Cake Batter Sugar Cookie Bars
Soft and chewy Cake Batter Sugar Cookie Bars loaded with pastel confetti sprinkles and topped with a creamy cake batter buttercream. All the flavor of a birthday cake packed into an easy sugar cookie bar!
Servings: 15 slices
Ingredients
For the bars:
- 1 cup salted butter room temperature. you can use unsalted if you prefer!
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cake batter extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 2 tsp corn starch
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ⅓ cup confetti quins or any sprinkles you prefer!
For the frosting:
- ½ cup salted butter room temperature. you can use unsalted if you prefer!
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cake batter extract
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 2-3 tbsp heavy cream or milk room temperature
- additional confetti quins for decorating
Instructions
For the bars:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a metal 9x13 baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and granulated sugar and mix until combined. Add the vanilla extract, cake batter extract, egg and egg yolk and mix until incorporated. With the mixer on low, add the flour, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar and cornstarch. Mix until just combined. Gently fold in the pastel confetti quins.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and use a spatula or lightly wet hands to evenly press it into the pan. Bake for 22-24 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool completely in the pan before frosting.
For the frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract, cake batter extract, salt and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Beat until smooth. Add additional heavy cream or milk as needed until you reach your preferred consistency.
To assemble:
- Once the cookie bars have completely cooled, spread a thin, even layer of the frosting over the top. If you're adding a border, transfer the remaining frosting to a piping bag fitted with your preferred piping tip and pipe a border around the outside of the bars. Top the piped border with additional pastel confetti quins. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
These bars will rise while baking and sink slightly as they cool. If you want perfectly even bars, use the parchment paper to remove the cooled bars from the pan and trim any raised edges with a sharp serrated knife before frosting.