Name: Sugar Cookie Bars
Yield: 24

This Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe delivers soft, sweet, buttery bars topped with a thick layer of creamy frosting and colorful sprinkles on top!

author’s notes

Everything I Wanted in Sugar Cookie Bars

I love a thick, soft, chewy sugar cookie. (These are my forever favorite.) But every time I tried sugar cookie bars, I ended up a little disappointed. Too dry, not enough flavor, or just kind of…blah.

So I set out to fix that. I used melted butter instead of softened for a better chew, swapped in brown sugar for extra softness and flavor, and added a few skippable flavor boosts. Then I mixed in white chocolate chips. Not traditional, but they add the reliable pop of sweetness and a nice touch of texture.

Finish the bars with a thick layer of creamy frosting and they turn into exactly what I was hoping for. Soft, chewy, sweet, and completely irresistible. My dream sugar cookie bar! I hope you love them as much as I do.

All. the ingredients in this recipe prepped out for straightforward assembly including the flour, white chocolate chips, salt, baking powder, eggs, vanilla, melted butter, and brown sugar.

Ingredients In My Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe

Ingredient	Let’s Chat About It
Butter & brown sugar	Use melted butter for a better chew. Let it cool slightly so it doesn’t melt the sugar. Use soft, fresh brown sugar; if it’s hard or clumpy, the bars won’t turn out as well.
Eggs & vanilla extract	Make sure eggs are at room temp so everything mixes smoothly.
Flour, baking powder & salt	Make sure the baking powder is fresh. Once the flour is added, mix just until combined so the bars stay soft. Over-mixing can make them dense.
Orange zest & skippable flavor add-ins	Zest brightens the flavor; add cardamom, almond extract, or additional citrus zest for even more flavor!
Frosting ingredients & sprinkles	Beat frosting until light and fluffy for the best texture; add sprinkles right after frosting.

The base dough for this Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe being whisked together in one bowl.

How To Make This Sugar Cookie Bar Recipe

Prep: Line pan and Heat oven.
Mix Wet: Stir butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
Add Dry: Mix in dry ingredients just until combined.
Bake: Press into pan and bake until set; cool completely.
Frost: Beat frosting until light and fluffy.
Finish: Frost, add sprinkles, and cut into bars.

the cook’s Notes

How to Know They’re Done

When making this Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe, it’s better to slightly under-bake. The edges should be lightly golden while the center stays soft but set.

The dry ingredients aded into the batter and then it all spread into a pan to bake.

Variations

Different Frosting Ideas

The classic vanilla frosting is a reliable, but you can easily switch it up.

Keep it simple with vanilla and change the sprinkles (great for different holidays!)
Cream cheese frosting for a slight tang
Chocolate frosting for a richer option (swap white chocolate for milk chocolate chips)
Strawberry frosting for a fruity sugar cookie bar