Forget Batch Cookie Making with These 35 Easy Holiday Bar Cookies

Derby Skillet Cookie

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.

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Christmas Tree Coffee Brownies

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.

Copycat Musketeer Bars

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.

Peppermint Cream Bites

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.

Almost Like Peanut Butter Cups Bars

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.

Pumpkin Creme Bars

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

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

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.

No-Bake Butterscotch Bars

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.

Red Plum Shortbread Bars

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.

Salted Peanut Butter and Chocolate Blondies

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.

Coconut Joy Candy Bars

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.

Gooey Chocolate-Caramel Bars

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.

Marcona Almond-Toffee Bars

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.

Buy It: Sur la Table Platinum 9 x 13 Cake Pan ($33, Sur la Table)

Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars

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.

Nestling Butterfinger Bars

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.

Almond-Chocolate Bar Cookies

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.

Pistachio Bars

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.

Cinnamon Bars

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.

Salted Peanut Bars

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.

No-Bake Coconut Date Cracker Bars with Browned Butter Glaze

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?!

Chewy Chocolate-Caramel Bars

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.

Pomegranate-Raspberry Bars

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.

Chewy Cherry-Almond Bars

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.

Pecan-Crusted Mojito Bars

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 Crumb Bars

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.

Creme De Menthe Brownies

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.

Macadamia Bars with Eggnog Drizzle

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.

Christmas Blondies

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.

Butterscotch-Toffee Bars

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.

Apricot-Rosemary Streusel Bars

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.

Twixy Shortbread Bars

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.

Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Bars with Chocolate Ganache

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.

Peanutty Buckeye Bars

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.

Cappuccino-Caramel Oat Bars

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.

Austrian Walnut Chocolate Bars

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