Foodie Friday! - Sugar Cookie Bars

Okay friends,  I've been blogging for about 1-1/2 years, so by now there are several things you likely know about me:


1.  I LOVE soft sugar cookies.


2.  I am impatient.


3.  I love to bake.  (Cook, eh, not so much.)



Yep, sugar cookies are my absolute favorite cookie, hands down.   
Especially if it is a soft, thick, sink your teeth into, cake-like, melt-in-your-mouth type of sugar cookie. Frosting is icing on the cake (well, okay, on the cookie).  I love them frosted or unfrosted, it just doesn't matter!


But I have to admit that  flouring the countertop....and rolling... and cutting....and baking.....and repeating this over and over ....and finally frosting all those individual cookies can be a lot of work.   I really have to do a lot of self talk in advance to be motivated to start the sugar cookie making process. The end result is always worth it, but it does take a great deal of mental preparation  - at least for me!


So when I saw this recipe on Facebook (which my son has now dubbed "The Food Network" since recipes have been showing up in his newsfeed) of course I saved it.  

I knew it was only a matter of time before I would try it.

I found this recipe here.  So I blame give credit to this blogger for sharing it.  

My picture does not do this recipe justice... so don't judge it by my picture.  

I was impatient (yep, that word again).  In all honesty I just wanted to eat one.  Getting a great picture for you was not really a top priority at that moment in my life. 


Sorry about that.  


But you won't be sorry when you try this recipe!

Sugar Cookie Bars

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

5 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add vanilla and mix well.  In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, and stir with a whisk to combine.  Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined.  Spread on a greased baking sheet (13 x 18 pan).  Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean.  They won't look done so do the toothpick test so you do not over bake them.  Cool completely and frost.

Decorator Frosting

(Half Batch)                                                     (Whole Batch)

1/3 cup Crisco                                                   2/3 cup Crisco

1-1/4 pounds powdered sugar                              2-1/2 pounds powdered sugar

3/8 cup milk                                                       3/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt                                                1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla                                              4 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 T. lemon juice                                                1 T. lemon juice

Food coloring (optional) 

Combine all ingredients until well blended and frost bars.  Add sprinkles if desired.


That's it.


If you love soft sugar cookies, I suggest you do what I did: cut up most of the pan, put them on plates, and get them out of the house!  Take them to your neighbors, hand them out to strangers on the street if you have to,  anything you can do to save yourself! Some things are just too dangerous to have sitting around, and for me this is definitely one. 


Thank you to the Pankonen, Ewalt, Lickteig, and McLeod families for taking some off our hands!


I always let you know what I did differently, so here goes.


**The frosting recipe I used and included is different than that used by the original blogger.  I knew I wanted to use the same frosting I use on sugar cookies, so I did!  If you want to see the other frosting recipe follow the link above. I added a little yellow food coloring. 



** I didn't combine all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Plunk, plunk, plunk, -  they all went in!


**I didn't add one egg at a time.  Splunk, splunk, splunk, splunk - they all went in at once as well. 

**I skipped the lemon zest.  Seriously?  If I'm not going to add eggs one at a time or combine the dry ingredients alone in a separate bowl first, I surely am not going to take time to zest a little lemon (read as : impatient)!  

I'm sure this would taste lovely, however. 


**I didn't have a pan the size indicated above.  The one I used was about 12 x 17.  Next time I think I would use a 9 x 13 pan.  I love thick bars! I would just need to bake them a bit longer. 

**I made a half batch of frosting.  I knew a full batch would be too much.  After making the half batch I decided that wasn't quite enough, so I made about another quarter batch.  If you like extra frosting make a whole batch - you can refrigerate what is left over and use it for a cake, cookies, etc.

**I used almond in the frosting rather than vanilla.  Yep, you know me and my love for almond. 

Last but certainly not least, I have to give credit for the frosting recipe to my forever friend, Linda Wells.  When you count friendship in decades rather than years, you know the friendship is forever.  She shared this recipe with me decades ago and I use it every time I make sugar cookies - or in this case sugar cookie bars.  

The morning after delivering bars to the neighbors I received a note on Facebook that our neighbor Maddison, who is in the 4th grade,  said they were "the best bars I have eaten in my whole life!"  


That's pretty awesome praise. 



Happy Friday!