Listen, I love cookies. In particular, I love sugar cookies. Frosting, sprinkles + a sugar cookie dough are literally what heaven looks like to me. I do like to decorate them, like in this recipe, but sometimes I don’t want to go through the effort of rolling out the dough, cutting shapes, and using different tips to pipe the frosting. That’s why I created this incredible Sugar Cookie Bar recipe and if you’re a sugar cookie fan, you’re going to loveeee these. See below for recipe tips and instructions on how to make several different versions and patterns!
These cookie bars are essentially a sugar cookie in bar form. For larger slices I cut 12, but these can easily be cut into 16-20 slices to feed a crowd. They are topped with frosting and sprinkles, but you can also add sprinkles to the dough if you’d like! Keep reading to find where I go into the kind of sprinkles I prefer to use and other tips to making these turn out perfect every time!
Flower Frosting Method
This piping may seem intimidating but I’m telling you it’s an easy, gorgeous way to decorate these bars! For this design I split the frosting into several bowls and dye them different colors. For this design I did different pastels. And then take 4-5 different piping tips and add the frosting to those bags. And just start! I usually start with the biggest flowers or piping and then go in with the smaller tips to fill in the gaps.
Layered Red, White & Blue Frosting Method
This method is easier than it looks! Make the frosting as instructed and divide evenly in 3 different bowls. Leave one bowl white, add blue food coloring to one and red to the other. Mix and adjust until you get the colors you want. I use a large round piping tip, or a Wilton 1A and a small spatula to create this design. If Add the piping tips (If you have 3, if not do 1 color at a time) to piping bags and add each color to different bags. Pipe a horizontal line alternating red, white & blue from one edge of the cake to the other side. Then take your spatula, the back of a spoon or butterknife and place it in the lower center of the piped color. Gently press in and pull down to create the effect. While the spatula clean and repeat. Once you’ve completed the full line, pipe the next line and repeat until the entire cookie bar is covered!
Peppermint Version
For the Christmas Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bar version I make the bars exactly as the recipe calls for. For the buttercream, I use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract. To get the peppermint pattern on top, I divide the frosting into two separate bowls. Keep one bowl white and dye the second bowl red. To a piping bag add a large round piping tip. Add the red frosting to another piping bag, the white to another piping bag and cut the ends to open. Place both of those piping bags into the piping bag fitted with the large round tip. Cut the cookie bars into squares the pipe a big dollop of frosting on top. The two separate bags of dyed frosting will give you the peppermint pattern. Top with red sanding sugar and serve!
RECIPE TIPS:
- Sprinkles: I feel like I needed to dedicate a section here to sprinkles because there are so many different varieties and not all of them will work in this cookie. For this recipe I used St. Patrick’s Day sprinkles I ordered from Amazon. I also love baking and decorating with confetti quins. I love how colorful and whimsical they are. They also hold their shape and color when baked which was exactly what I was looking for! You can also use classic jimmies. For these cookies do not use nonpareils in the dough but you can decorate with them. They’re small and add a great crunch but the color will bleed if you mix them into any sort of batter.
- Baking pan: I HIGHLY suggest you use a metal baking pan. Metal pans cook baked goods more evenly than a glass pan and are super easy to transport the bars in (the one I tagged comes with a lid which is super convenient!)
- Frosting: These cookie bars are delicious without the frosting so if you don’t have the time or ingredients, no worries! I am a total frosting fanatic and will put it on anything and everything, plus it makes them so pretty!
- How to make them soft and chewy: Like most of my cookie recipes, these bars are soft and chewy. In order to make these they stay soft make sure you don’t skip the corn starch in the recipe! Corn starch helps to create a really tender cookie and that’s what we want! You also want to pay close attention to your baking time. I baked mine for 20 minutes on the dot. The top and outside edge will be nice and golden brown but the inside will seem under baked. Pull them from the oven and let them completely cool in the pan. This will produce the most delicious soft and chewy cookie bars .
- These cookies do rise and sink a bit while they cool. You can either frost them directly in the pan, or if you’d like them even pull them out of the pan and trim the edges. The easiest way to do this is to chill them in the refrigerator and use a sharp serrated knife.
If you’re a sugar cookie fan, you’re going to want to try these! If you end up trying the recipe please rate and leave a review to let me know what you think 🙂
Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 1 cup salted butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 2 tsp corn starch
For the frosting:
- ½ cup butter room temperature, I prefer salted butter but you can use unsalted if you prefer!
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2-3 tbsp heavy cream or milk
- ¼ cup sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and grease and line a metal 9×13 pan with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the butter and granulated sugar. Mix until combined. Add in vanilla and egg and egg yolk, and mix until incorporated.
- While the mixer is on low add in the flour, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar and corn starch. Mix until just combined. Scoop batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula or lightly wet your hands to evenly press the dough into the pan. Bake or 20-22 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer beat together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth, about 1 minute. Add in the vanilla, salt and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk and beat until smooth. Add in additional heavy cream/milk to get the consistency you prefer. Once smooth, if you're coloring the frosting add in 1-2 drops of food dye and mix until incorporated.
For assembly:
- Once the cookie bars have completely cooled, spread frosting out in an even layer. Top with the sprinkles and enjoy!