Dessert for 16

Gingersnap Cookie Bars

Name: Gingersnap Cookie Bars
Total time: 28 min
Yield: 16 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 box vanilla cake mix; 1 box instant vanilla pudding 4 serving; 1/2 cup fancy molasses; 1/2 cup melted butter; 1 egg; 1 tsp ginger; 1/2 tsp cinnamon; 1 package cream cheese; 1/2 cup butter; 2 cups icing sugar; 1 tsp vanilla if wanted

$3.17for 428 minServes 16

Vanilla cake mix, molasses, and spices make chewy cookie bars that bake quickly before receiving cream cheese frosting.

Photo: thekitchenmagpie.com

What it costs

Pick your city to see which ingredients are on sale

Ingredient	Amount	Cost
	Cake, 24 oz$0.18/oz typical	24 oz	$4.32Typical price
	Butter, 8 oz$0.40/oz typical	8 oz	$3.20Typical price
	Eggs, 1$0.30 each typical	1	$0.30Typical price
	Fresh ginger, a little$0.40/oz typical	a little	$0.03Typical price
	Cream cheese, 10 oz$0.30/oz typical	10 oz	$3.00Typical price
Total for the servings shown		$12.68

Swaps

Swap butter for margarine and vegan butterabout $0.15/oz less at typical prices

Pantry staples you likely have

Syrups, molasses, powdered sugarDried spices (cumin, paprika, chili powder, oregano)Sugar and brown sugarCornstarch, vanilla, yeast, cocoa

Not included in the cost.

28 minstart to table
Easydifficulty
16servings as written
$typical cost tier

American Vegetarian Kid-friendly Budget Desserts

Typical price

$0.79 per serving$3.17 for 4

City Store

Typical price: Salefork's estimate of an everyday US shelf price for each ingredient. Pick your city to price it from this week's ad.

Ingredients

1 box vanilla cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding 4 serving
1/2 cup fancy molasses
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla if wanted

Steps

Heat the oven to 350 F and grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
Stir the cake mix, pudding mix, molasses, melted butter, egg, ginger, and cinnamon into a thick batter.
Press the batter evenly into the pan and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the center is set.
Beat the cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, icing sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
Cool the bars for 5 minutes, spread on the frosting, and cut them into squares.