20 Easy Bar Cookie Recipes for Bake Sales, Potlucks, and Just Because

Luscious layers of chocolate, coconut, fruit, and nuts on a sweet and chewy oat crust, these cookies truly have something for everyone.

Forever in pursuit of the ultimate brownie recipe? We think this recipe perfectly strikes the perfect balance between cakey and fudgy.

See more of our favorite Brownie and Blondie Recipes

At once rich and tart, these lemon bars are one of Martha’s favorite treats.

A generous layer of cream cheese frosting takes these pumpkin spice cake bars to greatness.

Everything you love about old-fashioned snickerdoodles, but better! A ribbon of cinnamon sugar runs through the middle of these chewy cookie bars and there’s a crunchy cinnamon topping too.

Martha’s hearty take on a fruity favorite. The filling for these bars is laced with tawny port and vanilla bean sure to please even the most sophisticated palates.

Just like the pie, but portable! These tart bars are based on the famous Key lime pie recipe from Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami.

The ultra-easy press-in crust and rich, chewy-crunchy chocolate and pecan filling will guarantee this recipe’s place in your permanent collection.

We packed all the flavors of Black Forest cherry cake into a moist, hand-held package.

Sometimes simplicity really does equal perfection. The sweet, buttery press-in crust for these luscious peach pie bars doubles as the crumble topping. Don’t limit yourself to peaches, you can use any stone fruit in this recipe!

Get nostalgic and whip up a sweet-salty batch of PB & J bars using your favorite flavor of jam. 

Eggnog, freshly grated nutmeg, and a splash of brandy give warm holiday flavor to these cheesecake bars. This recipe uses a traditional graham cracker crust, but feel free to substitute gingersnaps.

Forget everything you think you know about fruitcake, these buttery beauties are packed with cherries, cranberries, apricots, currants, and walnuts and they will never be re-gifted.

These cakelike bar cookies are a portable handheld version of berry crumble. Use any kind of fresh or frozen berries you fancy.

Chocolate chips and a chocolate cookie crust up the ante on these chocolate cheesecake bars. No one will ever guess that they’re made with reduced-fat cream cheese!

Crushed pretzels add a crunchy, satisfyingly salty dimension to buttery shortbread bars.

Ginger and cardamom add a lively lift to the toasted almond cookie base of these glistening marmalade-topped bar cookies. We cut it into pie-like wedges, but you can certainly go with the more traditional bar shape if you like.

Rich and gooey chocolate caramel tops a buttery brown-sugar crust. A dusting of crunchy sea salt on top provides the perfect counterpoint.

This Key lime pie-lemon bar hybrid has a surprising secret ingredient—the crust is made with saltine crackers!

Some things never go out of style, like these old-fashioned chewy molasses bars full of ginger, cinnamon, and raisins.