Halloween Sugar Cookies are the easiest treat to make when you are wanting to feed a crowd. These sugar cookie bars are soft, flavorful and topped with a delicious buttercream frosting. If you are needing an easy treat to make, these sugar cookies bars are it.
I love baking holiday themed treats. Especially when I am baking for my kiddos. I love using sprinkles and making everything colorful. Seeing their little eyes light up whenever they see and taste each creation is so heartwarming. This Sugar Cookie Bars recipe has been a family favorite for a while and making it Halloween themed has been so much fun.
I think you will love how easy these sugar cookie bars are to make, so much easier than rolling out, cutting, and individually frosting cookies. They are also easy to customize. Making them perfect for any holiday. You can change the color of the buttercream, mix together different sprinkles or just mix sprinkles in the cookie dough and leave off the buttercream. There are so many ways to customize these sugar cookie bars.
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How To Make Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars
- Cream together the softened butter and sugar for 5-6 minutes. You are looking for the mixture to be lighter in color and fluffier.
- While the butter and sugar are creaming, combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk together until fully combined. Set aside.
- Add in the egg. Making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure the egg is fully incorporated. Add in the vanilla extract, almond extract and lemon zest. Mix until fully combined.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix (scraping down the sides as needed) until fully combined. Be careful to not overmix the dough.
- Press evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
How To Make Buttercream Frosting
In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment add the softened butter and begin mixing it until smooth, light and fluffy. Approximately 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
With the mixer on the lowest setting, slowly add in the powdered sugar, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed. Once all of the powdered has been added, turn the mixer speed up to next setting and mix for 1 minute.
Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl and add in the salt, vanilla extract and heavy cream. Mix well to combine.
If coloring the buttercream add in a few drops of your food coloring, mix and continue adding the food coloring until you get the color you are looking for. I really like using gel food coloring.
Storage Tip
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
I recommend allowing the sugar cookie bars to come to room temperature before serving. This allows the frosting to soften up and makes the texture better.
Tip
Make a custom sprinkle mix by taking a few different sprinkle containers and mixing them together. I almost always use a mixture of 2-3 different sprinkles when decorating.
Prepping Tip
You can make the sugar cookie bars a day or two in advance. I would recommend waiting to frost them until the day you plan to serve them.
By waiting to frost them you can simply store the unfrosted sugar cookie bars (wrapped in plastic wrap) on the counter. Just make the frosting and decorate the bars the day you plan to serve them. This way you don't have to worry if they are too cold to eat whenever you serve them.
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📖 Recipe
Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 lemon zested
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Buttercream Frosting
- 4 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- As Needed orange food coloring
- As Needed halloween sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350° F. Line a 9x13 pan parchment paper and lightly grease the sides of the pan.
- Cream together the softened butter and sugar for 5-6 minutes. You are looking for the mixture to be lighter in color and fluffier.
- While the butter and sugar are creaming, combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk together until fully combined. Set aside.
- Add in the egg. Making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure the egg is fully incorporated. Add in the vanilla extract, almond extract and lemon zest. Mix until fully combined.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix (scraping down the sides as needed) until fully combined. Be careful to not overmix the dough.
- Press evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream Frosting
- In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment add the softened butter and begin mixing it until smooth, light and fluffy. Approximately 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer on the lowest setting, slowly add in the powdered sugar, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed. Once all of the powdered has been added, turn the mixer speed up to next setting and mix for 1 minute.
- Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl and add in the salt, vanilla extract and heavy cream. Mix well to combine. Mix in food coloring until desired color is reached.
Decorating Sugar Cookie Bars
- Spread an even layer of buttercream all over the cooled cookie bars. Top with sprinkles. Enjoy!
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