Chewy Sugar Cookie Bars Recipes

SOFT AND CHEWY SUGAR COOKIE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch glass pan with parchment paper or foil, to make it easy to lift the bars out of the pan and slice. (Foil needs to be sprayed with nonstick spray) Or you can grease the pan directly with nonstick spray.
• In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat 3/4 cup butter on medium speed until it is soft and fluffy, 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides at least once.
• Add the softened 4 ounces of cream cheese and continue to beat for 1 minute, until well incorporated.
• Add 1 and 1/2 cups sugar and beat well, 1-2 minutes, until fluffy. Scrape down the sides.
• Add 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 and 3/4 teaspoon almond extract. Beat well. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. This is my spatula that I love and use for every baking project.
• Add 1 teaspoon salt, 2 and 3/4 cup flour, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Beat until just barely combined, scraping the sides and bottom again. Do not stir too much or you will make your dough tough.
• Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Get your hands a little wet (shake off excess water) and press the dough evenly into the pan. (You can also grease your hands if you prefer.)
• Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. Every oven is different, keep an eye on it. The bars are done when there are just a few golden spots on the edges, and the center is no longer shiny. It's very important not to over bake sugar cookie bars, or they will not be soft and chewy. (They will become dry and crumbly.) When a toothpick comes out of the center with no dough on it, they are done. If you are baking in a metal pan, it will bake a couple minutes faster.
• Let the bars cool completely on a wire rack. Do not frost while warm.
• Top the bars with one batch of The Best Buttercream Frosting for Sugar Cookies!
• To slice into clean bars as shown in the photos, slice off about an inch from all four edges, then slice into bars, cleaning your knife before making each cut.

SUGAR COOKIE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. (The parchments paper is for easy removal.)
• Cream butter and sugar together (this just means stir together until it's light and fluffy). Next stir in egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl and stir again.
• Then stir in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. It won't look like a traditional dough at first, but if you grab a handful it should stick together and hold its shape.
• Spread the dough evenly into the prepared dish and press down. Bake 20-25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown! Remove from the oven and cool completely.
• Stir all frosting ingredients together until smooth and fluffy. Start by adding 3 tablespoons milk then add more until frosting is the desired consistency.
• Spread over cooled cookie bars and add sprinkles if desired. Cut and serve.

SOFT AND CHEWY SUGAR COOKIE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9-inch by 13-inch rectangular baking pan with butter.
• In a large bowl using a hand mixer or in the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on high speed for several minutes until they're creamed together (fluffy and smooth and pale in colour).
• Beat in the sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract until well incorporated.
• Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix on low speed just until combined. The mixture may appear slightly crumbly but this is totally normal.
• Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan with your hands or a flat kitchen object like the bottom of a measuring cup.
• Bake the sugar cookie base at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 16-17 minutes, making sure that no browning occurs on the edges. If the edges start to brown, remove the base from the oven immediately.
• Let the sugar cookie base cool completely to room temperature while you make the frosting.
• In a large bowl using a hand mixer, or in the bowl of your stand mixer, whip the butter on high speed until it's ultra smooth and pale in colour.
• Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until it's well incorporated.
• While the mixer is running, add the whipping cream in a steady stream until the desired consistency is reached (spreadable, but not too thin). You may only need to add 4 or 5 tablespoons of whipping cream.
• Add the vanilla and sea salt and food colouring and whip on high speed until the frosting becomes light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes).
• Spread the frosting over the completely cooled sugar cookie base and top with sprinkles.
• Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before slicing to allow the icing to set (this will create clean slices).

CHEWY SUGAR COOKIE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, making sure to leave enough overhang on the sides. Set aside.
• In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the softened butter for about 1 minute on medium speed. Get it nice and smooth, then add the sugar on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Scrape down the sides as needed.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 different parts. The dough is quite thick.
• Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 25-26 minutes or until very lightly browned on top. You want the cookie bars to be extra soft, so careful not to overbake. Allow the bars to cool completely on a wire rack at room temperature before frosting. The center will slightly sink - that's normal.
• When completely cool, frost with a thick layer of frosting and make sure to top with sprinkles!

CHEWY BROWN SUGAR BARS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease or spray 9x13 pan.
• 2. Melt butter in saucepan. Remove from heat.
• 3. Stir in brown sugar, eggs, and flour. Mix well. The batter is thick.
• 4. Add vanilla extract and pecans.
• 5. Spread into a 9x13 greased pan.
• 6. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes (depending on your oven).
• 7. They are done when they are brown, pulling away from sides of the pan and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.

PUMPKIN PIE COOKIE BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil, leaving foil overhanging at 2 opposite sides of pan; spray with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, mix cookie mix, softened butter, egg, dry pudding mix and pumpkin pie spice with spoon or hands until dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan.
• Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 1 hour.
• Remove bars from pan by lifting foil; peel foil away. Cut into 27 triangles as follows: Cut 3 horizontal rows. Cut each row into 9 triangles so each triangle has a 2-inch wide base. (See diagram below.) Set aside end pieces for snacking.
• In small microwavable bowl, place 1 1/4 cups frosting. Stir in orange food color and 1/4 teaspoon of the cocoa until blended. Spoon 1/2 cup orange-tinted frosting into decorating bag fitted with small round piping tip. Pipe a border on outside edge of each triangle. Let stand 15 minutes to set border.
• Microwave remaining orange-tinted frosting uncovered on High 10 to 30 seconds or until thin enough to pour and spread (also known as flooding). Place about 1 teaspoon warmed frosting in center of each triangle. Using back of measuring teaspoon, carefully push and spread to glaze top of bar. Repeat with each triangle. Rewarm frosting in microwave to maintain glazing consistency if needed. Let stand 10 minutes to set glaze.
• In another small bowl, place 3/4 cup frosting; stir in remaining 3/4 teaspoon cocoa. Spoon cocoa frosting into another decorating bag fitted with small star piping tip. Pipe 5 to 6 small stars at short edge of each triangle.
• Clean same star piping tip used in above step, and place into another decorating bag. Spoon remaining 1/3 cup vanilla frosting into decorating bag. Pipe small rosette in center of each bar. (Use photo as guide.)
• Store covered in single layer in airtight container at room temperature.