Sugar cookie bars are an easy way to make a batch of cookies without having to roll out the dough. The dough is pressed into a baking dish and then sliced into bars after It’s baked. You can frost and decorate the cookie bars however you like, but I opted for a simple glaze and festive sprinkles.
I don’t make a lot of cookies with frosting because my family doesn’t love it, but when I saw these sugar cookie bars from The Girl Who Ate Everything I had to make them for a family BBQ we had last weekend. I’ve made sugar cookies, but I’d never made sugar cookie bars so I was excited to try them.
I loved how the frosting looked and decided to make my own version. I mostly followed the recipe, but I decided to go easy on the frosting for my family. The cookies turned out great and my family loved them. I’ll be making them again, for sure.
What I like best about these sugar cookie bars are that you don’t have to roll the dough out. Instead, you just press it into a baking dish, bake it, and then slice it into bars. So easy.
Ingredients
- Softened butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
Tips for Making Sugar Cookie Bars
You will want room-temperature butter for this recipe, so leave your butter out for several hours before making these cookie bars. If you’re making them in the morning you can leave the butter out overnight.
You want the butter softened so it creams properly with the sugar. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a handheld electric mixer to cream them together. You want the butter and sugar to be light and fluffy.
It’s best to combine the dry ingredients together before adding them to the wet ingredients. This ensures all of the dry ingredients are evenly disbursed in the batter and makes it much easier to combine the batter.
Lightly press the cookie dough into the baking pan. It doesn’t take long to bake – only 10 to 15 minutes.
The best way to tell when the cookie bars are done is to use a toothpick to check the center. The toothpick should come out clean. The cookie bars may not look like they are fully baked, but as long as the toothpick comes out clean that’s all that matters.
Cool the cookie bars fully before frosting.
Frosting and Decorations
You can use pretty much any kind of frosting you like for these sugar cookie bars, but I opted for a glaze since I only wanted a thin layer of frosting.
- I just combined confectioner’s sugar and milk together until smooth. Depending on how thick you like your glaze you can add more sugar to thicken it or more milk to thin it.
- Because it was the 4th of July, I decorated the top of the frosting with red, white and blue sprinkles but any kind of sprinkles will work.
- Once you’ve frosted and decorated the bars you can slice and serve them.
How to Store Them
Plain sugar cookie bars (without frosting) will keep for two to three days at room temperature in an airtight container. You can also freeze unfrosted bars. Just wrap them tightly and freeze them for up to three months.
Depending on the kind of frosting you use, frosted sugar cookies will keep for several days at room temperature. Or, you can store them in the refrigerator for up to a week.
More Cookie Bar Recipes
Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Bars
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 5 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Frosting/Glaze
- 1 cup confectioner’ s sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
- Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add vanilla and mix well.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda and stir with a whisk to combine. Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined. Spread the batter in an even layer in the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 10-15 min, until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean (they won't look done so do the toothpick test). Cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting, stir together sugar and milk in a small bowl until the sugar is dissolved. If the frosting is too thick add a little more milk to thin it. If too thin, add more sugar. You can add a couple of drops of food coloring for different colored glazes.
Notes
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
How much does this receptive yield ? Thanks 🙂
It makes a 13 by 9 inch pan.
Yours look better, Robyn’s look really dry.