Guest Post: Sugar Cookie Bars
*Note from Megan: I’m on a blogging vacation this week! Amanda from Fake Ginger has kindly agreed to do a guest post while I’m gone. If you haven’t visited her site, you need to. She’s got some incredible recipes, and beautiful pictures! And the recipe she’s sharing with us today looks like something I’ll be making in the near future! Thanks Amanda! 🙂
One of my favorite things to do when I have a few hours to kill is make and decorate sugar cookies but with 2 little ones roaming the house it’s hard to find more than 15 free minutes. Enter the sugar cookie bar! It’s everything you love about sugar cookies without all the fuss. Plus you can pile the buttercream as high as you want and not worry about bleeding colors or sliding icing.
The bars themselves are made with a sugar cookie dough but since it’s baked as bars, it’s soft and almost cake-like. You can add any kind of flavoring you like – lemon zest, almond extract, cinnamon, the options are endless. You just press the dough into a pan and 15 minutes later you have a treat that is guaranteed to please just about anyone. I used my favorite lemony buttercream to frost them but if you have a favorite go ahead and use that. Color it anyway you like and make sure you add sprinkles. Sprinkles are always a must!
These were such a hit with my boys! My husband, who hates sugar cookies, couldn’t stop talking about them. Quick, easy, and delicious. You can’t ask for much more!
Sugar Cookie Bars
from Recipe Girl
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Preheat oven to 375. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray with oil.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to wet mixture until just combined. Press into prepared pan.
Bake for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and lift the bars out using the aluminum foil. Cool completely on a wire rack. Frost and enjoy!
Lemony Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
2 – 3 tablespoons heavy cream
With an electric mixer, beat butter until fluffy. Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low until all is incorporated. Mix in vanilla and lemon zest. Add heavy cream a little at a time until icing reaches desired consistency.
Welcome! I'm Megan and it's my hope that here you'll find food that has been made with love and recipes that are shared with joy. Thanks for stopping by! 
wow, that looks great!
They look delish!
These look amazing!
These cookie bars are a favorite at my house. I'm a high school cook and even made these for the school lunch and the kids loved them!
They look yummy!! My husband loves sugar cookies, and these look much easier, so I'll have to try them out!
These are beautiful:)
I tried this tonight, I used a little more cream in the frosting (about 3 oz instead of tablespoons) and it was AWESOME! Unfortunately the cookie bars turned our pretty dry, good flavor, but they definitely needed a glass of milk, no amount of frosting would cure that. I'm going to remake these after the kids are in bed with 4 cups flour instead… I'll post on the outcome later. Thanks for the starter recipe!
Kentucky_Lea – I'm glad you liked these! Sorry to hear the cookie part was a little dry. I haven't actually tried this version before (this was a guest post), but if you find a variation that works better, I hope you'll share it with me! 🙂
I tried these today. I baked them for 15 minutes and was sad a half hour after I'd pulled them out because they weren't fully cooked (so of course I broke all baking etiquette and just popped them back in the oven for about 7 minutes). They were so good and so much less daunting than making the cut and frosted sugar cookies! This recipe is a total keeper. 🙂
indigobegonias – I'm so glad you liked them! And I'm glad the re-baking turned out ok. 🙂