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This is the BEST Sugar Cookie Bars recipe! They’re soft and tender and chewy and covered with the best buttercream sugar cookie frosting EVER. This recipe is easy and fast and who doesn’t love a sugar cookie bar??
If I could pick only one cookie to eat for the rest of my life, it would be sugar cookies. Whether they’re drop sugar cookies or cutout sugar cookies, I love them, with or without frosting.
Sugar cookie bars are one of my favorite desserts – ever. They’re easier to make than regular sugar cookies and have a thick layer of frosting on top and sprinkles, which are required in my world. What’s better than that?? NOTHING. I think I could make sugar cookie bars for every occasion: birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s Day…the options are endless!
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: I always use unsalted butter that’s been softened, but if you need to substitute salted butter just reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/4 teaspoon.
- Baking Soda and Cream of Tartar: The combination is the SECRET ingredient that keeps the bars SOFT! Learn about cream of tartar.
How to Make Sugar Cookie Bars
- This recipe starts with my perfect sugar cookie recipe.
- Be sure to cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Then mix in the egg, vanilla, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar, then the flour.
- You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer for this recipe.
- Instead of dropping them, I pressed the dough into a 9×13-inch pan.
- While they’re baking and cooling, make the buttercream frosting recipe.
- Of course, you can tint the sugar cookie frosting any color you want using food coloring, but I love the look of sprinkles.
Cookie Bar Tips
- When baking, these are done just before they look done; that is, slightly golden around the edges but not golden in the center. They finish cooking as they cool.
- Make sure to start with room temperature butter when making the frosting. It’s easier and you’ll get a smoother spread.
- You can use milk in the frosting, but the heavy whipping cream makes a silky and delicious frosting recipe!
Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
Cookies:
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract optional
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (248g) all purpose flour
Frosting:
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (226g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-3 tablespoons (5-15ml) milk or heavy whipping cream
- Sprinkles and/or food coloring if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13-inch pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat in egg and both extracts. (Almond extract is optional, but adds amazing flavor!) Mix in baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Slowly mix in flour.
- Press dough into prepared pan.
- Bake for 14-19 minutes The sides will just be getting golden and the center will look a little under done. Cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting: Beat butter until creamy with a hand or a stand mixer. Mix in salt. Slowly add in powdered sugar until mixture is crumbly. (It will be very crumbly if using a hand mixer, more smooth if using a stand mixer.) Add vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk or cream. Mix until the frosting comes together and becomes smooth, adding additional teaspoons of milk as needed for consistency. If you want your frosting to be a color, tint it now.
Recipe Notes
- Decorate these for any holiday with any color sprinkles.
- These are done when they just lose their glossy sheen. That keeps them soft!
- Bake these in a metal pan for best results.
I have come across this recipe page 6 years ago and have made them several times. Truly is so yummy and simple!
I have 2 bags of cookie mix from food pantry but no box or way to use them. I tried the cookie bar recipe but left out the salt and baking soda.
They came out fine.
Do we need to put in the cream of tater? Thanks
Yes to keep them soft – you can sub 1 tsp lemon juice if you don’t have cream of tartar (it won’t make them lemony)
I have 2 bags of cookie mix from food pantry but no box or way to use them. I tried the cookie bar recipe but left out the salt and baking soda.
They came out fine. I did add the cream of tartar
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