Gingerbread Cookie Bars

Gingerbread cookie bars are a festive and delicious treat. They're even better when they have fiber and protein like these bars! With some secret ingredients, I improved the nutrition profile of these amazing gingerbread cookie bars without compromising on taste and flavor!

Gingerbread Bar Recipe

Gingerbread bar recipes, like most desserts, typically include plenty of fat and sugar. And this makes them delicious! However, I'm always on the quest to improve the nutrition of recipes and found a way to make delicious gingerbread cookie bars slightly healthier. The base of these cookie bars is chickpeas, which provide moisture as well as protein and fiber. Since chickpeas themselves don't have a strong flavor, you can't even tell they're in the batter! Another tweak I made was using dates instead of granulated sugar, and while dates contain quite a bit of sugar (this is a natural sugar, not added sugar!), they also provide fiber, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and vitamin B6. The cream cheese frosting in this recipe also has some tweaks that are described below!

How To Make Low-Fat Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frosting is thick, creamy yet tangy, and so good. There are a few ways you can cut back on fat but some of them compromise the taste and texture, which we don't want! One change I made was using a little bit less cream cheese (I still use whole fat; low-fat would be fine but I would not use fat free because it would change the texture and flavor too much!). Next, I used some fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt to add some protein and sweetness! This allowed me to decrease the amount of powdered sugar as well. The end result is so creamy, sweet, and delicious that I didn't even need to add butter, which most cream cheese frosting recipes call for!

Ingredient Highlights - Gingerbread Cookie Bars

• Chickpeas - like I mentioned above, these provide moisture, protein, and fiber. They also contain folate and iron!
• Almond butter - this provides fat to keep the bars moist as well, but instead of using butter (which is primarily saturated fat), almond butter contains more unsaturated fats as well as vitamin E, magnesium, and calcium. You can use any neutral nut butter like almond, cashew, or sunflower! Peanut butter would work but will alter the flavors.
• Dates - dates are full of natural sugar (so you still want to be aware of how many you're consuming if you like them 🙂 ) but natural sugar is better than added sugar! They're also a source of fiber, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and B6.
• Almond flour - almond flour is different from all-purpose or whole wheat flours in that it is made from almonds, which give baked goods more moisture than regular flours. You can sub AP or whole wheat flour here, but the texture may be slightly different!
• Milk - you can use whole, low-fat, or skim milk! Plant-based milks will work as well. I used 1% cow's milk and it worked beautifully. Milk is a good source of protein, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D.
• Molasses - molasses is sugar, but similar to dates, it's a natural sugar. It also contains calcium, iron, potassium, copper, and selenium. It also contains antioxidants that help fight inflammation!
• Fresh ginger - fresh ginger adds a different flavor dimension to these gingerbread cookie bars that is so good. When used in baked goods, fresh ginger has a more subtle ginger flavor than ground ginger, so we used both! You can use all ground ginger if you prefer. Fresh ginger has antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties that make it a great food to include in your diet!
• Spices - you can't have gingerbread cookie bars without spices! Cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, and nutmeg provide a warm spice that gingerbread is known for. These spices also provide anti-inflammatory benefits like fresh ginger!
• Cream cheese - cream cheese frosting compliments these bars so well. Like I said above, I recommend using full-fat cream cheese because low-fat and especially fat-free cream cheeses will result in a different flavor and texture.
• Vanilla Greek yogurt - Greek yogurt can be slightly similar to cream cheese in that it's creamy and tangy. Using vanilla Greek yogurt adds some sweetness to the frosting as well as protein and probiotics! You can use full-fat, low-fat, or fat-free here (I used fat-free).

Recipe FAQ

Other Recipes You May Enjoy

• Light Eggnog Recipe
• Pear Crisp with Oats
• Easy Sweet Potato Casserole
• Pecan Crust Pumpkin Pie
• Creamy Date Caramel Dip
• Protein Hot Chocolate

Rate & Review

If you made my gingerbread cookie bars, please rate and review my recipe below! I would love to hear your feedback. Also snap a photo and tag me on insta @theperfectpearr so I can see your creation!

Print