Description
These Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars are soft, buttery, frosted, and full of festive holiday color, making them an easy recipe for Christmas dessert trays, cookie exchanges, party food ideas, and simple holiday baking. They give you all the flavor of classic sugar cookies without rolling or cutting dough, so they are perfect for quick dessert ideas, Christmas recipes, easy baking recipes, and sweet food ideas for the season.
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, for frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, for frosting
1 pinch salt, for frosting
2 to 3 drops food coloring, optional
1/3 cup Christmas sprinkles
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease any exposed sides.
2. Beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together until light and creamy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla extract and almond extract.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix just until a soft dough forms.
6. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan.
7. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the edges are set and the center no longer looks wet. Do not overbake.
8. Let the cookie base cool completely in the pan.
9. Beat the frosting butter until creamy, then add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix until smooth and fluffy.
10. Tint the frosting with food coloring if desired, then spread it over the cooled cookie base.
11. Add Christmas sprinkles right away, then chill briefly for cleaner slicing.
12. Cut into bars and serve.
Notes
Do not overbake the cookie base. The bars should stay pale and soft, not deeply golden.
Let the bars cool completely before frosting so the buttercream does not melt.
Chill the frosted bars for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing if you want clean, neat squares.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 245
- Sugar: 25g
- Sodium: 75mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 42mg
Keywords: Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars, sugar cookie bars, Christmas dessert, holiday baking, easy dessert recipe, Christmas cookies, frosted cookie bars