One the second Sunday of the month, our church has a pot luck of sorts. Sometimes it has a specific theme like a taco bar or baked potato bar, and once a year they have a chili cook-off (Thommmee always enters this but has not placed yet much to his dismay). It is a lot of fun. Since we always attend the first service, we join other members of the church in the setting up during the second service for the feast immediately following. This month I decided to bring a desert to the smorgasbord. I searched Pinterest for a desert to feed a crowd and came across this sugar cookie bar recipe. I borrowed this from blogspcookinchemistot.com. She has a bunch of really good recipes!
I will have to call this experience a moderate success. Two problems. I over baked the cookies a bit when I set my oven at 375 instead of 350 degrees. They were a bit dry (not too bad though). I think the 350 degrees would have worked just fine. Since I have a slow oven, I always cook my food for the maximum recommended time. 20 minutes might have made a difference. Second, I did not have two cups of butter for the frosting so I decreased the recipe by half and had a light layer of frosting. I don’t like a highly frosted cookie anyway. It worked out fine for the taste part of the cookie but not so much so much for the visual presentation. Also, I decided to use a few drops of yellow food coloring thinking it was a spring color. It appeared to be lemon which it was not! All that being said, they were not an overly sweet cookie and had a great flavor. The frosting was wonderful! They were easy to make and definitely able to feed a crowd. Good luck with this and please don’t let me discourage you from giving it a try.
Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients:
Cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4-5 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk (I used almond milk)
food coloring, if desired
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. I used my hand electric mixer since this is the only one I have.
Add eggs, mixing one at a time until well combined. Mix in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture until just combined. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet (10×15-inch) with nonstick spray. Gently spread the dough over the sheet.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the edges of the bars are just beginning to brown. Place on a wire rack to cool.
While the bars are cooling, beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, alternating with a little milk. Mix until smooth and spreadable, but sturdy. Add a few drops of food coloring if desired. Spread over the cooled cookie bars (only after they are completely cool).
Cut and enjoy!
mommermom 