These gentle 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. Should you’re huge on baking however not huge 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. Should you love gentle sugar cookies (just like the Lofthouse cookies of grocery store fame) wait till you style these selfmade frosted sugar cookie bars. Wealthy, buttery, slathered with a thick layer of frosting, they’re utterly irresistible.
Vacation-worthy. Sugar cookie bars are straightforward to brighten for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, you identify it. Change up the frosting colour 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 very best chewy sugar cookie bars with simply 8 straightforward elements (plus your alternative of frosting). I’ve included some ingredient notes under. Don’t neglect to scroll to the recipe card for the total 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 moderately than the spreadable form.
Egg
Vanilla – For the very best taste, stick to actual vanilla extract (versus imitation vanilla).
Frosting – I frost these bars with my favourite selfmade buttercream frosting and prime them with rainbow sprinkles.
Easy methods to Make Sugar Cookie Bars
Thick and scrumptious cookie bars are enjoyable and festive sufficient to make for the vacations, and straightforward sufficient to make each time a yearning for gentle and buttery sugar cookies hits. Have your cookie bars baked and frosted in just some fast steps:
Mix the dough elements. Cream collectively butter, sugar, and cream cheese, adopted by the egg and vanilla. Subsequent, slowly add your dry elements 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 of golden. Let the bars cool utterly earlier than frosting and adorning.
Easy methods to Adorn Sugar Cookie Bars
Prime your bars together with your alternative of traditional buttercream, chocolate frosting, or any type of frosting you’d like! This creamy brown sugar frosting and heritage frosting are additionally scrumptious. Or, you possibly can attempt my mint chocolate chip frosting or this funfetti party frosting for one thing festive. Frosting and adorning these sugar cookie bars is tremendous straightforward:
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.
Ideas for Success
Similar to conventional sugar cookies, there are just a few key issues that make all of the distinction in terms of baking good bars:
Use room temperature elements. Be certain that to take your butter and cream cheese (and even the egg) out of the fridge forward of time. Room-temperature elements mix extra simply with the opposite elements.
Keep away from overmixing. Combine the dry elements 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 gentle, 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 gentle 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.
Simple Variations
These cookie bars are scrumptious simply as they’re, or you possibly can simply change up the add-ins, flavors, and decorations in your subsequent special day! You possibly can flip nearly any sugar cookie recipe into bars simply by adjusting the baking occasions. Strive these concepts:
Flavoring – Add just a few drops of flavoring extract, akin 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 colour 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 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.
Easy methods to Retailer Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
To Retailer. Retailer the frosted bars in an hermetic container at room temperature for 1-2 days. After that, maintain 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 maintain them frozen for as much as 3 months. Defrost the bars within the fridge earlier than serving.
These gentle and chewy sugar cookie bars are topped with a thick layer of buttercream frosting (and sprinkles!). Simple to make in half-hour, and the dough doesn’t require any rolling or chilling.
