These delicate and chewy frosted sugar cookie bars are topped with a thick layer of buttercream frosting (and sprinkles!). Get pleasure from freshly baked sugar cookies with hardly any effort!
Fast. If you happen to’re massive on baking however not massive on time, sugar cookie bars are the reply. Have your cookie bars prepared in half-hour or much less, with out chilling or rolling out the dough.
Tender and chewy. If you happen to love delicate sugar cookies (just like the Lofthouse cookies of grocery store fame) wait till you style these do-it-yourself frosted sugar cookie bars. Wealthy, buttery, slathered with a thick layer of frosting, they’re fully irresistible.
Vacation-worthy. Sugar cookie bars are simple to brighten for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, you title it. Change up the frosting shade and add some sprinkles! That is one recipe you’ll wish to save for each vacation and event.
Recipe Elements
You may make the perfect chewy sugar cookie bars with simply 8 simple substances (plus your selection of frosting). I’ve included some ingredient notes under. Don’t overlook to scroll to the recipe card for the complete quantities and recipe directions.
Sugar – Traditional sugar cookies name for good ol’ granulated white sugar.
Butter – Salted or unsalted, dropped at room temperature.
Cream Cheese – Additionally at room temperature. I like to recommend utilizing blocks of cream cheese slightly than the spreadable variety.
Egg
Vanilla – For the perfect taste, stick to actual vanilla extract (versus imitation vanilla).
Frosting – I frost these bars with my favourite do-it-yourself buttercream frosting and prime them with rainbow sprinkles.
How one can Make Sugar Cookie Bars
Thick and scrumptious cookie bars are enjoyable and festive sufficient to make for the vacations, and simple sufficient to make at any time when a yearning for delicate and buttery sugar cookies hits. Have your cookie bars baked and frosted in just some fast steps:
Mix the dough substances. Cream collectively butter, sugar, and cream cheese, adopted by the egg and vanilla. Subsequent, slowly add your dry substances and blend till mixed.
Fill the pan. Press the sugar cookie dough right into a foil-lined jelly roll pan.
Bake. Bake the cookie bars at 350ºF for 20 minutes, simply till the sides are a bit golden. Let the bars cool fully earlier than frosting and adorning.
How one can Beautify Sugar Cookie Bars
Prime your bars along with your selection of basic buttercream, chocolate frosting, or any sort of frosting you’d like! This creamy brown sugar frosting and heritage frosting are additionally scrumptious. Or, you’ll be able to attempt my mint chocolate chip frosting or this funfetti party frosting for one thing festive. Frosting and adorning these sugar cookie bars is tremendous simple:
Make the frosting. Whip up a fast batch of your favourite frosting. Be at liberty to paint the frosting utilizing gel meals dyes.
Frost the bars. Pile dollops of frosting onto your cookie bars. Use an offset spatula or a knife to unfold the frosting evenly over prime.
Add sprinkles. End your bars with rainbow sprinkles, chocolate chips, or chocolate shavings.
Suggestions for Success
Identical to conventional sugar cookies, there are just a few key issues that make all of the distinction on the subject of baking excellent bars:
Use room temperature substances. Make sure that to take your butter and cream cheese (and even the egg) out of the fridge forward of time. Room-temperature substances mix extra simply with the opposite substances.
Keep away from overmixing. Combine the dry substances into the moist dough solely till the dough is mixed, and watch out to not overmix. Overly blended cookie dough yields dense, powerful cookie bars.
Don’t overbake. The important thing to delicate, chewy sugar cookie bars is to take the bars out of the oven whereas they’re nonetheless a tad underbaked. They need to be simply browned on the edges, and delicate within the center. The bars will proceed to arrange as they cool.
Let the cookie bars cool. Talking of cooling, give the bars sufficient time to chill off fully as soon as they’re out of the oven. If the bars are nonetheless heat, the frosting will slide proper off.
Straightforward Variations
These cookie bars are scrumptious simply as they’re, or you’ll be able to simply change up the add-ins, flavors, and decorations to your subsequent special day! You possibly can flip nearly any sugar cookie recipe into bars simply by adjusting the baking instances. Strive these concepts:
Flavoring – Add just a few drops of flavoring extract, comparable to peppermint, almond, or orange extract.
Funfetti – Add a handful of rainbow sprinkles to the cookie dough. I like to recommend utilizing jimmies (the colourful rods) versus nonpareils (the little balls) as jimmies received’t bleed shade into the cookie dough.
Snickerdoodles – Strive Snickerdoodle bars for a straightforward variation topped with cinnamon sugar.
Can I Put together These Bars In Advance?
Sure! You possibly can bake the cookie bars and make the frosting as much as 1 day forward. Retailer the cookie bars hermetic at room temperature and the frosting lined within the fridge till you’re able to frost and serve. Alternatively, freeze the unfrosted sugar cookie bars hermetic for as much as 2-3 months, and thaw them within the fridge earlier than frosting.
How one can Retailer Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
To Retailer. Retailer the frosted bars in an hermetic container at room temperature for 1-2 days. After that, preserve them within the fridge for as much as 3-4 days.
Freeze. I like to recommend freezing sugar cookie bars earlier than they’re frosted (see above for make-ahead suggestions). Nonetheless, you can even freeze the frosted bars. Retailer them tightly and preserve them frozen for as much as 3 months. Defrost the bars within the fridge earlier than serving.
These delicate and chewy sugar cookie bars are topped with a thick layer of buttercream frosting (and sprinkles!). Straightforward to make in half-hour, and the dough doesn’t require any rolling or chilling.
