CHRISTMAS SUGAR COOKIE BARS

Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars are thick, soft and absolutely amazing! Best sugar cookie bar recipe that I’ve ever tried!

Sugar cookies are a holiday must, but sometimes I just don’t have the time or energy for rolling out the dough, cutting out the cookies and frosting each cookie individually. Cue the sugar cookie bars!

I’ve tried many different sugar cookie bar recipes over the years, and most of them are pretty good, but this one is absolutely incredible. Perfect thickness. Perfect texture – not dry or crumbly at all, but thick and soft. And the frosting is delicious too! Even if you don’t think you are a fan of sugar cookies, you need to try this recipe.

The key to making the best sugar cookie bars?

I think the reason this recipe is so superior to all others is because there is cream cheese in the sugar cookie dough. The rest of the ingredients are pretty standard, but the cream cheese absolutely creates the perfect texture for these cookie bars.

And that little bit of almond extract isn’t completely necessary, but it adds a fantastic flavor, so don’t leave it out!

Also, make sure to beat the dough according to the directions. It may feel like you are mixing for longer than you normally do, but I promise that the results will be worth it!

When to serve sugar cookie bars?

Turn the frosting green and add some holiday sprinkles and you have the perfect Christmas dessert! The nice thing about the recipe is that it can work for any holiday…just change the frosting color and pick the right sprinkles and you can have the perfect dessert for Valentine’s Day, the 4th of July, Easter, Halloween, baby showers, etc.

Ingredients in Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 egg

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 cups flour

Frosting: 

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature

4 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3-5 Tbsp milk (start with 3 and add more to desired consistency)

1 tsp vanilla

food coloring

How to make Sugar Cookie Bars

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, cream cheese and egg for about 4 minutes.

Add the almond extract and vanilla and beat for another minute.

Add the flour and baking powder and beat for 2 more minutes.

Press the dough into a greased 10″X15″X1″ pan and bake for 20 minutes. Let the bars cool and then add the frosting.

Mix all the frosting ingredients together and beat until smooth. Frost the cooled bars and then slice and serve.

Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars

Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars are thick, soft and absolutely amazing! Best sugar cookie bar recipe that I've ever tried!

4.07 from 64 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 24

Author: Jessica & Nellie

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter softened to room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 8 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• Frosting:
• 1/2 cup butter softened to room temperature
• 4 oz. cream cheese softened to room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3-5 Tbsp milk start with 3 and add more to desired consistency
• 1 tsp vanilla
• food coloring

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, cream cheese and egg for about 4 minutes.
• Add the almond extract and vanilla and beat for another minute.
• Add the flour and baking powder and beat for 2 more minutes.
• Press the dough into a greased 10"X15"X1" pan and bake for 20 minutes. Let the bars cool and then add the frosting.
• Mix all the frosting ingredients together and beat until smooth. Frost the cooled bars and then slice and serve.

Tried this recipe?Mention @familycookierecipes or tag #familycookierecipes!

HOW TO CUT PERFECT COOKIE BARS

The answer to getting every single cookie bar cut and looking perfect is parchment paper! I used to always get frustrated with desserts that are made in a 9X13 pan because I felt like I was always destroying the entire first row trying to get them out of the pan! Then I discovered that if you use parchment paper, you can remove all the cookie bars from the pan and slice them perfectly.

If you don’t have parchment paper, you can just grease your pan like you usually do but your first row may just not be quite as pretty! This cookie bar recipe is one of the easiest to cut into squares – they stay intact much better than many other desserts!

TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST SUGAR COOKIE BARS

• Do not melt the butter! The butter needs to be softened (at room temperature), but using melted butter will ruin the cookies.
• Spend a little extra time when you mix everything together. Adding a few extra minutes (as the recipe states), will make a huge difference in the texture and consistency of the cookie bars.
• Preheat the oven. This will help your cookies turn out right every time!
• Use parchment paper. Doing this will make it really easy to remove the cookies from your 9X13 pan.
• Make sure not to over bake your cookie bars.  Once the edges begin to turn even the lightest golden brown, take them out of the oven! I prefer to err on the side of being slightly undercooked for cookies because if they cook even a little bit too long, they can get hard and I really like soft cookies!

LIKE COOKIE BARS? HERE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVORITE COOKIE BAR RECIPES!

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
• No Bake Cookie Bars
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
• Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
• Swirled Patriotic Cookie Bars

Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars are thick, soft and absolutely amazing! Best sugar cookie bar recipe that I’ve ever tried!

I was looking through Christmas photos from years past and found this little gem from about 5 years ago. 5 years doesn’t seem that long ago, but my kids look like babies in this picture! Gotta love those Christmas morning photos on the stairs. Or maybe that’s only my family tradition…anyone else always get a picture of the kids coming down the stairs on Christmas morning?!