How to Make Quick and Easy Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Bars

What’s Inside: These are the BEST quick and easy cream cheese sugar cookie bars you’ll ever taste

The sugar cookies were beautifully decorated.  But after one bite, I knew that these were not the cookies that I loved and grew up with.  They were tough, tasteless and the texture was off. These were not like the sugar cookies like grandma used to make.

The recipe I’m sharing with you today for cream cheese sugar cookie bars might not look perfect like you’d find in a bakery, but I assure you where they lack in decorations of perfection, they make up in tantalizing your tastebuds.

And that’s a win, Creative Sister!

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The Perfect Sheet Pan Sugar Cookie Bars

What makes a perfect sugar cookie or sugar cookie bar?   It’s the melding together of cookie and thick frosting with the perfect texture when your teeth sink in.  It’s slightly golden brown on the edges.  It’s a bit dense on the inside and a bit crispy on the outside.  One bite and you know perfection.

I know those packages of Lofthouse Sugar Cookies are tempting.  But have you ever looked at the ingredients? 

They are made with margarine (YUCK!) and several preservatives such as Calcium Disodium EDTA. 

These cream cheese sugar cookie bars are FAST to make compared to your ordinary sugar cookie recipe.

Those cookies have traveled many miles and have sat in a plastic container for many days.  Making your own sheet pan sugar cookies assure they are fresh, taste better and we have the benefit of knowing what’s in them.

And can we be honest?  Yeah, those Lofthouse cookies are good… but they have an odd aftertaste.

Why sacrifice taste when you can have real ingredients made with love?

Super Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe Ingredients

There are definite benefits in choosing the best ingredients for easy sugar cookie recipe.  I only use real butter in my baking and never use margarine.  Taste isn’t something that you want to sacrifice when taking the time to prepare your sugar cookie dough for your family and loved ones.  Cream cheese has quite a long shelf life but I would try to use the freshest cream cheese available to you.

Best Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Recipe- Tips and Tricks

Here are some tips and tricks to use when you prepare these best cream cheese sugar cookie recipes that have always worked well for me. I’m also sharing some of the benefits of these bar sugar cookies over the traditional sugar cookie recipe below:

• Use a 13 by 9 pan
• Line your pans with parchment paper
• Do not over handle/overmix your dough or your bar cookies will become tough.
• Don’t over bake your sugar cookie bars.  Oven temperatures vary and your sugar cookie pan cookies will overbake very quickly.  Bake until the edges are golden brown.
• No rolling of dough and easy assembly make these sugar cookie bars a quick fix.
• This recipe is a no chill sugar cookie dough recipe.  No refrigeration of dough is neccesary like traditional sugar cookies- just pat in pan.
• The raw sugar cookie dough can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer to bake at a later time. (store in a well sealed ziploc bag or in plastic wrap so odors aren’t absorbed in the dough affecting the taste)
• After baking and cooling, these bars freeze well in a air tight plastic ziploc bag.
• If you want your cookies to stay moist, place them in an airtight container that is lined with a damp paper towel.
• If you want your cookies to have a bit of hardening on the icing, store them uncovered with a paper towel
• Keep your sugar cookie bars out of excessive humidity.
• Baked and frosted sugar cookie bars can be stored in a plastic bag and frozen

Quick Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe for Bars- buy real Ingredients

Can we talk about ingredients for a sec?  In my early years of marriage, I used margarine in my baking because butter was a bit expensive.  Cue the sirens and red flashing lights.

That was a HUGE mistake!  It never pays to cut corners when baking at home.

I’d recommend using Kerrygold butter in your sugar cookies since it brings a wonderfully buttery taste to your delectable sugar cookie bars!  Unsalted butter is best but I’ve used salted butter with no issues in a pinch.  Real vanilla (not imitation) is also best for a nice pop of flavor!

Cream Cheese Frosting Sugar Cookies Recipe

As recommended above with the dough,  good ingredients result in a great product and I would recommend a good cream cheese for your cream cheese frosting for a superior taste.  It’s important to use cream cheese blocks in this recipe and not the tubs of cream cheese which are much softer inconsistency.  I love cream cheese frosting (it’s so much better than ordinary buttercream frosting) and I hope you’ll find this to be the best frosting for sugar cookies that you have ever tasted.  Topping the frosting with Red White and Blue Jimmies gives a nice juxtaposition of crunch against the smooth frosting.

Need a different themed cookie?  Just change the sprinkles and you’ll have a completely different look. Different types of sprinkles can work for Valentine’s day, Christmas, or even St. Patrick’s Day.  The sky is the limit!

Quick and Easy Sugar Cookies Recipe Bars

These sugar cookies recipe bars are not only good.  They’re great!  They could also very well become one of the Best Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipes in your recipe box for the holidays!

Want to learn more about how sprinkles are made?  I think you’ll enjoy this video as I did!

Are you ready to capture the nostalgia of childhood with these quick and easy sugar cookie recipe bars?

I’d love to hear about your best sugar cookie recipe memory and also hear how you love this recipe so please leave a comment on this blog post!

I know you’ll love these cream cheese sugar cookie bars that are easy to make with ingredients you should have on hand in your kitchen!