Bar cookies are the perfect format for sugar cookies. There is no rolling or cutting, frosting the whole batch at once is quick and easy and you can make a nice big batch and cut the bars as big or small as you like. They are still super cute, with frosting in any colour you like and loads of sprinkles, they are a perfect kid cookie that all the adults actually really want to eat too. I like a thick layer of frosting on these, nearly, but not quite, as thick as the cookies themselves. I used a tiny bit of pink and peach food colouring in these to make a soft, sweet peachy pastel frosting swirl, but they would look very sweet in a buttery yellow, a minty green or a soft blue. Add colouring a tiny bit at a time - I think these look the best in a soft, pastel colour and it can be easy to overdo it accidentally with food colouring.
I’m not always a big fan of American buttercream. It’s really sweet, and I think on a cake it’s often just so overwhelming and cloying. It can also be slightly grainy in a way I don’t usually love. But there is something about frosted sugar cookie bars that makes me love American buttercream. I absolutely wouldn’t use any other sort of frosting for these cookies. I like how it crusts over slightly so you can just break through the surface when you bite it. The flavour and texture work with these chewy, vanilla scented bar cookies. The frostings’ normally cloying and over the top sweetness feels just right for these sprinkly cookies that would look and taste right at home at a child's birthday party.
I adapted this recipe a wee bit from the always brilliant Cloudy Kitchen. Her recipe is already basically perfect, but I love to make tiny tweaks. I adapted it to be made in the food processor instead of a stand mixer, but you can do these just as easily in the stand mixer if you prefer. I also add a tiny bit of almond extract to the cookie dough, along with a generous amount of vanilla. It doesn’t really give them a pronounced almond flavour, but it adds a bit of depth and complexity to these otherwise fairly plain cookies. Since they are rather plain and sweet, I think they benefit from fairly generous salt. I used salted butter, but I didn’t reduce the salt in the recipe. You can reduce this if you like, and of course unsalted butter is ok to use if you prefer. I think they benefit from the balance the salt provides to the rather sweet cookie bars, but you can dial it in however you like it.
frosted sugar cookie bars
Adapted, just a tad, from Cloudy Kitchen.
cookie bars
225g butter, room temperature
300g granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract
320g all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp baking soda
Heat oven to 350°F. Like a 9x13” pan with parchment paper.
In a food processor, combine butter and sugar until well combined and very creamy. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extract and process until evenly mixed, scraping down the bowl of the food processor as needed. Add dry ingredients and blend well to ensure there are no streaks of flour.
Press cookie dough into prepared pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the centre is set but soft. Set aside to cool (pop them in the fridge if you need to speed this up).
frosting
170g butter, room temperature
380g powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅛ tsp almond extract
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
food coloring, optional
sprinkles, not optional
In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium-high, use the paddle attachment to whip butter until very light and creamy. Add powdered sugar, drape a large kitchen towel over the bowl to prevent sugar clouds from flying up, and mix on medium-high until well combined. Add salt, extracts, and half the milk and mix until very fluffy and light, several minutes. Check the consistency and add a little more milk until the icing is soft and spreadable. Add food colouring if desired and scrape the bowl well to ensure all colouring is evenly distributed.
Once the cookies are entirely cooled, spread a generous layer of frosting over the cookies. Top with sprinkles and cut into bars.
Note: Make sure cookie bars are fully cooled before frosting them - if you try to frost them when they are even a little bit warm, the frosting will melt.
