Gumdrop Squares with Butter Frosting

Gumdrop bars are a holdover from mid-century American baking that earn their place on the Christmas cookie tray for one good reason: they look festive and taste like nothing else on the plate. Brightly-colored chopped gumdrops bake into a chewy brown sugar bar that gets crowned with a citrus-bright butter frosting. The result is part cookie, part candy bar, completely retro.

The base is built like a sponge cake. Eggs and water beat together until light and fluffy, then brown sugar and the dry ingredients fold in for body. The eggs do all the leavening work, since there is no baking powder or soda in the recipe; that fluffy beat is what gives the bars their distinct chewy-cake texture.

Chopping the gumdrops small is the trick that prevents them from sinking into the batter or melting into one giant sticky mess at the bottom of the pan. Quarter-inch dice is about right; small enough to distribute evenly, big enough that you still see colorful flecks in each square.

The orange butter frosting is the upgrade that takes this from kid-snack to actual cookie-tray contender. Powdered sugar beaten with butter, fresh orange zest, juice, and an optional egg yolk for richness gets spread on the bars while still warm, so it melts into a glossy finish.

Pro Tips

• Toss the chopped gumdrops in a tablespoon of the measured flour before folding into the batter. The flour coating prevents them from sinking and merging in the oven.
• Use kitchen scissors dipped in cold water to chop the gumdrops. A knife sticks to the candy; scissors with cold-water-dipped blades cut clean.
• Spread the frosting while the bars are still warm but not hot. Hot bars melt the frosting into a thin runny mess; cool bars resist absorption and the frosting sits on top.
• Cut with a sharp knife wiped between cuts. Sticky residue from the gumdrops gums up the blade fast.

Variations

• Swap the walnuts for pecans for a Southern-leaning version, or skip the nuts entirely for a kid-friendly nut-free bar.
• Use spice gumdrops instead of fruit-flavored for a warmer, more autumnal version that pairs perfectly with the cinnamon in the batter.
• Add a half teaspoon of grated lemon zest to the frosting along with the orange for a brighter, more citrus-forward finish.