Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars

Frosted Christmas tree sugar cookie bars with red, green and white sprinkles.

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Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars

These soft and chewy Christmas sugar cookie bars are so simple to prep and require no chilling, no rolling dough, but can still be made into cute holiday themed shapes! Cut into triangles and pipe frosting for festive trees or frost and spread with frosting. You choose--but these are so delicious and are sure to be a favorite every holiday season!

Course: cookies, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: bars

Author: Lorie Yarro

Ingredients

Cookie Bars:

2¾ cup flour 343 g
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ - ½ tsp salt
1 ⅓ cup sugar 267 g
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 226 g
2 large eggs room temperature
2 oz cream cheese softened
1½ tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract

Frosting:

½ cup butter, softened **see below if making trees!
2 cups powdered sugar more for thicker frosting
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract you can use peppermint extract instead if desired
pinch of sea salt
1-2 Tbsp heavy cream more as desired
green gel food coloring
holiday sprinkles for topping

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Make the Cookie Bars: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a small bowl and whisk.
Add the softened butter and sugar to a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until light and fluffy (3-5 minutes).
Add the eggs, vanilla bean paste, almond extract and cream cheese. Beat to fully incorporate. Slowly add the dry ingredients and and beat in to incorporate—but only until no streaks of flour are seen. If you want sprinkles in your cookie bars, add the sprinkles with the last bit of dry ingredients. Don’t over mix at this time.
Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment. Press the cookie dough evenly into the pan. The dough will be a bit sticky. I sprayed my hands lightly with oil to help with this. Laying a piece of parchment over it helps as well.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned and the center is set and no longer wet. The edges tend to a bit less gooey than the center, like a brownie would be, and it’s ok if the center still seems a touch under done because as it cools, it sets up nice. Allow to cool completely.
Make the Frosting: (If you plan to make the Christmas trees, double the frosting ingredients)To make the frosting, beat the softened butter until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla, sea salt and almond extract and mix to incorporate. Slowly add 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat until combined. Add the cream, one tablespoon at a time and beat until creamy and fluffy. Add green food coloring (about 5 drops was used for the green in photos) and mix to incorporate. If making the trees, you may need to add a touch extra cream too.
For classic cookie bars: Frost the cookie bars and add extra sprinkles over top. Allow the buttercream to set before cutting.
For Christmas tree bars: Remove the fully cooled cookie bars from the pan by pulling out using the excess parchment as tabs. Slice off the ends and then slice a row of bars, then cut back and forth at a diagonal to create triangle pieces.
Add the buttercream to a piping bag or plastic bag with desired piping tip and decorate by piping in rows or get creative! Allow frosting to set and serve!

Notes

** If making the Christmas trees and piping frosting, use the following measurements:

2 sticks butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
1/2 tsp almond extract
4-5 Tbsp heavy cream
pinch sea salt
green food coloring (about 10 drops)
sprinkles

You will have more than enough to pipe about 24 Christmas trees!

Storage: Store these sugar cookie bars at room temperature in an airtight container for about 3-4 days. They actually become a bit softer the second day I noticed. You can refrigerate them and they will last about 5-6 days but let them sit out for about 15 minutes before serving.

To freeze: it's ideal to freeze them unfrosted, in a freezer safe container for about 3 months. They can be frozen after frosted, but freeze them in a single layer for about an hour before layering at all--use parchment paper between each layer.

Room temperature butter and cream cheese is still a bit cool to touch--it's not greasy or melted at all. Each will make a slight impression when touched but it won't fully give. Internal temperature would be about 65°F-67°F--so a bit cooler than you may think.

Weigh your ingredients for best results. Measuring flour by scooping or spooning it can result in very different amounts which can cause cookie bars to be very dry or if not enough flour, super greasy.

You can add sprinkles to the cookie bars. Naturally dyed sprinkles will often bleed into the cookies a lot. Also, be careful the colors you choose. When I was testing, I used some silver and gold and the silver looked almost like mold in the cookies.

Nutrition