sugar cookie bars.

I hope everyone had a great long weekend...for those that had Monday off...otherwise, Happy Tuesday! 

The weather was mostly cold and cloudy so I spent most of my weekend at home catching up with my DVR, laundry, errands, and all that fun stuff. Sunday I felt like baking and decided to make sugar cookies...though I made them as bars so I wouldn't have to frost dozens of cookies. What can I say, I'm all about shortcuts!

Sugar Cookie Bars

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 3/4 sticks of butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix the softened butter with the vanilla extract and egg. Next add the salt and baking soda. Using a hand mixer (or stir by hand if you like), add the powdered sugar and flour...about 1/2 a cup at a time.

Once all the powdered sugar and flour have been added, keep mixing until you have a thick batter/ball of dough. Next, lightly spray a 9x13" glass baking dish with non-stick spray.

Transfer the dough into your dish and spread out with a rubber spatula.

Once your dough is smooth, bake at 375 for about 16 minutes (don't forget to pre-heat your oven), or until the edges are just slightly turning brown. Be careful not to over-bake or your cookies will be dryyy.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 stick of butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

Cream together your softened butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, and mix on low with a hand mixer. Continue adding 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar at a time, until the frosting is the consistency you like. I used about 2 cups for this recipe, but I wanted a "softer" frosting than I'd make for cupcakes.

Once your frosting is mixed, spread over the cooled dish of cookies. They really do have to be nearly room temperature or your frosting will melt!

Using a rubber spatula, smooth your frosting over the entire dish.

To make things more fun, select a color from the 20+ you have in your sprinkles cabinets (what, you don't have a cabinet dedicated to sprinkles? Weird.) and add generously over the frosting.

At this point I like to let the frosting sit awhile to "set" and slightly harden...but I can understand if you're in a hurry and can't wait. Using a pizza cutter, carefully slice your creation into "cookies" and enjoy!

Thank you for reading!!!

xoxo,