Ingredients Instructions
As a fun decorative option, you could pipe a bit of white frosting onto the bars. Just take about 1/4 of the frosting out of the mixer before you add the food coloring. Put the white frosting into to sandwich sized zip loc bag. Carefully snip the tip and pipe some fun decorations onto the bars.
43 comments
I made these for a Memorial Day picnic and they were a BIG hit. They were easy to make, looked super cute and most importantly…tasted AWESOME! Thanks for the recipe!
Love that last picture! Alli brought these to a neighborhood party last week and I fell in love! I posted a link: http://ificould-ificould.blogspot.com/2010/06/sugar-cookie-bars.html
Thanks!
I just found your site today and I love it! This recipe looks so good. I have a great sugar cookie recipe, but like you said, it is a lot of work. Can I omit the almond extract? It's not my favorite taste. 🙂
Allison,
I would think you could omit the almond extract, and replace it with vanilla. Good luck. Let me know how they turn out!
~Jamie
Hey Jamie, I'm in the process of making these bars and I'm wondering if I did something wrong. The dough isn't really dough-ish. It's more like cake batter. Is that how it is supposed to be? Is it really only 2 1/2 cups of flour? My dough is more like batter. It's really hard to get onto the pan. Is that normal? Help 🙂
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Allison,
Hey I just got you comment, and see that you left it several hours ago. You are most likely finished with your project! The should be somewhere between cake batter and cookie dough. I usually spray the back of a wooden spoon with cooking spray and press the dough all over the pan with it. I hope this helps! Let me know how it turned out.
Thanks,
~Jamie
Hi Jamie,
So I made the first batch and it was good but really dense. I made another batch tonight and it was way different. Much more like cookie dough (what I expected it to be like) than the first. And much better! I think I missed one cup of flour in the first batch! Sheesh. Thanks for your recipe, I love it!
Allison
PS I used neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese in the second batch and it was just as good.
I made these tonight and they are delicious! My frosting turned out a weird color but I don't care, they were great! (I mixed some blue & red trying to make purple, & it was more a weird mauve).
Silly question…do these need to be refrigerated afterwards since there's cream cheese in the frosting? I want to make some for my daughter's teachers. Thanks!
Rhondi,
Your daughter's teachers will love them! This is a great recipe…never heard of a person who didn't love it. I haven't ever put mine in the fridge. You could just to be safe, but my guess is you'll be alright with them on the counter overnight. Just be sure to cover them with plastic wrap. Have a good day!
~Jamie
Oh My Goodness! I might have to make these this weekend!
I wish you were in my neck of the woods so I could have you make my 40th birthday cake!! p.s. my faiorvte of the ones you’ve profiled is the beach cake! love the sand, love the starfish, love you!
This is my first time to your site but I am going to save it as a favorite!!
Made these today for our game night and everyone loved them. They were so easy that I may never make the regular roll out sugar cookies again.
Does the C stand for cup or cube for the butter in both the dough and frosting?
Hey there Jeremy and Chari,
The C stands for Cup. Good luck! Hope you enjoy the bars.
~Jamie
mine turned out so raw. I followed exactly and just took them out at 20 min. thinking they would keep cooking, but they did not. The cookie sheet was the big silver one. I'm making them for a relief society function and I'm scared. The colors were amazing. Any hints.
Judy,
Every oven cooks a bit differently. A good way to check if they are done is to poke a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean then they are done. Hope they turned out well enough to take to your RS function!
~Jamie
They loved these cookies, I tried your suggestion and got out my oven thermometer and made sure it was at 350 I then added 6 min. They turned out a little brown on top but were still very soft. I wouldn't be afraid to add another min. Thank you so much they are awesome.
I made these for a graduation party this weekend. I love almnd extract so used that instead of vanilla. OMG!!!!They were delicious!!! Thank you so much for this recipe. I love sugar cookies but don't make them because of the work involved. I can no longer say that. Thank you so much!!!
Hi, I would like to make these as party favours for my sons birthday will they be ok to put in little plastic wraps to give out or will the frosting stick to the bag? Thanks!
Im not too keen on cream cheese frosting but everyone seems to love it!! 🙂
Hi Panayiota,
The frosting is a bit sticky, also the cookie bar itself is very soft and might have a hard time holding its shape in a plastic bag (or keeping a lolipop stick in its center). However, if you put them on a small paper plate and wrapped it in plastic wrap, or better yet wrapped the plate up in celephane with some cool ribbin around it…that would work. 🙂 Good luck! Hope you have a great party. 🙂
~Jamie
Also can i cook them with lollipop sticks in them?
Thanks 🙂
When you say jelly roll pan, what size does your pan measure? It seemed like too little of dough to fit on my normal cookie sheet so I did my smaller 12x8ish pan and they raised more than I expected.
Do I need to grease the pan for these. I want to try for my Easter dinner. I love your recipes.
Janie,
It works best if you spray the pan with cooking spray before you place the dough on it. Good luck! Hope you enjoy these bars.
~Jamie
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I just made these and they are delicious! I used parchment in my cookie sheet and that worked really well. They are moist and the frosting is fabulous. Thanks!
OTHi! Congratulations for your blog! I’m Andrea, an Italian guy who created and maeangd a Food&Drinks blog.What do you think about a link exchange? :)Sorry for my bad English! 😉
Jamie,
My daughter is getting married this summer and I am looking for things to make ahead and serve later in the evening during the dance festivities. It is an outdoor wedding. I thought these sugar cookie bars would be a nice option and could be frosted in the wedding colors. My question is: “can these be made and decorated ahead and then frozen in single layers?”
Hi Ginger,
I havent ever tried to freeze this paticular recipe, however my thoughts are that it would work out great. Generally speaking sugar cookies freeze quite nicely. I would maybe give it a trial run before the big day. Good luck, and congratulations to you and your daughter. 🙂
~Jamie
Died and gone to cookie heaven! YUMMY! I was in a huge hurry (thus the need for bar cookies). Only had 8 oz. cream cheese so used 4 oz. and 4 oz. sour cream. Got everything mixed together, thought “oh no, say it isn’t so!” I forgot the sugar. Had to add it and by the time it was mixed it had developed so much gluten that I thought I should add yeast & water and make rolls (haha), I even had a hard time getting it to flatten out in the pan, sheesh. Threw it in the oven knowing that I would have to serve these cookies with apologies. I did have to cook then a little longer. I didn’t even dare taste them when they came out of the oven & I didn’t have time. Made the frosting (add a pinch of salt and the frosting tastes better (thanks Mom). Slapped on the frosting. SURPRISE! They are just the best.
What size pan did you use?
I, like many other bakers, do not get a thrill out of rolling dough and cutting out 12 to 15 doz sugar cookies even though I have a super great recipe. Your cookie bars fit the bill as far as making my task easier. My rolling sugar cookie dough days are going to be very limited after finding your recipe! Thank you!
What size jelly roll pan did you use? I can’t wait to try this recipe for my family!
These are wonderful! I made them in a 9×13 inch pan and they were about an inch thick. Taste wonderful even unfrosted. My hubby wants me to try mixing a little lemon into the frosting. The next time I’ll try them on a bigger pan or cookie sheet so they’re a little thinner.
Susan,
So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
All the best,
~Jamie
What size jelly roll pan? I don’t want them to be too thick or they may not cook in the middle of the pan. Thanks!
Hi Missy,
Thanks for your question. My pan is 17 1/2 x 12 1/2.
Best of luck!
~Jamie
I am making these with some students at my daughters school. I have to make 8timea the recipe, should it be ok to just add it all together or do I need to add any more of one ingredient or minus any of the ingredients?
Michelle,
Thanks for your question. This recipe makes an entire sheet pan of cookies. If you times the recipe by 8, I’m afraid your mixing bowl won’t be able to accommodate all of the ingredients and you may have a big mess on your hands. I would suggest doubling or tripling the batch and then repeating that as needed. Hope they turn out well! So nice of you to be willing to make so many! I bet your daughters school will love them.
Best of luck,
~Jamie
I love the flavor of this recipe, but I’m having trouble with it at high altitude. The edges end up perfectly cooked, but the center is raw. If I cook it long enough to get the center cooked, the edges are burned. I know it’s often recommended to add some extra flour and sometimes change the baking temp/time, but I’m not sure how far to adjust it, and the ingredients start to get expensive with multiple attempts. Any advice?