frosted sugar cookie bars

These cookies are so much easier to than traditional sugar cookies, but are just as delicious. They also make enough to feed a crowd! We made these for FHE last week to take to our new neighbors and we had so many cookies that we took cookies to two other family's on our street, froze a bunch for another time, and still had plenty for ourselves.

 I let one of the kids choose the color for the frosting, so it's kind of a wild sea green:-) These are great for any occasion, though. You could do pink frosting/valentine's sprinkles for Valentine's day, yellow/orange for summer, orange/black halloween....

Recipe from ourbestbites.com

Cookies:

1. 2 cups real butter (no substitutions!), softened to room temperature
2. 2 cups sugar
3. 2 large eggs
4. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5. 1 tablespoon almond extract
6. 6 cups flour, spooned lightly into the measuring cup and leveled with a knife.
7. 1 tablespoon baking powder
8. 1 teaspoon table salt

Frosting:

1. 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
2. 3 cups powdered sugar
3. 1 teaspoon almond extract
4. 2-3 tablespoons milk (or more, if needed milk; whole or evaporated if you have it handy)
5. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a half sheet-sized baking sheet (13x18x1") with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a bowl of a heavy-duty mixer or in a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and extracts and beat until combined.
3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the creamed butter mixture and mix to combine.
4. Press the dough evenly into the prepared baking sheet. If desired, you can smooth it out with a rolling pin or a smooth drinking glass. Bake for 20-30 minutes (mine was done right at 25 minutes, but every oven is different) or until the top is lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
5. While the cookie bars are cooling, prepare the frosting. In a large mixing bowl, whip together the powdered sugar and softened butter until combined. Very slowly, add a little bit of milk at a time until desired consistency is reached. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring.
6. When the pan of cookies is cool, spread with frosting and sprinkle with colored sprinkles. Cut into squares. The number of bars this makes will depend on how big you cut the squares, but these are VERY rich and you could probably get away with cutting these into 40+ squares.

*NOTE

While I LOVE this recipe, it uses a ton of butter and the cookies are very thick. I am linking to a recipe from the sixsistersstuff blog that I want to try next time and I will do a comparison!

Six Sister's Stuff Sugar Cookie Bars