These chewy sugar cookie bars are sweet, chewy, and topped with a vanilla buttercream. They're a quick, easy to make cookie bar that everyone loves!
Chewy sugar cookie bars are the easier version of my favorite cut out sugar cookies, because there is no rolling out dough or cutting required. These only need a few staple ingredients and can be made in less than an hour. And, my favorite part is adding colored frosting and sprinkles to make them festive for anything you need. Team party, holiday, school colors etc.
For more easy cookie bar recipes, try my sheet pan chocolate chip cookies or my brown butter oatmeal cookie bars.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Cookie & Frosting: Nothing beats a sweet cookie with a thick topping of buttercream.
- Easy to Make: I love a cookie bar because no scooping needed. Just smooth into a pan, bake and cut however many you need.
- Perfect for any Holiday or Theme: These can be made using any color of food coloring to make the frosting and sprinkles work for whatever you're celebrating!
Ingredient Notes
Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
- Butter: I love using salted butter in my recipes, but unsalted works great too.
- Sugar: You will use granulated sugar for the cookie bars and powdered sugar for the buttercream.
- Almond Extract: If you don't like almond flavor you can sub with vanilla.
- Flour: If you have a scale it is best to weigh your ingredients, especially the flour. If not, lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup.
Step by Step Instructions
- Step 1: Place the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla and almond extract and mix on low until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Step 2: Slowly mix in flour, baking powder and salt, being careful not to over mix. I usually stop when I still have some flour remnants around the bowl.
- Step 3: Spread the batter into the pan. It will be sticky, but just try your best.
- Step 4: Bake the bars for 15-18 minutes. You're looking for a nice light golden brown around the edges, but be careful not to over bake. Set aside to cool.
- Step 5: Mix together the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk and salt until completely smooth. Add food coloring if you want it colored.
- Step 6: Spread the buttercream evenly over the cooled cookie bars. Sprinkle with sprinkles if wanted. Chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes, this will help keep the buttercream in place while cutting. Enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- I love adding food coloring and whatever sprinkles I have to make these a fun, festive holiday cookie bar.
- You can half this recipe and bake in an 8" pan reducing the baking time by 2-3 minutes. You can also double this recipe and bake in a 13x18 sheet pan and increase the baking time by 3-5 minutes.
- I prefer having a thick frosting layer on top of these, but if you don't love thick frosting you could make half of the frosting recipe.
FAQ
Yes, adding ½ cup of jimmy sprinkles would work great in these cookie bars.
Yes, these cookie bars work great with a gluten free flour as well.
Storing & Freezing
These chewy sugar cookie bars will remain fresh if stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can also prep the cookie dough and/or buttercream in advance and store it in the fridge for about a week.
You can freeze your cookie bars in an airtight container for 2-3 months with them remaining fresh. Just allow to come to room temperature before serving.
Other Popular Recipes to Try
For more yummy treats follow me on instagram @thesaltedsweets. And be sure to tag me and comment if you make them and love them as much as I do!
Chewy Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) salted butter room temperature
- 1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) almond extract room temperature
- 2¼ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
Vanilla Buttercream
- ¾ cup (170.25 g) salted butter room temperature
- 3½ cups (420 g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste
- 4-5 tablespoons (4 tablespoons) milk of heavy cream
- pinch of salt
- food coloring & sprinkles if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray and line a 13x9 metal baking pan with parchment paper.
- Place the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla and almond extract and mix on low until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Slowly mix in flour, baking powder and salt, being careful not to over mix. I usually stop when I still have some flour remnants around the bowl.
- Spread the batter into the pan. It will be sticky, but just try your best.
- Bake the bars for 15-18 minutes. You're looking for a nice light golden brown around the edges, but be careful not to over bake. Set aside to cool.
- Mix together the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk and salt until completely smooth. Add food coloring if you want it colored.
- Spread the buttercream evenly over the cooled cookie bars. Sprinkle with sprinkles if wanted. Chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes, this will help keep the buttercream in place while cutting. Enjoy!
Michelle
I noticed in the “step by step” section of making the BAR that you mentioned adding MILK after creaming the butter and sugar , but milk is not on the actual recipe section . Can you indicate how much milk?
Thank you.
I love making your recipes!
I just had surgery on my wrist a few weeks ago, definitely slowed down / stopped my baking but coming back !
Michelle
Brooke Homec
Sorry Michelle, that was a typo. It was supposed to be almond extract.
Kaleigh Koeppen
These turned out absolutely perfect! Easy to make but delicious and fun and so much easier than sugar cookies! The frosting recipe made a bit more than we needed but we saved it for another day!
Shauna Phillips
Great for when you don’t want to deal with cutting and frosting individual cookies. Stayed soft for days. I used all of the frosting and it was a little too much for me. Next time I will make a bit less and then they’ll be perfect.
Kaleigh Koeppen
These turned out so so good!!! Made more frosting than I needed but that’s a good problem to have 🙂
So much easier than traditional sugar cookies, quick, easy, delicious and cute!
Jasmine
Made these today with my daughter and they were a huge hit! Question- do you need to refrigerate these because of the buttercream? Or are they safe at room temperature and for how long?
Brooke Homec
You don't have to, room temperature is fine. But I do love eating these chilled!
Emily
These are so fun! Made these with my kids (ages 7 and 6) and they enjoyed the whole process except the waiting haha. These bars are perfectly flavorful and delicious. I omitted the almond extract for personal taste preferences but it’s a delicious sugar cookie bar!
Ashley Garbutt
Recipe was so easy to follow and was such a hit!! I did have to cook mine about 5 minutes longer, not sure what I did different there besides skipping the almond extract but over all will be saving and making for every holiday!!
Debbie Wronka
My kids loved them and my husband loved the almond addition! So much easier than sugar cookies but all the same flavors! T
Lonna & Landon
We made these for Super bowl Sunday, and of course we tried them before! We also made 1/2 batch of the frosting as we were running low on powdered sugar. These were fabulous and so much faster than individual cookies. We will be making these lots more…and for our neighbors as well!
Janee
Seriously, so good! They are so soft and the frosting ratio is perfect!
Holly
If you're looking for a foolproof dessert, try these Chewy Sugar Cookie Bars. The recipe is very straightforward and I appreciated being able to bake these in a pan versus using a scoop to make individual cookies. I took these to a Superbowl party and they were a big hit. Try them chilled, they're so good!
Erica
So cute and easy to make. Perfect galentines treat
Stephanie Wright
These are fantastic!
Megan Rader
This went together so easily and looks great! Thank you for sharing.
Erin M.
These were a hit! They're easy and delicious and I love how you can add coloring or not to change it for different times of the year! I had leftover Christmas sprinkles that I needed to use but no one cared because they tasted so good! I didn't use the almond extract but used vanilla instead. Everyone loved them!
Ashley J
Cookie bar is delicious!!! I made it twice in one week! Our family wasn’t a fan of the frosting so on the second batch I made my own frosting and the pan disappeared!
Maddy
Very yummy sugar cookies and because they’re in bar form, they can be cut big or small, while also allowing them all to bake at once! Great recipe
Brooklyn
These are the perfect sugar cookie! I haven’t loved regular sugar cookies recently, but these were amazing! Perfect chewy, soft cookie with a delicious, thick frosting! My new go to sugar cookie!
Katie
These were delicious and easy to make! I will make them again!
Lynzee
We not only loved the almond taste of these cookies but they were so easy! If you have ever had the original 'Swig' cookie - these are better!
Joan
These are delicious. I really like the almond flavor in the cookies. Fun to customize for a holiday. So easy to make and nice that I had all ingredients on hand. I liked chilling them before serving.
Liz W
Delicious! My family loves frosted sugar cookies but we only make them at Christmas time because they’re so much work. These are just as tasty and so easy. I’ll definitely be making them again.
Giada
Soft, chewy, and perfectly sweet, these sugar cookie bars are easy to make and topped with rich vanilla buttercream.
Adrienne
These are so yummy and so much easier than making individual cookies. I love that you can do anything with them for any holiday or event! Great recipe!
Heidi M
Had so much fun with this recipe! Love the cookie bars so much!
Elisa M
Such a tasty, quick, easy, and fun way to make sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day! Heck! Make them for any day! Very yummy indeed!
Allison Nickelson
These turned out great. The frosting wasn’t overbearing and my coworkers devoured them.
Erin
These turned out just perfect. The icing is delicious. These will be a new household staple to whip up!
Andrea
Loved this recipe. The almond extract elevates the flavor. We liked the frosting to cookie ratio and that we didn’t have to roll out, cut and frost several cookies-but still got the delicious flavor of sugar cookies. Will definitely be repeating this recipe.
Michelle D. Viray
These were soooo yummy chilled! I used rainbow colored sprinkles and left the frosting undyed as a quick/easy alternative to a birthday cake! And now w I can’t wait to try making ALLLL the cookie bar recipes I discovered you have!! So fun and easy!
Christin
Easier than cutout cookies and honestly more delicious 😉 The almond extract and vanilla are absolute heaven