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These Harvest Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars are basically soft, chewy sugar cookies transformed into cookie bar form and decorated with a orange, creamy frosting and lots of fall festive, fun sprinkles.

Now all we need is a hayride, a bonfire and a party to take them too! And of course, it would be remiss not to mention that these cookie bars are pretty much perfect for celebrating at Thanksgiving too!

The creamy frosting is a cream cheese frosting, tinted a pretty orange color and definitely fall inspiring.

I love using Americolor Gel Paste when I color my frostings. It has coloring strength superior to any other food color I’ve used. By mixing and measuring using “drops” of gel paste, you can achieve precise, easy-to-repeat colors every time and a little paste goes a long way.

So my recommendation to you is, add a little gel into your frosting, mix and add more as needed to get the color you are going for.

For a super easy shortcut, you can cheat and use ready-made frosting in a pinch and add food gel to it.

But these are really amazing with home-made cream cheese frosting if you ask me. Besides vanilla extract, you could add in different flavor extracts, like lemon, orange ormaple for a twist.

The kids will love these and these would also be fun for them to help decorate with the sprinkling of the sprinkles, right?

If you’re on the fence of trying to figure out something to make on a whim or just didn’t have time to plan, I urge you to make these. They are easy to make, you probably have all the staple ingredients and they taste delicious!

Other cookie bars?

Name: Harvest Sugar Cookie Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature); 2/3 cup white sugar; 1 egg (room temperature); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour; 4 ounces cream cheese (softened); 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened); 3 cups powdered sugar; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 –3 tablespoons of milk; Optional: orange gel (sprinkles)

Harvest Sugar Cookie Bars

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bars, cookie bars, cookies, cream cheese frosting, fall desserts, sugar cookies

Servings: Servings

Author: Kim Lange

Ingredients

Harvest Sugar Cookie Bars

1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
2/3 cup white sugar
1 egg room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 –3 tablespoons of milk
Optional: orange gel sprinkles

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Harvest Sugar Cookie Bars

Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until just combined. Add in the egg and vanilla and beat well.
Add the salt and flour, and continue beating for about 1 minute.
Transfer the cookie dough to prepared pan, spreading all the way to the edges and smoothing out the top. Bake the bars for 20 to 30 minutes. You’ll want to take them out when the edges are golden brown, but the center of the bar is still gooey.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Once cookies are cooled, in a medium sized bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese together well. Add the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and salt and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting in an even layer over the cooled bars. Sprinkle with your favorite sprinkles, cut into 16 squares and enjoy!