Gluesticks Blog

  • About
  • Sewing
    • My Book
    • Kids Sewing Projects
    • All Sewing Projects
  • Crafts
    • Kids Crafts
    • Paper Crafts
    • Free Printables
    • All Crafts
  • Holidays
    • Christmas
    • Halloween
    • Patriotic Holidays
    • Easter
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Gift Ideas
      • Teacher Gifts
      • All Gift Ideas
    • Parties
  • Home
    • Home Decor Projects
    • Cleaning & Organizing
    • Gardening
    • Motherhood
  • Recipes
    • Kids in the Kitchen
    • Appetizer Recipes
    • Bread Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
      • Cake Recipes
      • Cookie Recipes
      • All Dessert
    • Main Dish Recipes
    • Slow Cooker
    • Sides & Salads
    • Holiday Recipes
    • All Recipes

January 16, 2021 By Brandy 17 Comments

Home » Recipes » Dessert Recipes

Bakery Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe (Video)

Filed Under: Dessert Recipes, Easter, Holiday Recipes

Jump to Recipe

Bakery sugar cookie bars are buttery, soft, and melt in your mouth delicious! Frost with vanilla buttercream and add mini sprinkles and they are the perfect dessert to serve for any occasion! This post contains affiliate links.

Watch our step by step video!

If you like our Bakery Style Sugar Cookie recipe you will LOVE these bars! They are so soft, buttery, and have just the right amount of almond and vanilla flavoring. We started making these in cookie bar form and they are so irresistible. Perfect for any holiday, but this robin’s egg frosting and mini egg sprinkles make them perfect for Easter. A pale yellow or lavender shade of frosting would be beautiful too!

Bakery Sugar Cookie Bars

stack of 3 bakery sugar cookie bars

These are so great to bring to parties. One sheet pan makes 40 bars, so there are plenty to share.

bakery sugar cookie bar with bite taken out of it

The combination of butter and shortening create the perfect texture. You can taste the hints of vanilla almond extract and they are rich with a buttery flavor. When made into bars they are even easier to make—no cutting or rolling out the dough! As an added bonus, you don’t need to chill the dough!

tray of sugar cookie bars with small spatula

Frosting these sugar cookie bars couldn’t be simpler, just wait for the cookie crust to cool then spread with frosting. No special technique required and they turn out perfect every time.

sugar cookie bars cut into squares

 

Tips and frequently asked questions for making Sugar Cookie Bars:

Note: If you use salted butter, no additional salt is required. If you use unsalted butter, add 1 tsp. of salt in with your dry ingredients.

Tip: sprinkle dough with a small amount of flour as you are pressing into the pan to prevent it it from sticking to your hands.

Tip: when you cut the bars, use a sharp knife and clean the frosting off with a paper towel after each line of cutting. This makes for clean edges and beautiful sugar cookie bars when they come out of the pan.

Tip: Use an angled frosting spatula for perfect spreading!

Tip: I like using sheet pans instead of a casserole dish. These are my FAVORITE sheet pans to use for baking.

stack of cookie bars on parchment paper

Can you use margarine instead of butter to make sugar cookie bars?

I don’t recommend using margarine in baking EVER. It just doesn’t produce the same results, but you could substitute it for the butter. Just don’t come back and give my recipe a negative review if they aren’t as soft. 😉

How many bars does this recipe make?

This recipe makes 40 bars.

Can you use store-bought frosting on the cookie bars?

Absolutely, but my vanilla frosting recipe is super easy and super delicious! I definitely recommend trying it!

How do you store sugar cookie bars?

Store the cookie bars in a container with a lid. You can also freeze them. They are best eaten the day they are made, but will stay delicious and fresh for 2-3 days.

 

stack of sugar cookie bars

 

Bakery Sugar Cookie Bars Printable Recipe

stack of sugar cookie bars

Bakery Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe

Bakery sugar cookie bars are buttery, soft, and melt in your mouth delicious! Frost with vanilla buttercream and add mini sprinkles! We'll start with our favorite sugar cookie base and add a yummy homemade buttercream on top.
4.57 from 23 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Cooling: 30 minutes
Total Time: 33 minutes
Servings: 40
Calories: 191kcal

Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Dough

  • 1 cup butter* room temperature
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 3 1/2   cup flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting

  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 3 cup powdered sugar sifted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 Tbsp. milk
  • food coloring (a few drops)

Instructions

  • In a large bowl combine butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat until fluffy (I use my stand mixer, but an electric hand mixer works great too).
  • Add egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix.
  • In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.
  • Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until a soft dough forms. Dough will be soft, but slightly crumbly.
  • Scrape dough out of the bowl with a rubber spatula and press dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet/baking pan (13" x 18").
  • Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.
  • Cool unfrosted bars completely.
  • Mix frosting ingredients together until fluffy. Frost cooled cookie bars in an even layer and add sprinkles.

Notes

*If you use salted butter, no additional salt is needed. If you use unsalted butter, add 1 tsp. of salt to your dry ingredients.
Tip: sprinkle dough with a small amount of flour as you are pressing into the pan to prevent it from sticking to your hands.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 191kcal
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

About Brandy

Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!

Previous Post: « Favorite Green Smoothie Recipe (Video)
Next Post: Samoas Rice Krispies Treats (Video) SO EASY! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. naomi winkel says

    July 5, 2019 at 5:51 pm

    5 stars
    I need a quick and easy recipe for this Sundays Luncheon. I’m making this, it looks yummy

    Reply
  2. Janet says

    October 23, 2019 at 9:46 pm

    5 stars
    Made these today and they are quick and easy. A big hit with my family and much easier than making drop or rolled sugar cookies. I love almond and may add just a bit more next time.
    Great recipe!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      October 24, 2019 at 2:21 pm

      Awesome! So glad you liked them!

      Reply
  3. Susan Keenan says

    March 28, 2020 at 12:29 am

    Brandy,

    If some family members are allergic to tree nuts, can you substitute all vanilla for the almond extract? If so, is it the same amount of extract? Or would the combo of vanilla and maybe lemon extract be better?

    Thanks! Susan K

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 28, 2020 at 11:11 pm

      Hi Susan! Yes, absolutely! The almond extract can be swapped out. I’d probably just use 1 T. of vanilla for the recipe.

      Reply
  4. Sara says

    March 11, 2021 at 10:55 pm

    I don’t want to use shortening. What’s an alternative?

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 12, 2021 at 8:31 am

      Just use more butter.

      Reply
  5. Gina says

    March 29, 2021 at 7:15 am

    I don’t see mention of food coloring for the frosting. I’m assuming you used blue. How much?

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 29, 2021 at 3:40 pm

      Hi Gina! Just a few drops. I used a few drops of blue and a drop of yellow for the robin’s egg blue color.

      Reply
  6. Rebecca Evans says

    March 31, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    Hi! I am new to baking 🙂 Do I use self-rising flour or plain flour in your recipe? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 31, 2021 at 3:02 pm

      Hi Rebecca! Regular (all-purpose) flour works great!

      Reply
  7. Deb W says

    February 15, 2022 at 6:00 pm

    Do you need to grease and flour your pan?

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      February 16, 2022 at 10:14 am

      No, you can use an ungreased baking sheet. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Ronee says

    March 8, 2022 at 2:43 pm

    Hi Brandy, would using parchment paper work as I don’t want knife marks on my cookie sheet. Is there another way to prevent scratching when cutting with a sharp knife as you suggest.
    Thanks
    Ronee

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 8, 2022 at 2:55 pm

      Hi Ronee! You can absolutely use parchment paper!

      Reply
  9. Jenny says

    April 19, 2022 at 10:34 am

    My bars came out so flat! I used the correct size pan. What did I do wrong?

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      April 19, 2022 at 10:06 pm

      They are fairly thin, slightly thicker than a sugar cookie. If they turned out thinner than that I’m not sure what could have gone wrong!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About the Author

Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you! Learn More About The Author

My Sewing Book for Kids!

kids sewing book cover

Newsletter

Pop Tart Gingerbread House!

pop tart house with candy and frosting

Snowman Hot Chocolate Bombs!

hand holding snowman hot chocolate bombs over mug

Hot Chocolate Bombs!

hot chocolate bomb next to white mug of hot chocolate

Pop Tart Bunny House

pop tart bunny house. on white plate

Affiliate Link Disclosure

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Let’s Connect!

If you make one of my projects, I’d love to see it! Tag me @gluesticksblog #gluesticksblog

Bonus Guide

  • Home
  • Website Accessibility
  • My Book
  • Privacy Policy
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2022 Log in

Gluesticks blog logo
  • About
  • Sewing
    • My Book
    • Kids Sewing Projects
    • All Sewing Projects
  • Crafts
    • Kids Crafts
    • Paper Crafts
    • Free Printables
    • All Crafts
  • Holidays
    • Christmas
    • Halloween
    • Patriotic Holidays
    • Easter
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Gift Ideas
      • Teacher Gifts
      • All Gift Ideas
    • Parties
  • Home
    • Home Decor Projects
    • Cleaning & Organizing
    • Gardening
    • Motherhood
  • Recipes
    • Kids in the Kitchen
    • Appetizer Recipes
    • Bread Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
      • Cake Recipes
      • Cookie Recipes
      • All Dessert
    • Main Dish Recipes
    • Slow Cooker
    • Sides & Salads
    • Holiday Recipes
    • All Recipes