These easy sugar cookie bars are the ultimate crowd-pleasing dessert. Soft, thick, and perfectly chewy, they are baked in one pan and topped with the absolute best vanilla buttercream frosting. They have all the nostalgic flavor of classic sugar cookies but with a fraction of the effort!
If you love homemade sugar cookies but dread the tedious process of chilling dough, rolling it out, and cutting out individual shapes, these simple cookie bars are about to be your new go-to recipe. They take far less time to bake and frost than individual cookies, making them a fantastic, stress-free option for busy weeknights, birthday parties, or holiday gatherings.
Table of contents
The beauty of these bars lies in their versatility. You can easily tint the creamy buttercream with food coloring and top them with festive sprinkles to match any occasion. Whether you are whipping up a quick weekend treat or looking for a dessert to pair with a batch of my chewy homemade chocolate chip cookies or classic melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies, this recipe is guaranteed to be a hit.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Unsalted Butter: Make sure your butter is properly softened to room temperature before you begin. Softened butter creams beautifully with the sugar, trapping the air needed to give these bars their signature soft, tender texture.
- The Flavor Trio (Vanilla, Almond, & Lemon Zest): This combination is my absolute secret weapon for the best-flavored sugar cookies. Pure vanilla extract provides a rich, warm base, while almond extract adds a classic bakery-style depth. The fresh lemon zest doesn't make these taste like a lemon dessert; instead, it cuts through the sweetness and makes the flavors pop. If you don't have almond extract, you can omit it, but I highly recommend keeping the lemon zest!
- Egg: You will need one large egg at room temperature. A room-temperature egg incorporates smoothly into the creamed butter and sugar without causing the batter to seize.
- All-Purpose Flour: This gives the bars their structure. Be sure to spoon and level your flour when measuring so the bars stay perfectly soft and chewy instead of dense.
- Heavy Cream: Used in the buttercream frosting to create an incredibly smooth, fluffy, and spreadable texture. If you do not have heavy cream, whole milk can be substituted.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and measurements.
How To Make Sugar Cookie Bars
These cookie bars are incredibly simple to put together. Since there is no rolling or cutting required, you can have them ready in a fraction of the time of traditional cookies!
- Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, then mix in the egg, extracts, and fresh lemon zest.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl.
- Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until a thick dough forms.
- Press the dough evenly into a lined 9x13 pan and bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely.
- Whip up the quick buttercream frosting and spread it in an even layer over the cooled bars.
- Add sprinkles, chill the pan for 15 minutes to easily cut them into clean squares, and serve!
See the recipe card below for the full recipe.
👉 Sky's Tips
- Use Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure both your butter and your egg are at true room temperature. Cold ingredients will not cream together smoothly and can make your dough separate.
- Don't Overmix the Dough: Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix just until the flour disappears. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which will make your cookie bars tough instead of soft and chewy.
- Bake in a Metal Pan: For the absolute best texture, bake these cookie bars in a metal baking pan rather than a glass or ceramic dish. Metal heats up quickly and evenly, ensuring your bars get a perfectly soft, even bake from edge to edge without drying out.
- For Clean Slices: Do not skip the 15 to 20 minute chill in the refrigerator after frosting! Slicing the bars while the buttercream is slightly firm is the secret to getting perfect, bakery-clean squares.
I hope these Easy Sugar Cookie Bars are as big of a hit with your family as they are with mine!
-Sky🩷
More Delicious Recipes
FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube to stay connected!
If you tried this Easy Sugar Cookie Bars with Buttercream Frosting recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟star rating and let me know how it went in the comment section below!
📖 Recipe
Sugar Cookie Bars with Buttercream Frosting
Equipment
- 9x13 metal pan
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¼ cup granulated 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
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- As Needed sprinkles
Instructions
- For the cookie dough: Preheat an oven to 350° F. Line a 9x13 pan with 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.
- For the 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.
- Spread an even layer of buttercream all over the cooled cookie bars. Top with sprinkles. Enjoy!
Dannii says
These are super cute. My kids has so much fun making them.
Kechi says
My kids would goggle these sugar cookie bars down! I cannot wait to make this recipe with them! Thanks for sharing.
Harriet Young says
These were SO tasty and looked cute too! Thank you for the recipe
Elisa says
Love this Sugar Cookie Bars recipe, never made them in bars, so will make them soon with the kiddos, look delicious!! thanks for sharing 🙂
Ned says
These are festive and fun! Loved decorating these with my daughter for St. Patrick's Day coming up. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Kimberly says
These are so fun and festive, I'm going to make these for Easter with my kids!
Tayler says
I made these bars for a party over the weekend and they were fantastic! Everyone loved them!
Sky Pilgreen says
That's fantastic to hear!
Helen says
These look fabulous! I've never made sugar cookies as bars before - what a great idea 🙂
Sky Pilgreen says
Thank you!
Tiff says
Great recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Sammy says
Love this recipe! Made them for my daughter's birthday and everyone loved them!
Simply Scratch Made says
That is wonderful to hear!