Our Most Decadent Bar Cookie Recipes To Make Whenever You Need a Sweet Treat
Bar cookies are a special category of dessert. Like if a cookie and sheet cake came together in perfect harmony, these hand-held treats are made to grab and go—or bake and take. Come the holiday season in the South, bar cookies filled with butterscotch, chocolate, and caramel are delivered in batches upon batches of food gift tins; and in summertime, jammy fruit bar cookies fill every family cookout table when a layer cake just won't do.
So if you're as crazy about bar cookies as we are, look to these ultra-decadent bar cookies to see you through every month of the year, whether starting with buttery pineapple-studded bars, old-fashioned Hello Dolly bars, or super chocolatey peanut butter bars. These are 22 of our most beloved bar cookie recipes ever.
Chocolate Peanut Butter-Fudge Bars
Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter-Fudge Bars
Peanut butter and chocolate together is a tale as old as time, and these bars give you the perfect amount of each.
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Buttery Pineapple Crumble Bars
Recipe: Buttery Pineapple Crumble Bars
The name says it all. Think all the sweet pineapple flavor of upside-down cake, but in buttery hand-held form.
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Magic Cookie Bars
Recipe: Magic Cookie Bars
You might recognize these from your grandmother's kitchen. They're basically a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate-coconut dream.
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Blackberry-Peach Cobbler Bars
Recipe: Blackberry-Peach Cobbler Bars
Your favorite Southern cobbler got a makeover that features all the fresh fruity goodness in bite-sized pieces.
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No-Bake Fudgy Toffee Bars
Recipe: No-Bake Fudgy Toffee Bars
Don't even bother turning on the oven. Ooey, gooey, caramelly layered bars, coming right up.
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Coconut Cheesecake Squares
Recipe: Coconut Cheesecake Squares
Flaky coconut meets tangy cheesecake for a sweet treat everyone will request again and again.
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Cappuccino Swirl Bars
Recipe: Cappuccino Swirl Bars
Say hello to the tastiest caffeine jolt to make your afternoon snack. Store-bought wafer cookies are the secret to the chocolatey crust.
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Cherry Pie Bars
Recipe: Cherry Pie Bars
We took all-American cherry pie and turned it into a soft, cakey bar.
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Pecan Pie Bars
Recipe: Pecan Pie Bars
Everyone knows that the gooey center of a pecan pie is the best part—and these bars know it.
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Raspberry-Rhubarb Bars
Recipe: Raspberry-Rhubarb Bars
These sweet, buttery bar cookies feature the classic flavor combination of strawberries and rhubarbs. Cut into fun triangles to serve.
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Coconut Dream Bar
Recipe: Coconut Dream Bar
And trust us, you'll be dreaming of these coconut goodies well after they're gone. To revamp the classic recipe, we included a flavorful shortbread crust made with browned butter and pecans.
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Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bugle Bars
Recipe: Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bugle Bars
These bars somehow bridge the gap between creamy, crunchy, rich, salty, and sweet—all at the same time. And who doesn't love some old-school Bugles?
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Lemon-Coconut Chess Bars
Recipe: Lemon-Coconut Chess Bars
The secret to these classic chess bars: coconut milk. It adds the perfect tropical touch to zippy lemony bars.
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German Chocolate-Pecan Pie Bars
Recipe: German Chocolate-Pecan Pie Bars
You won't meet a more crowd-pleasing bar cookie than this chocolatey, pecan-studded recipe. Watch them disappear.
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Hello Dolly Bars
Recipe: Hello Dolly Bars
These delicious bars start with a can of condensed milk, then get major flavor from pecans, chocolate morsels, and coconut.
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Seven-Layer Cookies
Recipe: Seven-Layer Cookies
These old-fashioned bar cookies were the first to ever be featured in Southern Living magazine. You get all the good things: graham cracker crumbs, flaked coconut, milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, sweetened condensed milk, and chopped pecans.
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Red, White, and Blue Cheesecake Bars
Recipe: Red, White, and Blue Cheesecake Bars
Tangy, sweet cheesecake gets even more company-worthy with patriotic berry swirls and an easily portable bar shape.
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Brown Butter-Caramel Blondies
Recipe: Brown Butter-Caramel Blondies
Ooey, gooey butter cake has met its match in this more indulgent version using chocolate and caramel.
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Lemon Cream Cheese Bars
Recipe: Lemon Cream Cheese Bars
These lemony bars have a thick and chewy bottom crust that makes up almost half of the bar with fluffy, gooey layers on top. Talk about decadent.
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Red Velvet Brownies
Recipe: Red Velvet Brownies
This recipe made us second-guess why red velvet cake wasn't always made in brownie form. Grab-and-go never tasted so good.
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Blueberry-Lemon Crunch Bars
Recipe: Blueberry-Lemon Crunch Bars
Just look at that jammy center. It's enough to make us drool before even a bite. Blueberries and lemon make a delicious duo.
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Lemon Bar Cake
Recipe: Lemon Bar Cake
Similar to a chocolate lava or molten cake, this slow-cooker dessert is full of to-die-for lemon flavor.