Sugar Cookie Bars are easy to make soft and chewy bars topped with buttercream frosting. A perfect dessert for parties, Holidays or any time of year.
Best Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe
These frosted sugar cookie bars are so pretty and everyone loves them. Imagine sinking your teeth into a soft, buttery cookie base that’s perfectly complemented by the velvety sweetness buttercream on top.
We love traditional sugar cookies so we decided to make them into bars for easier preparation. Just simply press the cookie dough in a pan and bake in one batch. So, if you’re looking for a treat that combines simplicity, taste, and a touch of happiness, these frosted sugar cookie bars are the perfect choice. We love to make this sugar cookie recipe for Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Valentine’s Day or just any time of year.
What You Need
- Cookie Bars: This is a basic cookie bar recipe using unsalted butter, granulated sugar, large eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Frosting: This is a simple buttercream frosting. It is made with unsalted butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, food coloring, and sprinkles.
How to Make Sugar Cookie Bars
Make the sugar cookie dough: Prep a cookie sheet. Use a mixer and cream the butter and sugar together. Add in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Press the cookie dough into the pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Make the frosting: Cream the butter. Slowly add the sugar. Slowly add the heavy cream until it is a spreadable consistency. Add in the coloring. Once the cookies are cooled, spread the frosting over the cooled cookie bars and cut.
Want to use a cream cheese frosting instead? Use this Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe.
Tips and Tricks
Here are some tips and tricks to ensure your frosted sugar cookie bars turn out perfectly:
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Ensure your butter and eggs are at room temperature. Room temperature butter blends more easily, creating a smoother batter, and room temperature eggs incorporate better into the mixture.
- Even Thickness: When spreading the cookie dough in the pan, aim for an even thickness. This ensures uniform baking. You can use a spatula or your hands to gently press the dough into the pan evenly.
- Parchment Paper: Line your baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides. This makes it easier to lift the bars out of the pan for cutting after baking.
- Frosting Consistency: If you want a smooth, even layer of frosting, make sure it’s at the right consistency. If it’s too thick, it won’t spread well; if it’s too thin, it might slide off the bars. Adjust the consistency by adding powdered sugar for thickness or a bit of milk or cream for thinning.
- Chill Before Cutting: After frosting the bars, chill them in the refrigerator for a while. This helps the frosting set, making it easier to cut neat squares or bars without smudging the frosting.
- Storage: Store the bars in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days. If you need to store them longer, refrigerate or freeze them, separated by layers of parchment paper, in an airtight container.
More Sugar Cookie Recipes
- Strawberry Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies
- Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter 3 sticks, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
Frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 stick
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 5-6 tbsp heavy cream
- food coloring of choice optional
- sprinkles or decorations
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 17×12 rimmed cookie sheet with a non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until creamy. Add in the eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, and then mix until well combined.
- In a small bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder together. Then, slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until the dough is well combined.
- Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes; my oven took about 17 minutes. If the edges start to brown, remove from oven immediately.
- Cool completely before frosting or cutting.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Once combined, slowly add in the heavy cream 1 tbsp. at a time. Once you get to a spreadable consistency, add in your food coloring and mix well.
- Frost the bars and decorate. Store in a covered container on the counter.
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