Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookie Bars
Thick, soft, and chewy sugar cookie bars topped with a beautiful pink and purple marbled buttercream frosting and festive sprinkles. These are much faster than traditional cookies because there is no chilling or rolling required!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Butter (softened) – 1/2 cup
Granulated sugar – 1/2 cup
Brown sugar – 2 tbsp
Large egg – 1
Vanilla extract – 2 tsp
Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
All-purpose flour – 1 1/4 cups
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Softened butter (for frosting) – 4 tbsp
Vanilla extract (for frosting) – 1 tsp
Heavy cream – 2 tbsp
Powdered sugar – 1 cup
Valentine’s Day sprinkles – 2 tbsp
Pink and Purple gel food coloring – optional
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F then line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream the 1/2 cup butter and both sugars together until smooth.
Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined.
Gently stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt just until the flour disappears.
Spread the batter into the pan and bake for 15 minutes; the center will look slightly underdone.
While cooling, whip the frosting butter and powdered sugar, then add cream and vanilla.
Divide frosting, color with pink and purple gel, and dollop onto cooled bars.
Swirl the colors with a knife, add sprinkles, and slice into squares.
Notes
• Do not overbake! The bars should look soft in the center when pulled out to ensure a chewy texture.
• Use gel food coloring rather than liquid to maintain the frosting’s thick consistency.
• Use the parchment paper “sling” method for easy removal and clean slicing.