The Best Way To Store Cookie Bars For Extended Freshness

Cookie bars are one confectionery delight that most people can agree deserve a spot at the dessert table. Compared to the classic circular cookie, where there can be a variety of textures (cue the debate over crisp vs. cakey vs. chewy cookies ... the list goes on), cookie bars offer the best of a multitude of textural worlds, all in one bite.

A good cookie bar typically has a crisp top, a significantly chewy bite, and an undeniably fudgy, moist interior. Furthermore, the treat is customizable (try adding tahini, pistachio butter, or even browned butter to seriously elevate your cookie bar's flavor). While a cookie bar is a baker's dream, nothing puts a damper on a leftover (yet decadent) brownie slice quite like a crusty, dried-out edge.

Luckily, there's a tried-and-true way to keep your cookie bars fresh longer: Store them in their baking dish, tightly wrapped with foil or sealed in an airtight bag. Unless you're serving your dessert to a crowd right away, there's no need to cut into all the bars before you're ready to enjoy them. Instead, by keeping the un-cut bars nestled in their baking dish, the cookie bars retain their moisture, avoiding exposure of their outer edges to oxygen that could dry them out and quickly diminish their shelf life.

While pre-cut homemade white chocolate cinnamon blondies typically need to be eaten within one to two days to avoid staleness, un-cut bars covered tightly and stored in their tray will stay fresh and moist (around the edges and inside) for up to four days.

For the freshest cookie bars, it's also important to cool them in their tray on a cooling rack, which helps prevent the bars from overcooking (and drying out). Once they're cooled completely, seal your tray of bars tightly with aluminum foil to create an airtight container in which moisture is retained as much as possible. If you need to re-use your baking pan, you can also remove the cookie bars (in one piece) by turning the slab of cookie out onto a cutting board, and placing it whole in a sealed bag or airtight container. 

Once you're ready to eat them, slice cookie bars individually right out of the tray with a sharp knife, or slice however many you need to serve for a seriously impressive party treat. Enjoy the bars at room temperature, or warm them up individually in the microwave at 10 to 15-second intervals, or bake the cookies in their tray at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for four to five minutes. 

Placing your cookie bars in the refrigerator — wrapped in their tray — can also lengthen the life of more ingredient-laden cookie bars like chocolate bliss s'mores bars. Refrigeration is actually key for bar recipes that contain perishable elements, like the ganache on crème de menthe brownies, Swiss meringue buttercream topping, or those with a decadent cheesecake swirl. Even in the moisture-removing air of refrigeration, storing cookie bars (especially brownies) in the fridge can sometimes make them even more fudgy.

If you do store your cookie bars in the fridge, just remember to cut as you go and store the remaining bar in its tray. Some seasoned bakers (and grandmothers' recipes) say bread can keep your cookies fresh for longer. Just place a piece of bread, like the heel of a white or wheat loaf, in the container with cookies and bars to add moisture to the batch as it sits.

Of course, there's always the option to freeze your cookie bars. Those stored in the freezer can last up to six weeks (if you don't eat them prior). You can still keep bars covered and in their pan when freezing — this works great if you plan to thaw the bars in the fridge and serve at a later time. However, when freezing, bars retain their moisture and flavor more readily, so feel free to cut them for grab-and-go freezer blondies to slowly savor over the course of several weeks.