Gingerbread Cookie Cheesecake Bars
Simple and elegant, these gingerbread cookie cheesecake bars are the perfect holiday mashup dessert! Gingerbread + cheesecake = WOW!
Do you have room in your heart for one more amazing holiday baking recipe?
I hope so, because these gingerbread cookie cheesecake bars are the perfect mashup of holiday flavors. Namely: gingerbread + cheesecake.
I’ve been on a bit of a gingerbread kick lately, and I have no regrets.
When done the right way, gingerbread flavors are the epitome of holiday baking…and eating.
Gingerbread Cookie Dough
The gingerbread cookie dough for these cheesecake bars is about as simple as you can get.
One bowl! I don’t even sift or separately mix the dry ingredients and spices.
I know. Livin’ life on the edge over here. That’s basically the level of crazy we’re at this time of year.
The gently spiced buttery soft dough is hard to resist (baked or unbaked!).
Cookie Dough + Cheesecake
To layer the bars:
First: more than half of the gingerbread cookie dough goes onto the bottom of the pan.
Next: fluffy, creamy cheesecake batter is spread on top.
Lastly: the reserved cookie dough gets crumbled in cute little pieces over the cheesecake.
To prevent the cookie dough from over browning, you can tent the bars loosely with foil partway through baking.
But it’s ok if you forget.
The cookie dough softens beautifully once cooled, covered, and chilled.
You want to bake the bars just until the edges are set – it’s ok if the center is still a bit jiggly.
These gingerbread cookie cheesecake bars are irresistible.
Perfect for an eclectic holiday cookie plate, they also easily stand on their own for an elegant holiday dessert.
Gingerbread, for some reason, just screams “bite size” and “adorable” so I prefer to cut them into smaller squares. Easier for snitching, snacking, and sneaking.
FAQs for Gingerbread Cheesecake Bars:
Yes, they freeze great!
I recommend using full fat cream cheese – light cream cheese can cause the filling to be runny.
Yes! The recipe halves very well to fit an 8X8-inch pan.
Black strap molasses is thicker than unsulphured regular molasses and has a much stronger flavor – both of which affect the texture and flavor of the bars.
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Gingerbread Cookie Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cookie Dough:
- 1 ½ cups (341 g) salted butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups (265 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (159 g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (170 g) unsulphured molasses, not black strap
- 2 large eggs
- 3 ½ cups (497 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
Cheesecake Layer:
- 16 ounces (454 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup (212 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (9 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9X13-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper with overhang on both long sides (to easily remove the bars). Grease the parchment paper and sides of pan with nonstick cooking spray. If using a glass pan, you might want to reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
- For the cookie dough, in the bowl of an electric stand mixer or with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar, until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the molasses and eggs and mix until well combined.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, and mix until no dry streaks remain (don’t over mix).
- Reserve 2 cups of the dough (about 20 ounces) and set aside. Press the remaining dough in the bottom of the prepared pan.
- For the cheesecake layer, in the bowl of an electric stand mixer or with a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and flour and mix until well-combined, 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Spread the cheesecake batter over the gingerbread cookie dough in the pan. Crumble the reserved gingerbread cookie dough over the top of the cheesecake layer in small pieces.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes until the edges are set – cover the top loosely with foil after the first 30 minutes to prevent the cookie dough from browning too much on top. The center may still jiggle slightly, that’s ok. An instant-read thermometer inserted in the center should read 175 to 180 degrees F.
- Let the bars cool completely in the pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. Remove the bars from the pan, cut into squares and serve.
Notes
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Recipe Source: adapted from this recipe
These were the crowd favorite from the Christmas treat spread. I’ve always thought gingerbread needs something to balance it out – and cheesecake is probably the best solution to that. These are SO good! Don’t try to skimp on the cooling/chill time though… It won’t work
I’ve made these before and LOVED them! Wanting to try a pumpkin version…. do you have a pumpkin cheesecake recipe you would recommend for that layer? Thank you Mel!! Can’t wait for the cookbook to come out!
I wonder if the pumpkin cheesecake layer from this recipe would work? Sounds like a yummy idea!
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/pumpkin-oreo-cheesecake-bars/
Made these again but swapped the cheesecake layer for the pumpkin cheesecake layer from your “Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake Bars”. SHOW STOPPER! So good with a little more fall vibe for the pumpkin junkies out there =). I used a pan that was probably 11×15 and the bars were still pretty thick and very delicious!
Oh yay! Thanks for the report back. Sounds amazing!!
These are amazing. It did make quite a mess while I was making them but well worth it. Just the right amount of spices and creamy tangy-ness.
I made it in a 9×13 glass dish and lowered the temp as directed. It did need longer to bake, maybe ten minutes more? And it almost filled the pan and threatened to overflow- but didn’t. I’d like them to be thinner so I would try a bigger pan but not sure what size. I made the full recipe with the plan to freeze half for later and I’m glad to have them in the freezer now!!
I agree with a previous commenter that though they taste great I don’t like how the outer inch or so of the dough around the edge puffs up so much so that you don’t get nice flat pieces when you cut it into bars. They just look too oddly shaped to serve. The photos show the inner pieces that look nice. I wish there was a way to correct this issue.
Hi Mary, try baking at 325 degrees – that might help!
The flavor in this recipe is terrific! However, after making it twice, it seems that it needs more flour. I thought perhaps I measured incorrectly the first time when the dough was too loose to pat in the bottom. I had to chill it a few minutes before I could spread it out and had to use a cookie scoop for the top layer. I’m an experienced baker and always read reviews before making but don’t see this problem mentioned by anyone else. Next time I’ll increase the flour and spices to compensate for the added flour.
This problem kept me from leaving a 5 start review because the flavor is great!
Let me start by saying that I have NEVER had a fail with one of Mel’s recipes. EVER. Until now. I used a glass 9×13 and dutifully lowered the temp 25 degrees as Mel suggested.
I think the issue was the dough. It was sticky and sloppy. I sifted my flour and carefully measured the 3.5 cups. I checked my other measurements and I never got the texture I expected. Others did so it has to be me…but I can’t figure it out. Then cooking it at 25 lower for a full 55 min, and another 10 after that…the bottom never cooked. I have to bin the whole thing. Bummer because the flavors are al right but it’s a gloppy mess. Thoughts? I wasn’t sure just adding more flour would solve it. I almost wanted to take a 1/2 c of butter out…
These bars are amazing!! I’ve baked a lot and these are top of the list.
This looks delicious! I’m the official office baker, and the gang has requested cheesecake with gingerbread crust for Valentine’s Day. I see that you need to bake this for almost an hour, would this work in a regular springform pan? Would the crust get crunchy? Thanks for the recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
The cheesecake layer isn’t as thick or luscious as a normal cheesecake – so I don’t know how it would work in a springform pan but it’s worth a try!
Our whole family loved these! We have a couple people who eat gluten free, so we switched the flour to Bob’s Red Mill Baking Flour. The chewy corners were MINE!
Haha, I claim the corners, too! 🙂
These are delicious! I used a glass 9×13, next time I will use a little larger pan and metal like recommended, they rose higher on the edges, so visually not as pretty as the picture, but taste was amazing! They also tasted better as they reached room temp, and also with whip cream on them.. and for breakfast right out of the fridge.. I think I have a problem. Will definitely be making these again!
I saw this recipe after I had planned all of my holiday baking but decided I had to ty them at the last minute-and boy am I glad I did! My husband says that they are one the his favorite desserts ever-and that’s after 9 months of pandemic baking and 20 years of marriage. I love the combination of ginger and lemon, so I added 1 tsp of lemon extract to the vanilla in the cheesecake layer to cut the sweet a little but more. Thank you for this recipe Mel.
Wow, that’s awesome your husband loved them so much, Lily!! And I’m definitely going to have a to try a little lemon next time I make them.
Loved them! Younger kids weren’t too interested (more for us! ) but teens and adults all give two thumbs up. Makes a nice big batch that was plenty for extended family visiting. Love that’s it’s a nice change from the standard holiday desserts. Used gluten free flour and there was no way you could have known. Thank you Mel!!
Love that these transitioned to GF so well! And yes, I can see them definitely being a more refined palate treat (as in, don’t waste them on the kids, haha).
So good. Halved it and it worked out great! Would definitely make larger batch for a party.
Thanks, Angela! Glad a half batch worked out!
These look amazing. Would it work if cut the butter to a cup? Thanks!
I haven’t tried that – you’d have to experiment. The dough might be drier and more crumbly.
I ended up making them exactly as you intended them to be :). They are absolutely delicious! I can’t stop eating them- had for breakfast – whoops! Thanks for another great recipe. Made your small batch cinnamon rolls also this week- they are truly perfection. Had those for breakfast yesterday- haha!
Loving your breakfast “meals”, Suzanne!
These are delicious! I used a glass 9×13, next time I will use a little larger pan and metal like recommended, they rose higher on the edges, so visually not as pretty as the picture, but taste was amazing! They also tasted better as they reached room temp, and also with whip cream on them.. and for breakfast right out of the fridge.. I think I have a problem. Will definitely be making these again!
Thanks for the review, Tennille! I’m glad you loved these! 🙂
Tennille, I agree about using a slightly larger pan. I cut the edges off — just a little and then cut those pieces into “bullet bites.” Put them on a cookie sheet to freeze — then stored in freezer in zip lock bag. Oh my! so yummy. We might be the only two who pop them for breakfast — but they are awesome with a cup of coffee. Thanks, Mel, for all your wonderful recipes. This one was a HIT for our early Christmas dinner.
I made these for Christmas, and they were absolutely delicious. I used a 9 x 13 pan, and they came out a little thicker than I preferred. Next time I’ll use a sheet pan. Thanks for a new Christmas tradition, Mel!
This is a fantastic recipe. My husband’s family is stressful to cook for because they seem to find something wrong with everything I make. Everyone, except the toddlers, loved this recipe! It is not the prettiest Christmas dessert, but no one seemed to mind. I chilled overnight then cut it into bite-sized pieces. Thank you for the awesome recipe, Mel! Merry Christmas!
I’m so happy your in-laws liked these, Mallory (and sorry they find things wrong with what you make – you are amazing for continuing to bake for them!). Thanks for letting me know what you thought about these bars. Merry Christmas!
My goodness woman, I love you!
Thank you for being nothing but 100% authentic you. Congrats on the Jenn Garner shout out to you on her “pretend cooking show”, much deserved fan fare. Merry Christmas to all!
I added a 1/3 cup of chopped crystallized ginger and two tablespoons of grated fresh ginger to the cookie dough recipe. I like my gingerbread extra spicy and it was a nice counterpoint to the cheesecake filling!
Sounds delicious, Lisa! Thanks for letting me know!
Just for fun….
Can I halve these? Only have black strap molasses, can I use that instead. I’m on a diet and can only use low fat cream cheese. I think that would still work just fine, don’t you? Oh, and can I freeze these?
Merry Christmas! Love you and your recipes!
Yes, you can definitely halve these in an 8X8-inch or 9X9-inch pan. Black strap molasses may not work as well (it’s much thicker and darker than the molasses I use for this recipe). I haven’t tried them with low fat cream cheese. And yes, they should freeze well. 🙂
I was actually teasing you! You made sure to note all of those so as to not have to answer those questions.!
Haha, I wondered that actually when I read your comment, but you never know!! 🙂
Very excited to make these for eating and sharing! I’m going to crush candy canes and sprinkle on top to look Christmas-y. I do this on my gingersnap cookies before they go in the oven. Tastes great and looks pretty.
Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Is this cookie dough just like your thick and chewy ginger bread men?
No, it’s a bit different.
Mailing these? Bad idea?
Hmmm, I probably wouldn’t mail them because of the cheesecake (that needs to stay refrigerated).
I just imported this into Plan to Eat, and it was categorized as Main Dish. Just thought you should know.
I would totally eat these as a main dish.
I love gingerbread! Do these need to be stored in the frig until served?
Yes, they are best stored in the refrigerator.
Yes, I store them in the refrigerator.