Recipe: Sugar Cookie Bars

My new favorite go-to dessert? Sugar Cookie Bars. Delicious, easy-to-make, irresistible sugar cookie bars.

Over the past few months, I've made these twice - and both times they've been huge hits! I got the recipe from High Heels & Grills and made the recipe just as Sarah has it on her blog (which she, btw, got from Cooking Classy). I know these pictures of the finished product are not particularly artistic, but I promise you that these cookies are delicious and completely irresistible.
First, gather your ingredients together ...

Cookies: 
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 1-1/2 Tbsp. sour cream 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup half and half

1 tsp. vanilla

Pinch of salt

Several drops of food coloring (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 and grease a 9x13 dish. I used disposable aluminum dishes both times, but of course - glass is fine too. Then, combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. 

Then, in another, larger bowl, cream together the butter, and sugar, for about 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix thoroughly - this will give the dough a yellow-ish color.



Then, add the sour cream and vanilla and mix well again.

Slowly add in the flour mixture, stirring to mix until fully combined.


Press the dough gently into the bottom of your greased 9x13 pan. Spread it out and make sure that it is evenly spread in the pan.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the edges begin to turn slightly brown. Once baked, remove and set aside to completely cool before frosting the cookies.

To make the frosting, mix together the butter, powdered sugar and half and half until it is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and salt and mix well again.

Add food coloring if you want (I used green the first time for St. Patty's Day, and yellow the second time for Spring) and evenly frost the bars. The first time I made these, I had a lot of leftover icing because I tried to frost the cookies too lightly. Either cut back on the amount of frosting, or be prepared to generously frost the cookies.


Finally, cut the cookies into squares and serve! 


Like I said, these cookies are completely irresistible! They are delicious and before you know it, you've had a few "just to try them" and eaten so much frosting that you can't go to sleep until almost 2 am. Not that I would know about that or anything, but I'm just saying - baking these may lead to sleep deprivation! 
Have you ever had sugar cookie bars? They're an easy way to get the sugar cookie taste, without all the extra work!