Forget Batch Cookie Making with These 35 Easy Holiday Bar Cookies

Savor a taste of the Kentucky classic dessert—Derby Pie—in these chocolate chip cookie bars. Baking them in a cast-iron skillet results in a crisp outside, soft insides. Serve warm and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the ultimate decadent experience.

Related: 13 Desserts You Can Make in a Cast-Iron Skillet

Mocha fans, we’ve got you covered. A couple teaspoons of espresso powder perks up this Christmas bar recipe for extra rich flavor. Slice the bars into triangles and garnish with green and white sprinkles to transform brownies into trees.

Calling all chocoholics! Like the candy bars that inspired these copycat bars, these squares have fluffy marshmallow creme filling between layers of chocolate. Bar cookies that are as yummy as a candy bar? Doubly delicious.

Loaded with mint extract, these holiday cookie bars are simultaneously refreshing and indulgent. Rich layers of peppermint cream and chocolate fudge top chocolate cookie crumb crust. Keep some on hand in the fridge for up to two weeks or freezer for up to three months to cut down on holiday season stress.

Related: Freezer-Friendly Holiday Cookies You Can Start Today

Filled with peanut butter and honey graham cereal and topped with smooth chocolate and chopped peanut butter cups, this holiday dessert will skyrocket into best-peanut-butter-cookie-bar territory.

Related: 21 Amazing Ways to Turn Extra Candy into Decadent Desserts

Creamy pumpkin sandwiches between a crumb crust and topping with toffee pieces for holiday cookie bars with extra sweetness.

Related: 15 Canned Pumpkin Recipes That Use the Whole Can

Creamy cheesecake and sinful chocolate means these bars never go out of season. You can make these chocolate chip cookie bars any time of year, but with only six ingredients they're ideal for easy holiday baking. They're sure to disappear from your Christmas buffet.

Combine convenience with from-the-heart holiday baking for these top-rated no-bake butterscotch bars. The crispy cookies feature a trifecta of indulgent layers, including crunchy peanut butter cereal, rich butterscotch pudding, and a candy bar-studded chocolate spread.

Test Kitchen Tip: Cut costs when making desserts that call for purchased cereal by opting for a bulk bag of a generic variety.

The flavor and color of plum jam brightens rich shortbread. If you’re interested in mixing things up, try this cookie bar recipe with a different flavor of red (for the season) jam like raspberry, cherry, or strawberry.

We know that peanut butter and chocolate play well together. So playoff that combo in these blondies by topping peanut butter cookie bars with squares of chocolate. Let the chocolate melt a bit, then bring out the peanutty saltiness with a sprinkle sea salt.

These cookie bars need only 20 minutes of prep, so you can focus on lighting the fire and greeting guests at your holiday get-together. Four cups of coconut, plus almonds and almond extract, mean these treats taste like one of America’s most popular candies.

Chocolate and caramel. Peanut butter and jelly. Those classic combos come together in these gooey bites to form one of our favorite Christmas bar recipes. Best of all, these treats can be made ahead and frozen for up to three months.

S’mores meet toffee candy bars in these nutty treats. Chocolate pieces, toffee bits, and salty Marcona almonds top a graham cracker crust. For a creamy finishing touch, drizzle sweetened condensed milk on top.

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This is one Christmas bar recipe showy enough to share at fancy dinner gatherings. Combine two favorite desserts into one with these creme brûlée cheesecake bars. You can caramelize the sugar on top under a broiler, but a culinary torch ($50, Williams Sonoma) gives the best results.

Use one of your favorite candy bars as inspiration for—and as the surprise inside—this simple treat. Ready in less than an hour, these are perfect for the busy holiday season and have the right mix of crunchy (corn flakes) and creamy (peanut butter).

Test Kitchen Tip: If you're sharing these with someone allergic to peanuts, try the peanut butter cookie bars with almond butter or sunflower seed butter instead.

Two kinds of melted chocolate top these crunchy bars filled with chocolate, toffee, and almonds. Make the holiday bar recipe ahead of your holiday party and freeze them for up to one month.

Holiday guests will go nuts for these pistachio-studded no-bake cookie bars. Creamy pudding fills a graham cracker crust and smooth chocolate topping for cookie greatness without the batch-by-batch baking.

Make the holidays a little sweeter with our easy cinnamon-flavor cookie bars. The quick-prep dessert skips crusts and complicated layers so you can serve dessert fast.

Test Kitchen Tip: Cut the cinnamon sugar cookie bars into diamonds, squares, or sticks to make your cookie platter stand out.

The salted caramel food trend is showing no signs of slowing, and we’re all aboard the trend train. Gooey caramel tops these salty-sweet classics inspired by the favorite salted-nut candy bar. The chewy Christmas bar recipe is ready for the holiday dessert spread in less than an hour.

A trio of seasonal favorites stars in these holiday cookie bars. Dates, coconut, and pecans get an upgrade when paired with a rich rum filling and buttery glaze. So much better than a bricklike fruitcake, right?!

Filled with crunchy walnuts and melty chocolate pieces, this chewy bar cookie is a cinch to make. The secret? It starts with a German chocolate cake mix. Make the six-ingredient chocolate chip cookie bars up to 3 months in advance.

Holiday desserts don't come much prettier and festive than this. Pomegranate juice and raspberries give these fruit bars their Santa-approved red. Top the finished cookie bars with fresh pomegranate seeds.

Related: How to Seed and Juice and Pomegranate

These fruity cookie bars feature a layer of cherry preserves baked inside a hearty oat-almond crust. Not a cherry fan? Swap the preserves for orange, raspberry, strawberry, or peach.

So light, so fresh. When you’re in the midst of a polar vortex or a snowstorm, doesn’t a taste of the tropics sound refreshing? These minty lime-infused cookie bars get their crunch from chopped pecans and their tang from finely shredded lime zest. Fresh mint and dusting of powdered sugar hint at the sweet zing inside.

Cherry cobbler meets blondies in these oatmeal cookie bars. Tart cherries balanced with a sweet powdered sugar icing make these moist bar cookies hard to resist. A package of oatmeal cookie mix makes the bars a snap to prepare.

If you crave peppermint patties or thin mint cookies, this Christmas bar recipe is for you. Dark chocolate ganache is the true icing on the cake of this minty chocolate dessert. Make your own crème de menthe filling with butter, powdered sugar, milk, and mint extract.

Eggnog doesn't have to be limited to a glass. Eggnog frosting and fresh nutmeg top these irresistible snacks. Macadamia nuts add crunch to the easy stir-and-pour holiday cookie bars.

Related: 8 Eggnog Recipes You Can Sip

Fruitcake ingredients—including brandy, candied cherries, and toasted walnuts—fill this holiday cookie bar recipe. It’s like the ultimate Santa-approved mash-up recipe! White chocolate pieces complete the quick-prep dessert.

For a speedy holiday-worthy dessert, try these six-ingredient toffee bar cookies. They're ready in 30 minutes. You'll want to keep a box of yellow cake mix in the pantry so you can whip up the Christmas bar recipe even on busy days.

When the dessert bar is crowded with sweets. The savory herb flavor of this holiday dessert recipe will shine. Fresh rosemary adds depth to these buttery streusel bars filled with apricots.

Sandwich a creamy dulce de leche filling (try our DIY version, if time allows) between tender shortbread and fudgy frosting for layered bars. Cut the dessert into bite-size squares or into rectangles to resemble a much-loved candy bar classic.

Count us in for these peanut butter cookie bars that look like supersized peanut butter cups. A rich layer of devil's food cake and a fudgy topping mean these easy bar cookies are a chocolate fan's dream. A creamy peanut butter filling complements chopped honey-roasted peanuts. The result is the ideal sweet-salty blend.

Shh...we won’t tell your guests you started these rich bars with a box of brownie mix. Then it's a matter of stirring together five more ingredients, including creamy peanut butter and chopped peanuts. Make the bars up to 3 months in advance and freeze for a fast-fix treat come holiday season.

These oatmeal cookie bars have your favorite breakfast flavors in a bar. Rolled oats—either quick-cooking or old-fashioned—give these caramel bars chewiness. Instant coffee crystals add richness.

Related: Even More Buzzy Caffeinated Desserts

A rich chocolate-rum frosting makes these moist bar cookies great. A scoop of ice cream makes the Christmas bar recipe irresistible.