If you want the nostalgic flavor of classic sugar cookies without spending ages in the kitchen, look no further than this sugar cookie bars recipe with icing! No need to chill the dough, use a cookie cutter, or painstakingly frost each one. Simply whip up a quick sugar cookie dough, spread it into a baking dish, and frost the whole thing once it bakes to a delightfully soft, tall sugar cookie bar. It’s like a slab of cookie cake!
And if you’re baking these chewy sugar cookie bars for an occasion, it’s so easy to change up the colors and decoration! For a little holiday spirit, leave the buttercream white and use red and green sprinkles. For a baby shower, use pastel sprinkles and get creative with the frosting color. White frosting is a classic for any event, or you can color different parts of the frosting and pipe decorations or a celebratory message on the top. For more decadent cookie bar recipes, try my s’mores bars, easy blondie recipe, or strawberry rhubarb bars recipe.
What You Need to Make this Recipe
Leavening — baking soda gives the cookie bars a slight rise without them becoming puffy.
Butter — since there’s already salt in the cookie dough, use unsalted butter.
Sugar — you need granulated sugar (also called white sugar). For a chewier cookie, you could use light brown sugar, keeping in mind that it will change the color of the cookie to a light tan.
Eggs — set 3 large eggs out of the fridge ahead of time so they warm to room temperature before you start baking.
Vanilla — since you’ll need vanilla for the cookie dough and the frosting, use a high-quality vanilla extract.
Frosting — for the simple vanilla buttercream frosting, you only need unsalted butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt. You can add food coloring if you want colorful frosting, and don’t forget to get plenty of sprinkles to decorate your easy sugar cookie bars!
How to Make Sugar Cookie Bars
1. Whisk together all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
2. In a large bowl if using a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. This will take 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the eggs, one by one, and scrape down the bowl between additions. Beat each egg until fully incorporated, then add in and beat the vanilla extract.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Stop to scrape down the sides once during mixing.
5. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch metal baking pan with baking spray and line it with parchment paper. Leave enough excess to hang over the sides to easily remove the sugar cookie bar slab when it’s baked. Spread the dough in an even layer into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350°F, or until it’s very lightly golden brown around the edges, and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Let cool completely in the baking pan before removing it.
6. Make the buttercream frosting by beating the butter and powdered sugar together on low speed until the sugar is combined. Increase the speed to medium and add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt, beating until the frosting is light and fluffy. Add food coloring, if desired.
7. Once the slab of sugar cookie bar has cooled completely, spread the frosting in an even layer.
8. Garnish with colorful sprinkles and chill for 15 minutes before slicing.
Pro Tips for Making this Recipe
- Measure the flour correctly. Using too much flour will yield dry sugar cookie bars. Accurately measuring flour is easy with a kitchen scale. But if you don’t have one, fluff the flour in its bag or container and scoop it into your measuring cup with a spoon. Do not scoop directly from the container, as you will almost certainly end up using too much.
- Use room temperature ingredients. Room temperature (softened) butter and eggs will incorporate easier with the other ingredients.
- Don’t over-mix the sugar cookie bar dough. Mix only until the ingredients are just combined. Over-mixing will give you tough results instead of soft sugar cookie bars.
- Line the baking pan with parchment paper. This is a must for two reasons: Firstly, it prevents the cookie dough bars from sticking to the baking dish (what a nightmare that would be!), and, if you leave a nice overhang with the parchment paper, it makes removing the slab of baked cookie bar so easy!
- For picture-perfect slices. After you frost, chill the cookie bar slab for 15 minutes. This helps the bar and the frosting to firm up, so your slices are perfect. Use a large, sharp chef’s knife.
- For a twist: Mix ½ cup of sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, or finely chopped nuts into the cookie dough before spreading it into the pan.
- Get creative with flavor. Add almond extract or lemon zest to the dough for a fun change.
- To make Christmas sugar cookie bars: Just use Christmas sprinkles! You can also add your favorite “Christmas-y” food coloring to the frosting.
- Switch up the frosting: Swap the vanilla buttercream out for tangy cream cheese frosting or a fudgy chocolate buttercream frosting.
Frequently Asked Questions
This will depend heavily on your oven. In my oven, baking this sugar cookie bar recipe for 20 to 25 minutes at 350°F gives me perfect results. Keep an eye on them, and look for lightly golden edges. If you insert a toothpick into the center, it should come out clean.
Yes! Simply prepare the cookie bars completely a night in advance, and cover the pan with plastic wrap. Chill them just before slicing, or store them in the fridge if you want to keep them for a few days. Store cut bars in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
To keep them looking pretty, store them in a single layer in an airtight container. This will prevent the frosting from smearing. They can be refrigerated for up to a week.
You can freeze the cookie bars, but I prefer to freeze them before adding the frosting. Simply wrap the baked, unsliced cookie bar slab in two layers of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil. Place it in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 1 month.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this sugar cookie bars recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Sugar Cookie Bars
Equipment
- 9×13″ baking pan
Ingredients
For the Cookie Bars:
- 3¾ cups all-purpose flour (450g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened (170g)
- 1½ cups granulated sugar (300g)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (226g)
- 5 cups powdered sugar (600g)
- ¼ heavy cream (60ml)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Food coloring optional
- Sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
For the Cookie Bars:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with baking spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving enough excess to hang over the sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions, and beat each until fully combined. Beat in the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined, stopping to scrape down the sides once during mixing. Spread the dough in an even layer into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown around the edges, and a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cookie slab cool completely in the pan before removing it.
For the Frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and powdered sugar together on low speed until powder sugar is combined, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Increase the speed to medium and slowly pour in the heavy cream, vanilla, and salt, beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add food coloring, if desired, and beat until evenly colored.
- Spread the frosting in an even layer on top of the cooled cookie slab. Top with sprinkles, and chill for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly. Using too much flour will yield dry sugar cookie bars. Accurately measuring flour is easy with a kitchen scale. But if you don’t have one, fluff the flour in its bag or container and scoop it into your measuring cup with a spoon. Do not scoop directly from the container, as you will almost certainly end up using too much.
- Use room temperature ingredients. Room temperature (softened) butter and eggs will incorporate easier with the other ingredients.
- Don’t over-mix the sugar cookie bar dough. Mix only until the ingredients are just combined. Over-mixing will give you tough results instead of soft sugar cookie bars.
- Line the baking pan with parchment paper. This is a must for two reasons: Firstly, it prevents the cookie dough bars from sticking to the baking dish (what a nightmare that would be!), and, if you leave a nice overhang with the parchment paper, it makes removing the slab of baked cookie bar so easy!
- For picture-perfect slices. After you frost, chill the cookie bar slab for 15 minutes. This helps the bar and the frosting to firm up, so your slices are perfect. Use a large, sharp chef’s knife.
- For a twist: Mix ½ cup of sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, or finely chopped nuts into the cookie dough before spreading it into the pan.
- Get creative with flavor. Add almond extract or lemon zest to the dough for a fun change.
- To make Christmas sugar cookie bars: Just use Christmas sprinkles! You can also add your favorite “Christmas-y” food coloring to the frosting.
- Switch up the frosting: Swap the vanilla buttercream out for tangy cream cheese frosting or a fudgy chocolate buttercream frosting.
Leave a Reply