In case you love gentle frosted sugar cookies however don’t love rolling, reducing, and adorning dozens of particular person cookies, these sugar cookie bars are the reply. They’re buttery, further gentle, splendidly chewy, and topped with a thick layer of creamy vanilla buttercream and colourful sprinkles. Better of all, there’s no cookie dough chilling required, making them a fast and straightforward dessert for birthdays, holidays, and celebrations year-round.
I initially printed this recipe in 2014 and have since up to date it with new photographs, a video tutorial, and extra success suggestions.
In case you’re a fan of super-soft frosted sugar cookies, and love the chewy texture of sprinkle-filled chewy drop sugar cookies, these frosted sugar cookie bars mix the very best of each!
Why You’ll Love These Sugar Cookie Bars
- No dough chilling required
- Thick, gentle, and chewy facilities
- Wealthy, buttery sugar cookie taste
- Thick, fluffy vanilla buttercream
- Straightforward to customise along with your favourite taste of frosting and shade of sprinkles
- Excellent for holidays and celebrations year-round
- Freezes fantastically
One reader, S, commented: “After years of constructing cupcakes, pies, cookies and many others. for my buddies, that is unanimously the favourite recipe of something I’ve made. Every chunk transports me again to being a baby and having these youthful first experiences of sweets and birthday events. ★★★★★“
Sugar Cookie Bar Substances
You solely want a handful of primary baking substances for the cookie bars: flour, baking powder + baking soda, cornstarch, salt, butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla + almond extracts. Plus rainbow sprinkles, after all!
These aren’t merely sugar cookies baked in a pan. Every ingredient is rigorously chosen to create an exceptionally gentle, tender texture that stays recent for days.
Just a few notes about a few of the key substances:
- Cornstarch: Only a small quantity of cornstarch helps create an exceptionally tender sugar cookie bar. It retains the cookie bars gentle with out making them cakey. It has the identical job in chewy chocolate chip cookies.
- Butter: Remember to begin with correct room-temperature butter, which remains to be cool to the contact. In case you’re a baking newbie, this put up + video tutorial on cream butter and sugar collectively is a superb place to start out!
- Additional Egg Yolk: 1 egg binds every part collectively and 1 extra egg yolk provides richness, moisture, and chewiness. It’s one in all my favourite methods at any time when I would like cookies to remain gentle for a number of days. Identical story with these chocolate chip cookie bars.
- Sprinkles: Use jimmies-style sprinkles (the strands) within the dough, as a result of nonpareils (the tiny balls) are likely to bleed their shade. Nonpareils are nice for adorning the frosted bars, as pictured right here with confetti quins (the flat discs).
Let’s Make Sugar Cookie Bars
That is a simple, simple recipe that’s great for newbie bakers. Merely whisk collectively the dry substances in a single bowl, then use a second bowl and an electrical mixer to cream collectively butter and sugar. Combine within the remaining moist substances, add within the dry, and mix.
Count on a really sticky, thick dough:
What’s nice about this recipe is that you just don’t have to sit back the cookie dough. Simply press the dough right into a lined pan and bake immediately.
Success Tip: Flour your fingers to assist press the sticky dough into the pan. I used an offset spatula right here, however floured fingers work like a appeal!
The important thing to gentle sugar cookie bars isn’t overbaking them.
Bake till the perimeters are evenly golden and the middle nonetheless seems just a little underdone. This often takes round 25 minutes. The bars will proceed setting as they cool, providing you with a gentle, chewy texture as an alternative of a dry one.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
We’re topping these bars with my favourite vanilla buttercream frosting recipe, solely barely scaled down. It’s candy and fluffy, and I tinted it pink with a small drop of purple gel meals coloring. Tinting the frosting is totally elective.
As you’ll be able to see, the frosting layer is simply as thick because the cookie layer. In some spots, even thicker… and people had been the very best bites!! The frosting recipe as written makes a ton, so don’t be afraid to frost the bars with a heavy hand.
Prime with rainbow sprinkles, or use completely different coloured sprinkles to match a vacation theme.
Success Ideas Summarized:
- Measure flour accurately by spooning and leveling or weighing with a kitchen scale.
- Use room-temperature substances. Room-temperature butter and egg incorporate extra simply into the dough and create a extra even texture.
- Line the baking pan with parchment paper for simple elimination.
- Flour your fingers to press the dough into the pan. It’s a sticky dough, and floured fingers are the very best device for the job!
- Don’t overbake. Pull the bars from the oven when the perimeters are evenly golden however the heart nonetheless seems barely underdone. They’ll proceed setting as they cool, providing you with completely gentle bars as an alternative of crumbly, fluffy ones. Suppose: the dense and chewy texture of brownies!
- The middle of the bars will sink down a bit as they cool; that’s anticipated. In case you’d like, you’ll be able to gently press down the perimeters with the again of a spoon as quickly because the bars come out of the oven, to make issues just a little extra stage.
- Wipe your knife clear between slices for neat squares.
Sure. Double all of the ingredient quantities and bake in a lined 9×13-inch pan.
No. The dough is designed to bake instantly, making these a lot sooner than conventional cut-out sugar cookies.
Sure. It merely provides that basic bakery-style sugar cookie taste, however the bars are nonetheless scrumptious with out it.
The most typical causes are an excessive amount of flour or baking a couple of minutes too lengthy. Measure your flour rigorously and take away the bars from the oven whereas the middle nonetheless seems underbaked.
Completely. The unfrosted cookie bars keep gentle for a full day at room temperature earlier than frosting. You can even: refrigerate frosted bars for as much as 5 days; freeze unfrosted bars for as much as 3 months; freeze particular person frosted bars for fast treats.
These simple sugar cookie bars are excellent for birthdays, child showers, holidays, bake gross sales, classroom events, or anytime you’re craving that nostalgic bakery-style sugar cookie style.
They’re merely every part you’re keen on about sugar cookies with not one of the fuss: no dough chilling, no rolling, no particular person cookie cutters, no particular adorning expertise or instruments wanted. 🙂
Extra Cookie Bar Flavors
Description
These frosted sugar cookie bars are gentle, chewy, buttery, and topped with a thick layer of creamy vanilla buttercream frosting and colourful sprinkles. No dough chilling, rolling pin, or cookie cutters required.
- Make the bars: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9-inch sq. pan or an 8-inch sq. pan with parchment paper, ensuring to go away sufficient overhang on the perimeters. I exploit and like a 9-inch sq. pan. Put aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk collectively the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Put aside.
- In a big bowl utilizing a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar collectively on medium-high velocity till gentle and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the perimeters and backside of the bowl as wanted. Beat in egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract (if utilizing). Scrape down the perimeters and backside of the bowl as wanted.
- Add the dry substances to the bowl with the moist substances and beat on low velocity till largely integrated, then improve to medium-high velocity and beat till utterly mixed. The dough is thick and sticky. Lastly, beat within the rainbow sprinkles.
- Press the cookie dough evenly into the ready baking pan as greatest you’ll be able to. Use a spatula or evenly floured fingers to press evenly; it’ll appear to be a skinny layer of dough.
- Bake for 25–26 minutes or till very evenly browned across the edges. The middle will nonetheless look very gentle, that’s OK; the bars will proceed to set as they cool. Don’t over-bake.
- Permit the bars to chill utterly within the pan set on a cooling rack. The middle will barely sink—that’s anticipated.
- Make the frosting: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium velocity till creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cream, and vanilla extract and beat on low velocity for 30 seconds, then improve to medium-high velocity and beat for 3 full minutes. Cease the mixer and scrape down the perimeters of the bowl as wanted. Add extra confectioners’ sugar if frosting is just too skinny or extra cream if frosting is just too thick. Style; beat in a pinch of salt if the frosting is just too candy. Beat in meals coloring, if utilizing.
- Raise the cooled bars out of the pan by gripping the parchment paper overhang; switch to a reducing board. Unfold the frosting over the bars and embellish with further sprinkles if desired. Lower into squares. Use a really sharp knife and wipe the knife between every lower for neat slices. Retailer bars in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 2 days or within the fridge for as much as 5 days.
Notes
- Make Forward Directions: You can also make these bars and the frosting 1 day prematurely. Retailer the bars, coated, at room temperature in a single day and retailer the frosting, coated, within the fridge. Deliver the frosting to room temperature and provides it a fast combine earlier than utilizing.
- Freezing Directions: You can even freeze the frosted or unfrosted bars for as much as 3 months. Thaw in a single day within the fridge, frost if wanted, lower, and serve.
- Particular Instruments (affiliate hyperlinks): 9-inch Sq. Pan | Electrical Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Cornstarch: Only a small quantity of cornstarch helps create an exceptionally tender sugar cookie bar. It retains the cookie bars gentle with out making them cakey. In case you don’t have any, you’ll be able to merely go away it out.
- Additional Egg Yolk: 1 egg binds every part collectively and 1 extra egg yolk provides richness, moisture, and chewiness. Don’t skip.
- Sprinkles: Use common rainbow sprinkles (aka “jimmies”) within the cookie bar base. Nonpareils (the little balls) will bleed their shade within the dough. Save these for the topping, if desired.
- Cream: Cream or half-and-half makes for the creamiest, fluffiest frosting, however entire milk additionally works.
- Bigger Batch: You’ll be able to double this recipe and bake in a 9×13-inch pan; the bake time is about 35–40 minutes.
- Replace in 2026: This recipe used to name for 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda however over time, I’ve discovered that is just too a lot. Use 1/4 teaspoon baking soda as instructed above, plus the 1 teaspoon baking powder. We additionally lowered the sprinkles from 1/2 cup (80g) to six Tablespoons (60g), and up to date the bake time to assist make sure the bars prove gentle and chewy, fairly than dry.
