These Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars are a festive and delicious treat for the holidays. The soft and chewy cookie base is topped with a creamy vanilla frosting and decorated with colorful sprinkles, making them perfect for any holiday gathering or cookie exchange.
What better way to celebrate the holidays than with these cookie bars topped with frosting, a twist on the traditional Christmas sugar cookies. They are easy to make and can be customized with your favorite holiday sprinkles.
All you need is some simple ingredients and a 9X13 baking dish to bake them in (yay for not rolling out dough) and you’ll have a batch of these bars in no time.
These bars are perfect for sharing, gifting or enjoying all by yourself (we won’t judge!)!
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Sugar Cookie Bars Ingredients
- butter
- cream cheese
- white sugar
- vanilla extract
- almond extract
- eggs
- flour
- cornstarch
- baking powder
- salt
- powdered sugar
- Holiday sprinkles (optional)
How to Make Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars
Preheat oven to 350° and line a 9×13 baking dish with aluminum foil or parchment paper leaving some hanging off the sides so you can pull it out of the baking dish easier. Lightly spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract, almond extract and eggs and mix again using a hand mixer.
In a medium sized bowl mix together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Combine the flour mixture ½ cup at a time to the cream cheese mixture, carefully beating it in between adding.
Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish. Grease your hands to prevent sticking and flatten and even out the batter all around. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until the toothpick comes clean when inserted in the middle. Allow bars to cool completely.
Prepare the frosting by beating the butter until soft and fluffy, mix in the cream cheese and beat again. Add in salt and vanilla extract, mix again. Add the powdered sugar ½ a cup at a time while mixing on low.
Frost the bars and top with sprinkles. Pull the foil or parchment paper out the baking dish, slice and serve!
Baking Tips & Tricks
- Make sure to use real butter and not margarine.
- Use softened cream cheese and butter for best results.
- Skip using the cooking spray if lining baking dish with parchment paper.
- Make a smaller batch by halving the recipe and using an 8X8 baking dish.
- Make sure bars are fully cooled before frosting.
- Store in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days.
- Use whatever kind of sprinkles you’d like.
- You can substitute the homemade frosting with store brought frosting.
FAQs
Absolutely! Simply bake and frost per directions and store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Yes, you can. Prepare per directions and wrap tightly. Store in the freezer for up to one month. Thaw in fridge overnight when ready to serve.
Of course! You can use chocolate chips, crushed candy pieces or any other topping you’d like.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Old Fashioned Sugar Cookie Cut Outs
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Gooey Butter Cookies
- Oreo Ornament Cookies
- Italian Ricotta Cookies
Recipe
Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temp
- 4 oz cream cheese softened to room temp
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Frosting Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temp
- 2 oz cream cheese
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- Holiday sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a 9×13 baking dish with aluminum foil or parchment paper leaving some hanging off the sides so you can pull it out of the baking dish easier. Lightly spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract, almond extract and eggs and mix again using a hand mixer.
- In a medium sized bowl mix together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
- Combine the flour mixture ½ cup at a time to the cream cheese mixture, carefully beating it in between adding.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish. Grease your hands to prevent sticking and flatten and even out the batter all around.
- Bake for 22-24 minutes or until the toothpick comes clean when inserted in the middle. Allow bars to cool completely.
- Prepare the frosting by beating the butter until soft and fluffy, mix in the cream cheese and beat again. Add in salt and vanilla extract, mix again. Add the powdered sugar ½ a cup at a time while mixing on low.
- Frost the bars and top with sprinkles. Pull the foil or parchment paper out the baking dish, slice and serve!
Notes
Nutrition Disclosure
Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
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