These comfortable and chewy frosted sugar cookie bars are topped with a thick layer of buttercream frosting (and sprinkles!). Take pleasure in freshly baked sugar cookies with hardly any effort!
Fast. In case you’re large on baking however not large 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.
Comfortable and chewy. In case you love comfortable sugar cookies (just like the Lofthouse cookies of grocery store fame) wait till you style these home made frosted sugar cookie bars. Wealthy, buttery, slathered with a thick layer of frosting, they’re utterly 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 need to save for each vacation and event.
Recipe Elements
You can also make the perfect chewy sugar cookie bars with simply 8 simple components (plus your selection of frosting). I’ve included some ingredient notes beneath. Don’t overlook to scroll to the recipe card for the complete quantities and recipe directions.
Sugar – Basic sugar cookies name for good ol’ granulated white sugar.
Butter – Salted or unsalted, delivered to room temperature.
Cream Cheese – Additionally at room temperature. I like to recommend utilizing blocks of cream cheese relatively than the spreadable sort.
Egg
Vanilla – For the perfect taste, follow actual vanilla extract (versus imitation vanilla).
Frosting – I frost these bars with my favourite home made 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 every time a yearning for comfortable and buttery sugar cookies hits. Have your cookie bars baked and frosted in just some fast steps:
Mix the dough components. Cream collectively butter, sugar, and cream cheese, adopted by the egg and vanilla. Subsequent, slowly add your dry components 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 perimeters are just a little golden. Let the bars cool utterly earlier than frosting and adorning.
How one can Embellish Sugar Cookie Bars
High your bars along with your selection of traditional buttercream, chocolate frosting, or any sort of frosting you’d like! This creamy brown sugar frosting and heritage frosting are additionally scrumptious. Or, you possibly can strive 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 components. Be sure to take your butter and cream cheese (and even the egg) out of the fridge forward of time. Room-temperature components mix extra simply with the opposite components.
Keep away from overmixing. Combine the dry components into the moist dough solely till the dough is mixed, and watch out to not overmix. Overly combined cookie dough yields dense, robust cookie bars.
Don’t overbake. The important thing to comfortable, 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 comfortable 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 utterly 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 possibly can simply change up the add-ins, flavors, and decorations to your subsequent big day! You may 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, similar 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 simple variation topped with cinnamon sugar.
Can I Put together These Bars In Advance?
Sure! You may 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, hold 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). Nevertheless, you can even freeze the frosted bars. Retailer them tightly and hold them frozen for as much as 3 months. Defrost the bars within the fridge earlier than serving.
These comfortable 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.