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    Home » Recipes » Brownies & Bars

    Gingerbread Bars (Paleo!)

    Published: Nov 6, 2017 · Last modified: Oct 8, 2022 by Leslie Kiszka / This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe
    4.6 from 16 votes
    Paleo Gingerbread Bars (GF | DF | Paleo) | Stress Baking
    Paleo Gingerbread Bars (GF | DF | Paleo) | Stress Baking

    Soft and moist cake-like gingerbread bars with that classic gingerbread flavor and scent. Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and delicious! Serve with a big scoop of Gingerbread Ice Cream for even more gingerbread goodness.

    A soft gingerbread bar slice with a bite taken out

    Who here associates gingerbread with Christmas? Go on, raise your hand. Let’s see… one, two, twenty, everyone. Got it. I used to be the same way.

    For the longest time, I believed that gingerbread was meant to be strictly in cookie form, in the shape of little men with no phalanges or neck, decorated with royal icing, and eaten only at Christmas.

    You draw little worried faces on them, eat their legs and arms, and make quiet screaming noises until you bite off their heads when they can no longer feel pain.

    … what, just me? If you haven’t figured it out yet, I have a dark sense of humor, you guys.

    A soft gingerbread bar slice surrounded by other slices

    What is gingerbread made of?

    Classic gingerbread recipes typically call for a range of spices that includes: ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and some people include cardamom and anise.

    As for sweeteners, it’s typically a combination of brown sugar, molasses and/or dark corn syrup.

    However, since I’ve made this recipe more paleo-friendly, we’re going a little off the old fashioned path by using coconut sugar in lieu of the other sweeteners.

    Gingerbread is different than gingerbread cookies

    But anyway – one day I discovered gingerbread. Not gingerbread cookies, but gingerbread. I fully recognize that’s totally backwards since it originally started as a moist loaf cake and not anatomically incorrect cookies.

    Side note: I’ve also heard these called “ginger molasses bars”, which certainly helps clear up any confusion.

    I never realized that it could be a perfectly fluffy cake with the same flavors, and could be topped with any number of frostings – cream cheese, brown butter, maple buttercream, etc.

    Just look at that moist crumb – it’s everything I never knew I needed in a gingerbread bar.

    A closeup of the soft center of gingerbread bars

    Is molasses paleo-friendly?

    I will admit, some of you might not believe these are truly paleo because of the molasses, but like I’ve mentioned before I believe that moderation is key. Just make sure you’re using pure blackstrap molasses and everything will be a-okay.

    Molasses is the dark syrup left over after sugar cane crystals are removed during sugar cane production, molasses is the dark syrup left after sugar cane crystals are removed. Sugar cane is a natural plant, so technically it’s Paleo-compliant – but if you disagree, I totally get it.

    Can I add a frosting to the top of gingerbread bars?

    You totally could! But I’ll be honest – I haven’t come up with a paleo frosting that I like yet, since everything I’ve tried has to be refrigerated or is just too runny for my taste.

    Here are some of my favorite frostings that would be great on top of these bars:

    • Cream cheese frosting
    • Cookie butter frosting
    • Mascarpone whipped cream frosting
    • White chocolate frosting

    But the great thing about these gingerbread bars is that they really don’t need to be topped with anything. If you underbake them just slightly, they’re so moist and flavorful that you’ll be perfectly content without frosting.

    A closeup of the soft center of gingerbread bars

    Ingredients for paleo gingerbread bars

    • ½ cup almond butter (aff link)
    • ⅓ cup coconut sugar
    • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, solid
    • 2 eggs, room temperature
    • ¼ cup molasses
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 1 ¾ cup almond flour (aff link)
    • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon ginger
    • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
    • ¼ teaspoon cloves
    • ½ teaspoon salt

    How to make gingerbread bars

    Even though these are paleo, it’s a pretty easy gingerbread recipe – so don’t let that scare you off!

    1. In the bowl of a stand mixer (aff link) fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together almond butter (aff link), coconut sugar and coconut oil until smooth.
    2. Add eggs, molasses, and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed to combine.
    3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together almond flour (aff link), cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, clovers and salt.
    4. Add dry ingredients to bowl of wet ingredients and stir until completely combined.
    5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only moist crumbs.

    Boom! That’s it, my friends.

    How many calories in gingerbread bars?

    If you slice these into 16 squares, it’s about 169 calories per bar. See the nutritional information at the bottom of the recipe card below for more information.

    Want more gingerbread flavor?

    • Gingerbread Cake Roll with Eggnog Cream Cheese Filling
    • Gingerbread Ice Cream
    • The North Pole Cocktail from Half Baked Harvest
    • Gingerbread Cake Roll with Eggnog Cream Cheese Filling
    • Super Fluffy Gingerbread Donuts from Hunger Thirst Play
    • Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
    • Gingerbread Hot Cocoa from Kim’s Cravings

    After you’ve made this recipe, please consider coming back to share your experience with others by leaving a comment below with a star rating!

    Paleo Gingerbread Bars: Soft and moist cake-like bars with that classic gingerbread flavor and scent. Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and delicious! | stressbaking.com

    Paleo Gingerbread Bars

    4.63 from 16 votes
    Soft and moist cake-like bars with that classic gingerbread flavor and scent. Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and delicious!
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 20 minutes
    Total Time 30 minutes
    Servings 16 bars (or 9 large)
        ✓ Read the recipe from beginning to end
          ✓ Check oven calibration
            ✓ Check expiration dates
              ✓ Properly measure ingredients
                ✓ Check butter temperature

    Recommended Equipment

    • Square baking pan
    • Stand Mixer
    • Mixing bowls
    • Whisk

    Ingredients
     
     

    • ½ cup almond butter
    • ⅓ cup coconut sugar
    • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, solid
    • 2 eggs, room temperature
    • ¼ cup molasses
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 1 ¾ cup almond flour
    • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon ginger
    • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
    • ¼ teaspoon cloves
    • ½ teaspoon salt

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line an 8×8” square pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
    • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together almond butter, coconut sugar and coconut oil until smooth.
      ½ cup almond butter | ⅓ cup coconut sugar | 2 tablespoons coconut oil
    • Add eggs, molasses, and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed to combine.
      2 eggs | ¼ cup molasses | 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, clovers and salt.
      1 ¾ cup almond flour | 1 tablespoon cinnamon | 1 teaspoon baking powder | 1 teaspoon ginger | ¼ teaspoon nutmeg | ¼ teaspoon cloves | ½ teaspoon salt
    • Add dry ingredients to bowl of wet ingredients and stir until completely combined.
    • Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only moist crumbs.
    • Let cool in pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Cut into 9-16 squares and enjoy!

    Notes

    Note: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 169kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 116mg | Potassium: 147mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 31IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 1mg
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Author Leslie Kiszka
    Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating!

    Related Posts

    • Gingerbread Ice Cream
    • Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
    • Gingerbread Cake Roll with Eggnog Cream Cheese Filling
    • Gingerbread Linzer Cookies with Cranberry Filling
    • White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzels

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    Leslie Kiszka in a red dress

    About Leslie

    I'm the hot mess behind every recipe you see here! I use baking as an outlet for relieving stress and anxiety to provide you with approachable homemade recipes and a little humor, for good measure.

    learn more about Leslie →

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Sherry

      July 04, 2022 at 4:26 pm

      5 stars
      And I thought I was the only one who stress baked! Can’t wait to try these this Fall!

      Reply
    2. Sherry

      July 04, 2022 at 4:25 pm

      5 stars
      Lol love the name of your site! And I thought I was the only one who “stress baked”! Can’t wait to try these this Fall. They sound so good I just might be tempted to make them now even though it’s the middle of summer!

      Reply
      • Leslie Kiszka

        July 04, 2022 at 4:27 pm

        You are definitely not the only one :) And I encourage you to make these now, even in the middle of summer! They’re delicious all year round, in my opinion.

        Reply
    3. Janine

      December 16, 2021 at 2:03 pm

      I’m allergic to almonds. But not peanuts. (go figure!) Can I substitute peanut butter for the almond butter?

      Reply
      • Leslie Kiszka

        December 16, 2021 at 2:15 pm

        Gah! You certainly could, but just know that it will affect the flavor since peanut butter has a sweeter, more pronounced flavor than almond butter (which is generally more neutral).

        Reply
    4. Wendy

      December 09, 2021 at 7:58 am

      This sounds delicious! Can you suggest a gluten free flour that would be a suitable substitute?? Thank you!

      Reply
      • Leslie Kiszka

        December 11, 2021 at 8:31 am

        I’m a big fan of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour!

        Reply
    5. Joanne Pinette

      March 28, 2021 at 8:24 pm

      5 stars
      I loved the recipe but baked them about 5 minutes longer to get a good cake texture. Also thought that they could use more spice not sure which ones but reminded me of my mom’s back in the day. She always topped gingerbread cake with applesauce so that’s what I did too.

      Reply
    6. Sneha

      March 24, 2021 at 12:12 am

      5 stars
      This was delicious – we went through them way too quickly. Will definitely make them again in the future.

      Reply
      • Leslie Kiszka

        March 24, 2021 at 1:38 pm

        That’s always the case for us, too! Thanks so much for coming back to share your experience.

        Reply
    7. CB

      March 04, 2021 at 1:29 pm

      I absolutely love these bars and have been making them over and over for breakfast and snacks. I can make them cake like or more dense in texture depending on my mood. I am not a great cook so this might be a weird question: do you have different flavors you can make this cake, if you were to swap out spices? For example, could you make a vanilla flavor or an apple cake or coffee cake flavor? I’d be into suggestions or recipes like that so I could change it up– now that we are moving into spring.

      Reply
      • Leslie Kiszka

        March 09, 2021 at 8:45 am

        I’ve never to change any of the flavors with this cake since it was intended to be gingerbread flavored, so I haven’t messed around with that myself.

        However, I do have a cranberry coffee cake and an apple cinnamon coffee cake recipe if you’re interested in either of those flavors:
        https://stressbaking.com/paleo-cranberry-coffee-cake-2/
        https://stressbaking.com/paleo-apple-cinnamon-coffee-cake-2/

        Reply
      • CB

        April 29, 2021 at 11:54 pm

        @Leslie Kiszka, thank you! Going to make those coffee cakes right now lol..love ur recipes!

        Reply
        • Leslie Kiszka

          April 30, 2021 at 7:50 am

          Thank you – I hope you enjoy them!

    8. Deb

      December 24, 2020 at 2:25 pm

      Can you use blackstrap molasses?

      Reply
      • Leslie Kiszka

        December 24, 2020 at 5:16 pm

        Yep, that’s what the recipe calls for!

        Reply
    9. Sabra

      March 02, 2020 at 9:13 pm

      I could not find my coconut sugar so I used a raw honey, 1/3 of the amount called for in the recipe. I had to bake it for 10 minutes longer than the recipe states too, maybe bc of the liquid honey. But I will make these again!

      Reply
      • Leslie Kiszka

        March 03, 2020 at 9:15 am

        Glad you were able to make it work with a substitute!

        Reply
    10. Joanna

      December 17, 2019 at 1:34 pm

      Can this be made in a round 8 or 9 inch cake pan? I would love to decorate it like a cake.

      Reply
      • Leslie Kiszka

        December 17, 2019 at 4:26 pm

        I haven’t tried, but that should work just fine!

        Reply
        • Joanna

          December 26, 2019 at 9:48 pm

          5 stars
          I used a 9 inch cake pan and it turned out great! I topped it with lemon curd and cream cheese frosting. It was so moist and flavorful. By far the best gingerbread cake I have ever had. Awesome recipe!!

        • Leslie Kiszka

          December 27, 2019 at 10:18 am

          That topping sounds amazing – I’m going to have to try that combo sometime! Thank you so much for coming back to leave such a kind comment (and a rating!) – it means so much to me. Happy Holidays!

    11. Jana

      March 04, 2019 at 1:15 pm

      5 stars
      These were really delicious and moist! I also added a bunch of grated orange and grated fresh ginger, which was a perfect touch. Thanks for helping satisfy a craving.

      Reply
      • Leslie Kiszka

        March 05, 2019 at 3:29 pm

        That sounds amazing – thank you for sharing!

        Reply
    12. Suzanne Coulombe

      December 22, 2018 at 1:05 pm

      5 stars
      Absolutely delicious. Such flavours that melt in the mouth good!
      It is a bar not a cake…so perfect.
      Even think of putting a coco cream & icing sugar frosting to it to make it more irresistible.
      thanks for a so good, obviously tested recipe.

      Reply
      • Leslie Haasch

        December 23, 2018 at 11:53 am

        I’m so so glad you liked it! You could totally frost these with whatever you wanted!

        Reply
    13. barb

      September 30, 2018 at 12:11 am

      4 stars
      Mine came out very dense, not fluffy like the picture above. IT’s very moist looking too…I just put it back in the oven hoping they would fluff up a bit. Maybe I didn’t blend the eggs well enough? Did anyone else have this issue?

      Reply
      • D. D.

        February 10, 2020 at 11:54 am

        4 stars
        Yes, I had this same issue. I wanted it to be more cake-like than bar like. The finished mixture was more like a paste than a batter, so I added a cup of water, an extra teaspoon of baking powder, a teaspoon of baking soda, and a sprinkle more salt. That fixed the batter texture and eventual outcome. It was completely cake-like.

        Reply
        • D. D.

          February 10, 2020 at 1:31 pm

          I’m so sorry! I wish I could figure out how to edit my earlier reply! I added 1/2 cup of water, not a full cup.

        • Leslie Kiszka

          February 11, 2020 at 12:41 pm

          That’s odd, as I’ve never had this experience myself – so unfortunately I’m not sure why you would have had the results that you did. The only thoughts I have is that maybe the eggs weren’t fully incorporated, and.or the almond butter was on the “stale” side and thicker than usual?

    14. Craig

      September 22, 2018 at 4:25 pm

      5 stars
      Gave these a spin last night. Put in 1/3 cup of molasses and cooked em a bit longer than the 20 minutes. They turned out awesome. Got the thumbs up from the wife! Really good with a cup of coffee, not to sweet just right.

      Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
      • Leslie Haasch

        September 23, 2018 at 5:16 pm

        I can’t tell you how much I love to hear feedback like this – thank you so much for sharing, and I’m so glad you (AND your wife) like them!

        Reply
    15. Julie

      November 16, 2017 at 3:50 pm

      I’m like you used to be – I only associate gingerbread with rolled cookies! I keep seeing gingerbread loafs, but I can’t picture them in my head… gingerbread is supposed to be thin and chewy and cookie form! These sure look beautiful, though!

      Reply
    16. Shadi Hasanzadenemati

      November 16, 2017 at 3:40 pm

      These bars have everything that I love! The almond butter and almond flour would make this so delicious!

      Reply
    17. Stacey

      November 13, 2017 at 10:29 am

      Oh my yum! These look amazing and so moist. I’ve had way too many dry gingerbreads and I love this recipe! Thank you.

      Reply
    18. karyld2016

      November 12, 2017 at 2:19 pm

      Wow, these gingerbread bars look so nice and moist! I’m loving your topping ideas, and not sure that I could pick just one

      Reply
    19. Carol Borchardt

      November 11, 2017 at 10:02 am

      I’m not big into the spiced things this time of year, but love that these are so healthy! I’ve got a Paleo personal chef client that I think would love these!

      Reply
    20. Amy

      November 11, 2017 at 12:57 am

      I totally love gingerbread this way, especially with sliced bananas and fresh whipped cream! Looks delicious!

      Reply
    21. Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health

      November 10, 2017 at 12:17 pm

      i have a jar of molasses i need to use…this is a good recipe to give it a try! looks so yum.

      Reply
    22. Julia

      November 10, 2017 at 10:01 am

      These look so moist and delicious! I love anything made with almond flour! I’m definitely going to make these in the weeks to come.

      Reply
    23. gingeredwhisk

      November 09, 2017 at 8:29 pm

      YES! This is how I like gingerbread! (Although pretending to mutilate little cookie men is fun, too!)

      Reply
    24. westviamidwest

      November 09, 2017 at 8:18 pm

      I love gingerbread, but hate that its always so HARD. This bar fixes that and dang, I think Im going to have a problem. When Im already making sure I have enough of the ingredients to make them and know I’ll have to double the recipe to account for my nibbling…. … oh well. Its a nice problem to have to “have to eat gingerbread!”

      Reply
    25. Leslie Haasch

      November 09, 2017 at 1:20 pm

      That sounds delicious!

      Reply
    26. Gloria Duggan

      November 09, 2017 at 8:29 am

      HAHAH…I LOVE gingerbread (but the hard gingerbread cookies). I would eat this all year long. This time of year gingerbread lattes work for me.

      Reply
    27. Corina

      November 08, 2017 at 7:03 am

      I am a big fan of spiced cakes and gingerbread is one of my favourites. This looks deliciously moist.

      Reply

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