the slightly cooled brown butter, brown sugar, and molasses and mix until combined.
Step 4
Then add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until completely combined.
Step 5
Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and all spice, mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix.
💡 Hint: Use a light colored metal baking pan. This will allow the blondies to bake evenly.
Step 6
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread it with an offset spatula,
Place the blondies in the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes at 350℉. The blondies will have puffed up and the edges will be set. Don't over bake. Let cool before frosting.
Step 7
In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and softened butter and beat using a handmixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Then add in the salt and spices and beat until combined. Lastly, add in the powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time and mix until completely smooth. If too stiff, add a splash of milk to thin it out to a spreadable consistency.
Frost, slice, and enjoy.
💬 FAQ
It's possible you added too much flour, you baked them for too long, or you over mixed the batter. Make sure to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale. Stop mixing when most of the flour streaks are gone, and make sure not to over bake!
You don't have to brown the butter, but I highly recommend. If you opt out of browning, just use 8 tablespoon (113g) butter, melted.
Make sure to you unsulphured molasses and not blackstrap. Blackstrap is bitter and will change the flavor of these blondies.
💡Pro Tips
Measure Flour Correctly - As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Don't burn the brown butter: Once the brown butter starts to pop, foam, and form specs at the bottom of the pan, remove it. Otherwise you could burn it and it will end up tasting bitter.
Don't over mix: Using a spatula instead of a hand mixer reduces the chances of over mixing, but once your ingredients come together, stop mixing.
Don't over bake: Start checking the gingerbread blondies at 20 minutes.
Cool completely: Make sure you let the blondies cool completely.
Parchment paper: To avoid sticking, make sure to line the pan with parchment paper.
Light-colored pan: Use a light colored metal baking pan. They help cook evenly and doesn't cook too fast.
❄ Storage
Room temperature - Unfrosted blondies will sit at room temperature in an airtight container for about 3 days.
Refrigerated - Frosted gingerbread blondies will need to be stored in the fridge, for up to 5 days.
📖 Recipe Card
Brown Butter Frosted Gingerbread Blondies
Ingredients
- 10 tbsps (140g) unsalted butter (measured before browning)
- ⅔ cup (133g) brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon (20g) molasses, unsulphured (I use Grandma's brand)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup (150g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 oz. cream cheese cold, (brick-style, full fat)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground allspice
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350℉Line an 8x8 light colored metal baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Make the brown butter: Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes.You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan. The entire process of browning butter from start to finish should not take more than 10 minutes on medium heat.Once butter is browned, pour it into a heat proof bowl and set it aside to cool for about 5 or 10 minutes.Your brown butter should come out to 110-115g after browning.10 tbsps (140g) unsalted butter
- Make the blondies: In a medium bowl, add the slightly cooled brown butter, brown sugar, and molasses and mix until combined. Then add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until completely combined. Then sift in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and all spice, mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix.⅔ cup (133g) brown sugar, packed, 1 tablespoon (20g) molasses, unsulphured, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1¼ cup (150g) all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice, ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread it with an offset spatula,
- Bake: Place the blondies in the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes. The blondies will have puffed up, especially around the edges. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out mostly clean. Don't over bake. Let cool before frosting.
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and softened butter and beat using a handmixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Then add in the salt and spices and beat until combined. Lastly, add in the powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time and mix until completely smooth. If too stiff, add a splash of milk to thin it out to a spreadable consistency.3 oz. cream cheese, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, pinch of ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground allspice, 1 cup powdered sugar
- Frost blondies, slice, and enjoy.
- Store frosted blondies in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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