Ugly Christmas Sweater Sugar Cookie Bars
Prep Time: 40 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 1 hr
Ugly Christmas Sweater Sugar Cookie Bars are the quickest way to make soft frosted sugar cookies for a crowd. No chilling, no cutting, no mess!
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract see notes
- 3 cups flour all purpose
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- candies for decorating
Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract see notes
- 1/4 cup milk or whipping cream
For the Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish (or use parchment paper), set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar for 2 minutes.
Add the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.
In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients 1 cup at a time until incorporated. A dough will form and pull away from the sides of the mixer bowl when ready.
Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a greased baking dish, and press down with your fingers to flatten evenly.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden in color. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Frosting
In the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter for 2 minutes. Slowly add powdered sugar, salt, and extracts. Use milk or cream (more or less) to thin the frosting to the desired consistency.
Separate any frosting you would like to color (I only used a small amount of green in this design).
Pipe over cooled sugar cookie bars in different patterns.
Decorate with sprinkles, sugar transfers, etc.
- For the cookie bars, you can omit the almond extract. Substitute with vanilla if desired.
- For the frosting, vanilla extract will give a slight tint to the frosting so use clear vanilla if you want a brighter frosting.
Calories: 282kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 2gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 56mgFiber: 1gSugar: 21gCalcium: 22mg