Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

I’ve been making some form of sugar cookies for years. I like this recipe for bars because they have the same flavor as a sugar cookie but, you can make more at one time.

Ingredients for cookie bars:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup white sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon milk

Directions for cookie bars:

Preheat the oven to 350°F Fahrenheit. Line a 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. Using a stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until just combined. Add in the egg, milk, vanilla, and almond extract and beat well.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the salt and flour, beating for about 1 minute. Transfer the cookie dough to your prepared pan, spreading all the way to the edges and smoothing out the top. Don’t worry too much about it being perfectly smooth, because it will soon be covered in frosting! Bake the bars for 20 to 30 minutes. You’ll want to take them out when the edges are golden brown, but the center of the bar is still gooey.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients for butter cream:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

Pinch salt

1 Tbl vanilla extract

Directions for butter cream frosting:

Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.

Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed and frost the sugar cookie bars.