Our Best Bar Cookies

Orange marmalade is a nice surprise in these rich (and ribbon-winning) bars created by Iowa State Fair entrant Marianne Carlson.

These deceptively delicious bars deliver the perfect, rich balance of sweet-tart fruit and buttery pastry.

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.

Related: Luscious Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes

These sweet, nutty and oh-so-buttery bars are a guaranteed showstopper on any cookie tray.

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.

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.

These bars are a grown-up spin on a campfire classic: buttery graham cracker crust, chocolate mousse, toasty meringue.

Related: Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes

Perennial Iowa State Fair ribbon-winner Robin Tarbell-Thomas' buttery best-in-class bars are loaded with almond flavor.

Related: 11 Scandinavian Cookie Recipes

Roasting white chocolate gives it a nutty flavor and caramel color; show both off in these utterly delicious salty-sweet bars.

Related: Try Roasted White Hot Chocolate with Malted Milk

A rich, fruity filling bakes in a rosemary-infused crust, then gets drizzled with a powdered sugar icing.

Tammy Post's Iowa State Fair blue-ribbon recipe doesn't skimp on apples, which results in incredibly moist and indulgent bars.

Date-nut desserts can be cloyingly sweet, but orange juice brightens these simple bars.

Related: Try Our Date Shake

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.

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.

These fantastic potluck bars come from Patrice Hurd of Bemidji, Minnesota. They cut beautifully and brim with salty-sweet-nutty-chocolately flavor.

Related: The Best Dessert Recipes For Your Next Potluck

The math on these homey bars couldn't be simpler: one pan, one ripe banana and less than one hour from start to finish.

Graham crackers form the base for this bar cookie with layers of marshmallows, brown sugar, almonds and coconut. 

Related: Family-Favorite Holiday Recipes

These sinful brownies feature a cheesecake layer sandwiched between two ultra-rich chocolate layers.

Related: Rich, Moist Brownie Recipes

Traditionalists may grumble, but we think topping St. Louis-style gooey butter bars with fresh berries is a stroke of midsummer genius.

Related: Summer Dessert Recipes

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.

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.

Sweet and tart, these moist, powdered sugar-topped classics will disappear fast at a potluck.

Related: Lemon Dessert Recipes

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.

Layers of cheesecake, raspberry filling, almonds and coconut form dessert bars perfect for summer picnics and potlucks.

Related: Mouthwatering Raspberry Dessert Recipes

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.

Luscious caramel tops a sweet-salty treat of peanuts, pretzels, marshmallow crème and peanut butter.

These moist, easy brownies get a little extra crunch from a topping of toffee pieces.

Related: Quick-and-Easy Dessert Recipes

Love sweet and salty combos? You'll fall for these bars with sweet toffee, toasted pecans and a spiced Ginger Crumb Crust.

Zesty lemon peel adds zing to this fruit bar cookie; almond extract and brown sugar give it extra sweetness.

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.

Dry-roasted peanuts, peanut butter-flavored pieces and peanut butter bring triple flavor to this make-ahead bar cookie.

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.

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.

Related: Blueberry Recipes You'll Love

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.