Sugar Cookie Bars
Yield: 24 slices
A sugar cookie bar decorated like a picnic table
Ingredients
For the Cookie Bars
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 10 Animal crackers nilla wafers, or any other cookie crumbles (optional)
- 1/3 cup black licorice
For the Frosting
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract optional
- 4 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- Red spray food coloring
Instructions
For the Cookie Bars
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In the bowl of your mixer cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time.
- In a separate bowl whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add this to the wet mixture slowly until just combined.
- Using your hands press the dough down into a greased jelly roll pan (10x15). You can use a 9x13 of course but you will need to increase the baking time.
- Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting
- In a mixing bowl beat butter and shortening until combined. Slowly add extracts and powdered sugar. Add milk/cream as the frosting thickens. Use as much milk/cream as you want until you reach your desired consistency.
- Spread over cookie bars.
For Decorating the Cookie Cake
- Lay down a large trash bag and place your frosted cookies on top.
- Using masking tape, or long 1/2-inch strips of paper, make a diagonal pattern across the frosted cookie bars.
- Spray the cookies with red food coloring. Adjust the paper strips to go the opposite way across the pan and spray again.
- Place black licorice pieces along the pan to look like ant trails. Sprinkle with cookie crumbs
Nutrition
Calories: 397kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 4gFat: 16gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 209mgFiber: 1gSugar: 38gCalcium: 16mg