Growing up sugar cookies were a holiday tradition at our house. The only difference is when I discovered these sugar cookie bars. This recipe for sugar cookie bars reduced a three-hour commitment down to like 20 minutes. It was a baking epiphany in my kitchen.

Frosted sugar cookie bars are a modern-day twist on the classic cookie cutter sugar cookie. I still love cookie cutouts, but these cookie bars are perfect when you want a homemade cookie without the long term kitchen commitment.

The recipe is below, along with credit to the blog who inspired me by his charm.
The only thing that takes a little practice is the length of time in the oven.
I set my timer for 12 minutes and watched over these cookies for another two minutes.
That was the only tricky detail with these sugar cookie bars.

For the frosting, I made an ombre frosting trio, like when I made these spring bars. The ombre frosted sugar cookie bars took my skills up a notch..
kinda/sorta.
I was going for a fall seasonal ombre effect, but let’s just say orange is a finicky color to tint icing.

FROSTED SUGAR COOKIE BARS
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp. sour cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Line baking sheet with foil (for thicker bar use a smaller baking sheet). In a large bowl: sift flour, baking powder & salt.In separate bowl cream butter, sugar for about 3 minutes. Add egg, sour cream and vanillaSlowly add the flour mixturePress the dough onto the baking sheet, bake for about 14 minutes until edges are lightly golden.Frosting 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened4 cups confectioners sugar1/4 cup half and half or whole milk1 tsp. vanilla1/2 tsp. almond extractFood Coloring & sprinklesOnce cookie bars are cool spread the frosting on the cookie bar.Frost as desired the flour mixturePress the dough onto the baking sheet, bake for 14-17 minutes until edges are lightly golden.FrostingOnce cookie bars are cool spread the frosting on the cookie bar.Frost as desired
I love everything about these sugar cookie bars; the frosting, the simplicity and the taste! They still taste and smell like the traditional frosted sugar cookie!

I tried the ombre effect with frosted sugar cookie bars with pink icing here.
These always look amazing!