Though similar to cookies, bars are not considered cookies and require no dough measuring. Rice Krispie treats are considered bars in Minnesota, but a brownie is not a bar. Bars are considered one of two essentials for potlucks in Minnesota, the other being hotdish. According to You Know You're in Minnesota When...: 101 Quintessential Places, People, Events, Customs, Lingo, and Eats of the North Star State by Berit Thorkelson, the bar is a Minnesota staple and a "typical Minnesota dessert". Thorkelson notes that bars are not included in Webster's Dictionary, and the word pronunciation of the "ar" is with "a pirate-like arrr" followed by a soft clipped s.

The ingredient combinations and variety of bars is mind-boggling. Recipes for bars from a 2007 Betty Crocker book include apricot-almond bars, popcorn and peanut bars, and trail mix bars that are similar to the classic seven-layer bar.

In 1971 the wife of a maintenance man from Snohomish, Washington won the $25,000 Best-of-Bake-off prize for a rich dessert bar combining cake mix and pecans with other ingredients. In 1993 Betty Crocker added two new varieties to the four existing Supreme Dessert Bar line of baking mixes it introduced in 1992. The two new flavors, M&Ms Cookie Bars and Raspberry Bars, joined lemon bars, chocolate peanut butter bars and caramel oatmeal bars. In 2004 Krusteaz added a line of dessert bars to its selection of quick and easy baked goods. The U.S. Navy SEAL Guide to Fitness and Nutrition includes numerous bars in its "lightweight menus".