20 Cookie Bar Recipes You'll Love

Updated October 14, 2020
Iain Bagwell; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine

Who doesn't love a good bar cookie? From our rectangular takes on the classics (like these Chocolate Chip-Snickerdoodle Jam Bars and this Sesamillionaire’s Shortbread) to last-minute decadent desserts (kids will love these candy-packed Junk Food Cookie Bars), this collection of cookie bar recipes has something for everyone. 

 

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7-Layer Cookie Bars

Credit: Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Jennifer Wendorf, Melissa Gray; Prop Styling: Christina Daley

7-Layer Cookie Bars Recipe

We can only think of one word to accurately describe these decadent Hello Dolly-inspired bars: Wow. The coconut on top crisps up beautifully, while the espresso chips add something extra indulgent. Serve these with ice cream or on their own. You'll be tempted to dig in as soon ASAP, but try to restrain yourself—the bars need to cool completely before you cut them. They should set up after an hour in the fridge but, for even better results, you could let them chill overnight. 

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Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bars

Credit: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe

Take your favorite cookie and turn it into a big slice bar. This dough is perfect for baking in an 8-inch pan. These bars are still perfect for bake sales or cookie swaps. We topped these chocolate sugar cookie bars with a creamy frosting and a few sprinkles for a festive touch.

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Girl Scout Cookie Layer Bars

Credit: Time Inc. Video Studio

Girl Scout Cookie Layer Bars Recipe

Why pick one Girl Scout Cookie when you can have them all… in one epic dessert bar. This decadent amalgamation of Girl Scout Cookies—featuring Trefoils, Samoas, Do-si-dos, and Tagalongs—is the perfect recipe for anyone who simply can’t say no to any scout who asks. Go ahead; generosity earns you extra indulgence points, everyone knows that. 

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Frankenstein Cookie Bars

Credit: Thomas J. Story

Frankenstein Cookie Bars Recipe

These bars make a fun Halloween treat, and they're very flavorful: the green tea frosting cloaks a chewy-soft coconut-lime cookie. They're easy enough that the kids can help you make them.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars

Credit: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Ivy Odom; Prop Styling: Kashara Johnson

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars Recipe

They’re everything you love about a classic PB&J sandwich, but in cookie form (i.e. way better). These peanut butter and jelly bars feature a chewy peanut butter cookie layer, topped with a sweet-tart jammy layer, and finished off with a crunchy peanut butter streusel.

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Sesamillionaire’s Shortbread

Credit: Aaron Kirk; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Robby Melvin

Sesamillionaire’s Shortbread Recipe

A toasty twist on the traditional Millionaire’s Shortbread, these decadent layered cookie bars feature toasted sesame seeds in the shortbread, a luscious tahini caramel, and more sesame seeds sprinkled over top for good measure. 

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Junk Food Cookie Bars

Credit: Time Inc. Video Studio

Junk Food Cookie Bars Recipe

The next time you're at the end of an exceptionally rough week, we'd definitely recommend whipping up a batch of these kitchen sink cookie bars. The perfect decadent balance of salty and sweet, these chewy treats are here to satisfy all junk food cravings.

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Raspberry Crumble Bars

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Raspberry Crumble Bars Recipe

Gooey and crumbly bars are the perfect snack. To give these dessert bars an extra-thick layer of fruit, we added berries to the mixture. Fresh or frozen berries will work equally fine in this recipe. For the neatest squares, cool the bars completely before cutting—or refrigerate up to two hours.

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Blueberry-Lemon Crunch Bars

Credit: Victor Protasio

Blueberry-Lemon Crunch Bars Recipe

Consider yourself warned: A crunch may look like a bar cookie, but you’ll need a fork to eat it. Similar to a crisp with baked fruit and a crumbly topping, a crunch sandwiches a layer of jammy fruit between two buttery layers. While other fruit desserts are on the syrupy side, this fruit is cooked down into a flavor-packed, thick preserve.

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Chocolate Chip-Snickerdoodle Jam Bars

Credit: Jen Causey; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Sarah Epperson

Chocolate Chip-Snickerdoodle Jam Bars Recipe

This may seem like an over-the-top cookie combo, but trust us on this one—you’re going to love these decadent hybrid cookie bars. Just imagine a chocolate chip cookie merged with a snickerdoodle and a jam thumbprint to create a single, epic (and epically delicious) cookie experience.

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Gingerbread Cookie Cheesecake Bars

Credit: Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Jennifer Wendorf, Melissa Gray; Prop Styling: Christina Daley

Gingerbread Cookie Cheesecake Bars Recipe

Our Gingerbread Cheesecake Bars are the perfect union of gingerbread and cheesecake. They’re perfect for the holidays and easy to whip together, and the bar form helps cut down on some of cheesecake’s richness. The crust gets a special touch from crushed gingersnaps, while the cheesecake itself is full of warm spices and a deep molasses flavor.

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Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bugle Bars

Credit: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Ivy Odom; Prop Styling: Kashara Johnson

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bugle Bars Recipe

Creamy, crunchy, rich, salty, and sweet all at the same time—these no-bake, chocolate-peanut butter bars are everything. Crisp crushed Bugles (one of our staffs’ junk food favorites) make for an fun and amazingly delicious twist on a typical crumb crust. They lend the perfect hit of salty, crispy, buttery goodness in the base of this cookie bar, and topping the assembled bars with a another handful of the the whole chips is a playful touch that lets folks know what’s in store when they bite into this salty-sweet situation. These decadent cookie bars were a huge hit in the test kitchen, and recipe developer Ivy Odom notes that they would be “perfect for tailgates, school parties, or for eating in front of the TV, with wine and the rest of the bag of Bugles, after a long day at work.”

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Cranberry Shortbread Bars

Credit: Iain Bagwell; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine

Cranberry Shortbread Bars Recipe

Freeze the shortbread dough, and then grate it in a food processor to get the most tender crust.

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Sheet Pan Cookie Cake

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Sheet Pan Cookie Cake Recipe

This homemade cookie cake is so easy to make and way cheaper than buying one already made. The perfect solution for anyone who doesn’t like actual cake, this sheet pan dessert tastes like a big, perfectly chewy-on-the-inside, crispy-on-the-outside chocolate chip cookie.

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S'mores Cookie Cake

Credit: Caitlin Bensel

S'mores Cookie Cake Recipe

This giant cookie is a sweet, indulgent treat that tastes like a traditional campfire s'more. The cookie base is soft and gooey when warm, but firms up after cooling. Bonus: Little kids will be spared a scorched marshmallow or burned fingers. 

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Grapefruit-Campari Bars with Shortbread Crust

Credit: Caitlin Bensel

Grapefruit-Campari Bars with Shortbread Crust Recipe

This grown-up treat embraces the bitterness in both grapefruit and Campari, balancing the flavor with a rich, buttery shortbread crust.

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Millionaire Shortbread

Millionaire Shortbread Recipe

This recipe came from Fairfield Grocery employee Jane and her husband's good friend, Dr. Anne Peters of Edinburgh, Scotland. It uses white rice flour, which gives the shortbread a crispy texture. You can substitute all-purpose flour for the rice flour.

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Sprinkle-Top Shortbread Bites

Credit: Jeffery Cross; Styling: Kelly Allen

Sprinkle-Top Shortbread Bites Recipe

For these gift-worthy (and snack-worthy!) mini shortbread cookies, we took our ultra-buttery Sheet Pan Scottish Shortbread, added rainbow sprinkles to the dough and green sprinkles on top, and cut it bite-size.

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Sheet Pan Scottish Shortbread

Credit: Jeffery Cross; Styling: Kelly Allen

Sheet Pan Scottish Shortbread Recipe

There is shortbread, and then there's this shortbread, ultra-buttery with a light crunch. The secrets are rice flour for the sandy texture and a slow-and-low baking process to develop the flavor. It's a recipe that lends itself to easy, festive riffing (sprinkles! snowflakes!)--and one you'll be happy to have in your back pocket for years.

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No-Bake Fudgy Toffee Bars

Credit: Iain Bagwell; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine

No-Bake Fudgy Toffee Bars Recipe

These gooey bars will be your new favorite no-bake cookie. Serve chilled for less mess.

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