THE BEST Sugar Cookie Bars

Sugar cookie lovers, this recipe is for you! These are THE BEST Sugar Cookie Bars I have ever had and you’re going to be obsessed with this easy recipe! 

THE BEST Sugar Cookie Bars

These really are The Best Sugar Cookie Bars around.  I made these for a meeting when I was visiting my in-laws in Colorado.  I made them, trimmed off the edges to make them a tad more photogenic and they ate the edges… then they decided they were too good for me to take to this meeting!  So we kept all these cookie bars for ourselves! I also posted about them on instagram and got bombarded with people begging  for the recipe, so here it is!  The recipe for THE BEST Sugar Cookie Bars you’ll ever have.  They’re a little fluffy with the perfect amount of frosting.  They’re perfect for Valentine’s day or any event during the year.  Have fun using food color to dye the frosting or adding different sprinkles for Christmas, Easter, birthday parties or game day parties!

Confession: I was never really a fan. of sugar cookies growing up because the only time I had them was when friends would deliver some at Christmas time.  They were always closer to burned than not and smothered with terrible frosting from a can.  But when I got to college and most people seemed to love sugar cookies (even the Lofthouse ones) I decided to give them another chance.  Wow, was I missing out! Now I make sugar cookies for every holiday and find fun way to decorate them.  These sugar cookie bars are the easiest way to enjoy them!

Ultimate Sugar Cookie Bars

There’s a few reasons why I love this recipe.  First of all, these sugar cookie bars taste delicious! That’s a must.  Second, they are super fast to whip up.  It’s a simple recipe to make and then you just dump the dough into a pan and press flat.  No dough balls, no cookie sheets going in and out of the oven every 10 minutes, just easy steps! Let cool and then frost! But one of my favorite things about this recipe is how well they cut! Oh my, every slice is picture perfect! I cut large squares for photos but ended up loving cutting these big squares into 4 tiny squares.  It’s the perfect bite! These really are THE BEST Sugar Cookie Bars with a little chewiness, perfect flavor and texture!

Easy to make Sugar Cookie Bars

Plenty of people are always telling me that they can’t cook or bake, and I just don’t believe them! Everyone can follow a simple recipe or learn to cook or bake a handful of things.  And guess what! You only really need to know 8-10 dinner recipes and 5 dessert recipes.  You can rotate through your dinner recipes during the week, have a pizza night occasionally and you’ll seem like a pro chef.  And as for desserts you just need a cooke recipe, a cake recipe, and maybe a few other treat options.  This recipe for THE BEST Sugar Cookie Bars is a great staple to have. It works for all the holidays and like I wrote above, just switch up the color of the buttercream frosting or sprinkles to fit with any theme! You could even use a cream cheese frosting for a more dense topping.

Yummm… I really do want another bite of these.  They were so good!  The disappeared too fast for me to get another piece.  But guess what, while I’m here in Colorado we already have plans to make a very springy version of these sugar cookie bars! I can’t want to make and taste test them!

Somehow I did not snag a photo of the sugar cookie dough in the baking dish before it went into the oven.  But do make sure you spread the dough into an even layer.  You can use a rubber spatula or clean hands. Unlike cake batter which will spread out, cookie bars can easily bake thicker in some places and thinner in others if the dough isn’t pressed out. Bake them until the edges are a light golden brown!

Many of the companies that sell sugar cookies, some sell them chilled.  Keeping that in mind you can chill these cookie dough bars in an airtight container and see if you prefer them that way!

4.91 from 10 votes

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THE BEST Sugar Cookie Bars

Servings 24

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 1 egg yolk room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour all purpose
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Frosting

• 3/4 cup butter, unsalted room temperature
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9X13 inch casserole dish with parchment paper and lightly grease the sides of the pan. (I use parchment paper to easily lift my cookie bars out after they have cooled.)

2. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.  

3. Add egg, egg yolk, vanilla and almond extract. Mix again.  (To get room temperature eggs fast, place eggs in a bowl of warm-hot water for a few minutes.)

4. In a separate medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

5. Slowly add in dry ingredients (flour mixture) to wet ingredients and mix only until combined.  Dump into prepared pan and press flat.  

6. Bake for 16-20 minutes. The edges will just barely start to turn golden, then take them out and place the pan on a cooking rack! 

7. FROSTING: Beat butter, vanilla and 2 cups powdered sugar.  Continue to add powdered sugar until you like the sweetness level, the frosting should still be soft enough to easily spread on your bars with a knife. If it gets too thick, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk! 

8. Once your bars have cooled, lift up on the parchment paper to remove the entire thing from the pan. Frost, immediately add sprinkles (if you wait they won't stick!), and then cut into bars! Enjoy!