Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

These frosted sugar cookie bars are soft, chewy, and topped with fluffy buttercream and sprinkles, all the flavor of sugar cookies with none of the rolling and cutting.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword sugar cookie bars

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Servings servings

Calories 431kcal

Author Jason Decker

Ingredients

3 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 & ½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the frosting:

½ cup unsalted butter softened
2 cups powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
Food coloring of your choice optional
Sprinkles optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper or foil and spray with baking spray, set aside.
Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and whisk until combined, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with an electric mixer and a large bowl, cream the room temperature butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. It ends up being a pale yellow color, about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs in one at a time until incorporated. Add in the vanilla and mix until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix in until just combined, with no dry patches, but do not overmix.
Press the sugar cookie dough into the bottom of the baking dish, I like to use my hands for this.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden brown along the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
While the cookie cools, make the frosting recipe by placing the butter in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer and whip the butter until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined.
Add in the salt, vanilla, and milk, stir in until combined. Scrape the sides as needed.
Whip on medium-high speed for 3 minutes until fluffy; add in food coloring if using and fully mix it in until you reach your desired frosting color, use a spatula to do one last stir in to make sure there are no streaks of white left.
Once the cookie is completely cooled, frost it and add sprinkles if using. Cut into 15 bars and serve.

Notes

This makes a large batch, but you can easily double it to feed more or halve the recipe as needed. Bake in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish to make half a recipe, baking times may vary.
Tons of custom options, see my tips above on that.
Great for a make-ahead dessert or for bake sales.
This freezes well, see my tips above on how to store.
I prefer to use gel food coloring for a more intense color.

Nutrition