Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars – Dessert for Two

If you happen to want only one do-it-all recipe that may span each vacation and each season, look no additional than these Sugar Cookie Bars! Tremendous easy to make (simply press the combination into your 8 or 9-inch sq. pan), and prime with the best cream cheese frosting and seasonal sprinkles or candies to fit your temper.

These thick sugar cookie crust topped with cream cheese frosting and embellished with Valentine’s Day hearts went viral on Pinterest years in the past, and so a lot of you will have made them part of your holidays. From birthday sprinkles to Christmas sweets, Halloween sweet, or simply plain, these are positive to turn out to be a traditional in your recipe field.

Merely scrumptious Sugar Cookie Bar Recipe

What would you do in case you had been in a grocery retailer and overheard a girl asking the place the cream cheese is, and as she picked up a bathtub of whipped cream cheese, she then defined that she was planning on making a cheesecake?

Would you chime in to say that whipped cream cheese is not the very best for making a cheesecake? Would you circle the shop whilst you tried to resolve what to do? Am I the one bizarre one who’s upset by this?

I perceive why she finds it confusing–it’s extra frequent to see a bathtub of whipped cream cheese. It is within the fridge at work, and it is what you see on the bagel store. It’s not interchangeable, nevertheless!

I’ve questioned how her cheesecake turned out quite a lot of occasions over the previous few days, and determined the one manner I might apologize to her was to make her a dessert that used whipped cream cheese, like these sugar cookie bars with whipped cream cheese frosting.

Sugar Cookie Bar Substances

• Butter. The bottom of each good sugar cookie is high-quality unsalted butter. I wish to bake with European-style butter as a result of it has a barely larger fats share, however any stick of butter will work right here. We want one stick for the sugar cookie bar base and one other half-stick for the frosting.
• Sugar. One-half cup of white granulated sugar.
• Egg. One giant egg. Do not you like when my small batch desserts use your entire egg?
• Vanilla. The flavour of vanilla actually shines in sugar cookie bars, so use actual vanilla extract, Bourbon vanilla is my favourite.
• Flour. One and three-quarter cup all-purpose flour that you simply fluff, spoon into the measuring cup and stage off with a knife.
• Baking Powder. One-half teaspoon of baking powder to assist them rise within the oven.
• Salt. A small quantity of salt is essential right here to steadiness the tremendous candy cookie base and tremendous candy whipped cream cheese frosting.
• Whipped Cream Cheese. Sure, we’re baking with whipped cream cheese, though I mentioned it’s extremely uncommon to bake with this product. It is good on this clean, creamy cream cheese frosting.
• Powdered Sugar. For evenly sweetening the frosting. Remember any form of sprinkles or sweet decorations that you simply need to add on prime.

Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe Substitutions & Variations

For Valentine’s Day, I exploit heart-shaped candies on prime. For Christmas, pink and inexperienced M&Ms are cute on prime. For Halloween, I exploit black and orange sprinkles. For St Patrick’s Day, inexperienced sprinkles. You may really make these customized for any vacation you might be celebrating.

The way to make Sugar Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese

1. Start by preheating your oven to 350-degrees F, and lining an 8-inch sq. pan with parchment paper in each instructions.
2. Within the bowl of a stand mixer (it’s also possible to use a daily hand mixer right here), add the one stick of softened butter, and beat on medium pace till creamy, about 30 seconds.
3. Proceed to beat whereas streaming in ¾ cup of granulated sugar. Beat till fluffy, about 1 minutes.
4. Subsequent, add the egg and vanilla, and beat simply to mix.
5. Flip the mixer off, and evenly sprinkle the flour, baking powder and salt on prime of the batter.
6. Flip the mixer again on low, and beat simply to include the dry substances. Don’t over-mix.
7. Scoop the batter into the baking pan, and use your fingers to press it right into a flat even layer. Bake for 20 minutes, or till a toothpick comes out largely clear with only some crumbs. You will need to let the sugar cookie bars cool utterly earlier than frosting them, or the frosting will soften and slide proper off!
8. Lastly, make the frosting as soon as the bars are cool: Beat collectively the softened butter and cream cheese in a bowl with a hand mixer for 1 minute, till fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat to mix. Flip the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar one-half cup at a time whereas persevering with to combine. If it appears to thick, you possibly can add a splash of milk.
9. Frost the bars, adorn with sweet sprinkles and serve.

Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe Substitutions & Variations

• Holidays – Combine up the toppings to replicate the present vacation. That is what I did for my Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars–same recipe, totally different topping. You could possibly use robin eggs on prime for Easter, like I did in my Robin Egg Blondies. The hearts are nice for Valentine’s Day, however use Halloween sprinkles, Hannukah stars, shamrocks for St Patrick’s Day, and flags for Froth of July. Enhance them nevertheless you like–this recipe is so versatile!
• Vegan – I’ve efficiently used vegan butter, vegan whipped cream cheese, and vegan egg substitute for this recipe, and it really works nice. For reference, I exploit the Miyoko’s vegan butter, Dealer Joe’s model of vegan cream cheese, and the ‘Simply Egg’ model of synthetic liquid eggs. Use 3 tablespoons of a vegan egg substitute to equal one actual egg. The ‘Simply Egg’ model is essentially the most just like actual eggs, and is made with mung beans.

The way to retailer this recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars

I hold these on the counter for as much as 2 days, and past that, I transfer them to the fridge. You may retailer already baked cookie bars within the freezer, defrost, after which unfold the cream cheese topping on simply earlier than serving.

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars FAQs

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