Coffee-Glazed Molasses Bars
Print Recipe
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Hot take: Cookie bars are cookies. Even if you disagree, you’ll be eager to sink your teeth into the coffee-glazed molasses bars—however you categorize them—from Yossy Arefi’s new cookbook, Snacking Bakes.
“These chewy bar cookies are packed with all the delicious warm spices you’d expect,” writes Arefi. “The coffee glaze is pleasantly bittersweet, just like molasses, and they make such a tasty pair you’ll be left wondering why all molasses cookies don’t have a little coffee glaze on top.”
While the deeply comforting brown sugar-molasses base and a flurry of spices (cinnamon! ginger! allspice!) make this dessert ideal for winter, we’d scarf ’em down any time of year. Oh, and you can bet we’ll be drizzling that four-ingredient espresso glaze on everything from banana bread to vanilla ice cream.
“Snacking Bakes” Copyright © 2023 by Yasameen Arefi-Afshar. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
Ingredients
Molasses Bars
1 stick unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing
⅓ cup (113g) unsulphured molasses
½ cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, cold from the fridge
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1½ cups (190g) all-purpose flour
Coffee Glaze
½ cup (50g) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
Pinch salt
2 to 3 teaspoons milk, any kind
Directions
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Coat an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with cooking spray or brush with butter. Line the pan with a piece of parchment paper that hangs over two of the sides, creating a sling.
2. Make the Bars: In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, molasses, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Whisk until well combined, about 30 seconds.
3. Add the egg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt and whisk until smooth and glossy. Whisk in the baking soda. Fold in the flour with a spatula and mix until combined and no streaks of flour remain.
4. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and use an offset spatula or lightly oiled hands to press the thick dough evenly into the pan.
5. Bake the bars until puffy, golden brown and just slightly firm, 24 to 27 minutes. Let the bars cool in the pan on a rack; they will deflate as they cool.
6. Make the Glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, espresso powder and salt. Drizzle in the milk until the glaze is thick and opaque but pourable.
7. Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Drizzle the glaze evenly over the cooled bars. Let the glaze set for a few minutes before slicing. Store the bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days.
308 calories
11g fat
50g carbs
3g protein
33g sugars
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Note: The information shown is Edamam's estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.