Birthday Cake Sugar Cookie Bars
Birthday Cake Sugar Cookie Bars are a fun alternative to cake. Adapted from a little booklet in the Food Network Magazine, these bars don't call for any baking powder or baking soda and have a dense but light texture. For best results, give your flour a good before measuring.
Servings 24
Ingredients
- 2 sticks 8 oz unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon salt use only ¼ if using salted butter
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles
Vanilla Frosting
- 1 stick 4 oz unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons half & half
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch metal pan or line with parchment or foil.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, salt and sugar. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until blended, then with a heavy duty scraper, stir in the flour and rainbow sprinkles.
- Spread the batter evenly in the pan.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are set but center is soft.
- Let cool completely, then cover with vanilla frosting.
- To make the frosting, beat the butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar. Beat in vanilla and half & half. Add salt, adjusting to taste.
- Cover bars with frosting, then sprinkle top with more sprinkles.
Notes
If you measure by volume 2 cups of flour could be 9 or 10 oz. If you weigh the flour, 9 oz will give you a slightly denser sweeter bar, while 10 oz will be slightly cakier. Both versions are great. As the bars sit they absorb some of the moisture from the icing.
For the vanilla, you can substitute 2 teaspoons of vanilla plus 1 teaspoon of McCormick Butter & Nut extract if you can find it. This gives the bars more of a birthday cake flavor.
