Food Desserts & Baking Our Best Bar Cookies By Midwest Living editors Midwest Living editors Midwest Living's experienced editors create best-in-class travel, lifestyle, food, home and garden content you won't find anywhere else. We're loudly, proudly Midwestern, and we're passionate about helping our audience explore and create through award-winning storytelling. Midwest Living's Editorial Guidelines Updated on November 15, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Carson Downing These bar cookie recipes will tempt dessert lovers with an array of flavors like chocolate, peanut butter, lemon, lime and raspberry. 01 of 35 Sweet-and-Salty Scotcheroos You would think there's no way to improve on a scotcheroo (that peanut-buttery, chocolate-y cousin to Rice Krispies treats). But then we added Fritos. Luscious Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes View Recipe 02 of 35 Mojito Bars Carson Downing Jacob Van Patten pours a refreshing summer cocktail into his creative take on lemon bars, which took the overall blue ribbon at the Iowa State Fair. View Recipe 03 of 35 Coconut Chocolate Squares Carson Downing Orange marmalade is a nice surprise in these rich (and ribbon-winning) bars created by Iowa State Fair entrant Marianne Carlson. View Recipe 04 of 35 Brown Butter Apricot Bars Brown Butter Apricot Bars. Brie Passano These deceptively delicious bars deliver the perfect, rich balance of sweet-tart fruit and buttery pastry. View Recipe 05 of 35 Gooey Pecan Pie Bars These sweet, nutty and oh-so-buttery bars are a guaranteed showstopper on any cookie tray. View Recipe 06 of 35 Oat Bars with Ginger and Coconut Carson Downing Inspired by an English treat called a flapjack, these buttery bars have crisp edges and are chewy in the center. Discover more ways to power your day with oats. View Recipe 07 of 35 S'Mores Squares Jason Donnelly These bars are a grown-up spin on a campfire classic: buttery graham cracker crust, chocolate mousse, toasty meringue. Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes View Recipe 08 of 35 Scandinavian Almond Bars Carson Downing Perennial Iowa State Fair ribbon-winner Robin Tarbell-Thomas' buttery best-in-class bars are loaded with almond flavor. 11 Scandinavian Cookie Recipes View Recipe 09 of 35 Rhubarb Bars Rachel Marek / Kelsey Moylan When fresh rhubarb isn't in season, feel free to use frozen rhubarb in these. They're a wonderful, not-too-sweet treat for family dinners, picnics or potlucks. Favorite Rhubarb Recipes View Recipe 10 of 35 Salted Oatmeal Bars with Roasted White Chocolate Frosting Roasting white chocolate gives it a nutty flavor and caramel color; show both off in these utterly delicious salty-sweet bars. Try Roasted White Hot Chocolate with Malted Milk View Recipe 11 of 35 Apricot-Rosemary Streusel Bars A rich, fruity filling bakes in a rosemary-infused crust, then gets drizzled with a powdered sugar icing. View Recipe 12 of 35 Harvest Apple Bars Carson Downing Tammy Post's Iowa State Fair blue-ribbon recipe doesn't skimp on apples, which results in incredibly moist and indulgent bars. View Recipe 13 of 35 Date-Orange Bars Date-nut desserts can be cloyingly sweet, but orange juice brightens these simple bars. Try Our Date Shake View Recipe 14 of 35 Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bars Peanut butter and chocolate meet for a sweet treat in this recipe from a Cedarburg, Wisconsin, reader who likes to make these bar cookies for potluck gatherings. View Recipe 15 of 35 Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars. Carson Downing Sure, you've seen this combo before. But not done this well. This recipe doesn't use a whole can of pumpkin, so add leftovers to a smoothie, a pot of chili, hot oatmeal or even hummus. View Recipe 16 of 35 Salted Caramel, Chocolate and Peanut Cracker-Stack Bars These fantastic potluck bars come from Patrice Hurd of Bemidji, Minnesota. They cut beautifully and brim with salty-sweet-nutty-chocolately flavor. The Best Dessert Recipes For Your Next Potluck View Recipe 17 of 35 Maple-Walnut Banana Bars The math on these homey bars couldn't be simpler: one pan, one ripe banana and less than one hour from start to finish. View Recipe 18 of 35 Caramel Heavenlies Graham crackers form the base for this bar cookie with layers of marshmallows, brown sugar, almonds and coconut. Family-Favorite Holiday Recipes View Recipe 19 of 35 Brownie Bombs These sinful brownies feature a cheesecake layer sandwiched between two ultra-rich chocolate layers. Rich, Moist Brownie Recipes View Recipe 20 of 35 Gooey Butter Bars Traditionalists may grumble, but we think topping St. Louis-style gooey butter bars with fresh berries is a stroke of midsummer genius. Summer Dessert Recipes View Recipe 21 of 35 Scrumptious Seven-Layer Cookies These rich bar cookies star among the sweets at Stafford's Bay View Inn in Petoskey, Michigan. Mix and match among your favorite treats for some of the layers to create a dessert that's just right for your family. View Recipe 22 of 35 Peanut Butter Chip and Jelly Bars The flavor of these bars from Connie Siegel of Wisconsin will take you right back to your school lunchroom! If you don't like grape jelly, strawberry would work well, too. View Recipe 23 of 35 Luscious Lemon Bars Sweet and tart, these moist, powdered sugar-topped classics will disappear fast at a potluck. Lemon Dessert Recipes View Recipe 24 of 35 Butterscotch Pretzel Bars This sweet-salty dessert goes together quickly with a no-bake bottom and a topping of butterscotch pieces and whipping cream heated on the stove. View Recipe 25 of 35 Raspberry Cheesecake Bars Layers of cheesecake, raspberry filling, almonds and coconut form dessert bars perfect for summer picnics and potlucks. Mouthwatering Raspberry Dessert Recipes View Recipe 26 of 35 Danish Pastry Apple Bars This recipe for Danish Pastry Apple Bars comes from an Indiana teacher who discovered these treats in a student's lunch box years ago. The student's family was happy to share the recipe; the results taste almost like apple pie. View Recipe 27 of 35 Salted Peanut Bars Luscious caramel tops a sweet-salty treat of peanuts, pretzels, marshmallow crème and peanut butter. View Recipe 28 of 35 Toffee Bars These moist, easy brownies get a little extra crunch from a topping of toffee pieces. Quick-and-Easy Dessert Recipes View Recipe 29 of 35 Toffee-Pumpkin Pie Bars Love sweet and salty combos? You'll fall for these bars with sweet toffee, toasted pecans and a spiced Ginger Crumb Crust. View Recipe 30 of 35 Cherry Crumble Pie Bars Zesty lemon peel adds zing to this fruit bar cookie; almond extract and brown sugar give it extra sweetness. View Recipe 31 of 35 Caramel and Chocolate Kettle-Corn Crispie Bars These bars, from Judy Reynolds of Bloomington, Indiana, start with a Hoosier staple—popcorn—for sweet-salty snack bars. Homemade caramel sauce helps makes them a standout. View Recipe 32 of 35 Triple Peanut Butter Streusel Bars Dry-roasted peanuts, peanut butter-flavored pieces and peanut butter bring triple flavor to this make-ahead bar cookie. View Recipe 33 of 35 Butter-Pecan Bars These candy-like bar cookies have a brown sugar crust and a filling of brown sugar, butter and chopped pecans. Sprinkle with chocolate pieces immediately after baking. View Recipe 34 of 35 Blueberry-Almond Bars Fruit fillings complement the sweetness of other bar cookie ingredients. Blueberry-Almond Bars was a grand champion award recipe at the Marshall County Fair's annual Blueberry Bake-A-Rama in Plymouth, Indiana. Lori Van Der Weele combined blueberries, butter, white baking pieces and almonds for this winner. Blueberry Recipes You'll Love View Recipe 35 of 35 Maple Nutty Candy These bar cookies combine four winning flavors: peanut butter, maple, butterscotch and chocolate. The easy recipe, from a Wabash, Indiana, reader, makes about 6 pounds of bar candy. We suggest freezing the bars and thawing them out as needed. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit