These Halloween sugar cookie bars are the best way to celebrate the spooky season! These Halloween cookie bars are made with a soft sugar cookie bar flavored with vanilla extract and smothered in sweet vanilla cream cheese frosting. Don’t forget the Halloween sprinkles! This dessert is all treat, no tricks!
Ingredients for Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars
Sugar Cookie Bars
- Unsalted butter: Room temperature, softened butter for easy creaming.
- Granulated sugar
- Egg: Large egg, room temperature.
- Vanilla extract: Adds amazing flavor to the sugar cookie bars.
- Milk: Room temperature.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder: A tiny bit of baking powder helps create the perfect soft, texture.
- Salt: Enhances the flavors in the bars.
- Halloween sprinkle blend: Go with the jimmie-style sprinkles for the bars to make sure they melt into the cookie bars.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- Unsalted butter: Room temperature.
- Cream cheese: Room temperature.
- Powdered sugar: Confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract adds great flavor.
- Salt: To contrast the sweetness in the frosting.
- Heavy cream: Makes the frosting smooth and creamy.
- Gel food coloring: Use your favorite Halloween color. Vibrant orange, neon green, and bright purple are some of my favorites.
- Halloween sprinkle blend: Choose your favorite sprinkle blend to match the frosting.
Tools & Supplies for Making Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars
How to Make Sugar Cookie Bars
- Preheat oven and prepare an 8×8 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and parchment paper.
- Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the softened unsalted butter and granulated sugar.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and milk and mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt) and mix on low speed until a soft dough forms. Add the Halloween jimmie-style sprinkles and mix until they are dispersed throughout the dough.
- Press the dough into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for approximately 25 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
How to Make Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the softened butter and cream cheese for a few minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix on low to combine. Add in the salt and vanilla extract and continue to mix.
- Drizzle in the heavy cream and add gel food coloring to tint the frosting. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and whip for 2 minutes until light and creamy. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Once the sugar cookie bars are cooled, use an offset spatula to spread the vanilla cream cheese frosting over the bars. Decorate the cookie bars with your favorite Halloween sprinkle blend.
Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe Tips
- To easily remove the bars from the baking pan, spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper sheets. Cut the parchment paper so it fits into the bottom of the pan and extends up the sides past the edges. This way, you can simply pull up on the parchment paper to remove the bars from the pan.
- Halloween sugar cookie bars can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 2 or 3 days. To serve, bring the bars to room temperature to soften the cream cheese frosting and for the best flavor and texture.
Click here to see a quick video on how to make these Halloween sugar cookie bars! Follow Cake Me Home Tonight on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for more recipe videos and baking tutorials!Â
Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars
Equipment
- Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
- 8×8 baking pan
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Bars
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp milk room temperature
- 2 tbsp Halloween sprinkle blend jimmie-style sprinkles
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp heavy cream
- 3-4 drops gel food coloring
Additional Ingredients
- ¼ cup Halloween sprinkle blend
Instructions
Sugar Cookie Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare an 8×8 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer (or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), cream unsalted butter and granulated sugar for a few minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in egg, vanilla extract and milk. Mix to combine.
- Add in the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until a soft cookie dough forms. Add the Halloween blend sprinkles and mix to disperse throughout the cookie dough.
- Press the sugar cookie dough into the prepared baking pan to create an even layer of cookie dough.
- Bake the sugar cookie bars for approximately 25 minutes until they are light golden-brown around the edges.
- Remove the baking pan from the oven. Allow the sugar cookie bars to cool to room temperature in the pan while making the vanilla cream cheese frosting.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream unsalted butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
- Add in the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until combined with the cream cheese mixture. Then, add in the salt, vanilla extract, and heavy cream and continue to mix on low. Add a few drops of gel food coloring to tint the frosting.
- Once all the ingredients are well incorporated, turn the mixer to medium-high speed and whip for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Spread the vanilla cream cheese frosting on the cooled sugar cookie bars with an offset spatula. Sprinkle with your favorite Halloween sprinkle blend.
Notes
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