Amazing 350 Calorie christmas sugar cookie bars

Oh, the holidays! Doesn’t the pressure to bake everything perfectly just hit you like a runaway sleigh sometimes? I get it! Every year I’d see those gorgeous, impossibly perfect cut-out cookies and feel stressed just thinking about the chilling, the rolling, and the inevitable broken edges. That’s why I developed something truly magical: the easiest soft and chewy christmas sugar cookie bars you will ever make. Seriously, forget the rolling pin! My passion, which started in my grandmother’s kitchen, has always been about simplifying deliciousness. These sheet pan wonders give you that classic, buttery sugar cookie flavor in a fuss-free way. We just press it in, bake it, and frost it. Welcome to stress-free holiday baking, my friends!

Why These christmas sugar cookie bars Are Your New Holiday Favorite (Easy Christmas Desserts)

I’m telling you, if you only make one Christmas dessert this year, make these bars. They capture that nostalgic sugar cookie feel without any of the usual holiday drama. I love finding ways to make baking more accessible, especially when things get hectic!

Here’s why these are going straight into your ‘must-make-again’ file:

• No Roll, No Chill Required: That’s right! We skip the messy flouring of the counter, the chilling time, and the cookie cutters. You just mix the dough and press it right into the pan. Less waiting equals more snacking, right?
• Guaranteed Soft and Chewy Texture: The ratios in this recipe are spot-on for that perfect, slightly dense, melt-in-your-mouth feel. They never turn out hard or dry, which is always my biggest fear with a bar recipe!
• Perfect for Gifting and Parties: Cut them into squares, tie a neat ribbon around the parchment paper, and you have instant, beautiful Holiday Cookie Bars Recipe ready to go!
• Kid Friendly Christmas Baking: Because there’s no delicate rolling involved, these are fantastic to get the little ones involved. They can help mix the dough and go wild with the sprinkles on top!

Gathering Your Ingredients for Soft & Chewy christmas sugar cookie bars

Alright, let’s get down to brass tacks! The secret sauce to these amazing Vanilla Sugar Cookie Bars starts right here, with making sure your ingredients are ready to go. Nothing ruins that soft texture faster than cold butter trying to cream with sugar, trust me on this one. For the best, melt-in-your-mouth results, I always pull my butter out about an hour before I start baking so it’s perfectly softened. That little bit of planning makes a huge difference!

We have two main groups of goodies here: the base dough that bakes up perfectly chewy, and the sweet, silky frosting that goes on top. If you’re looking for tips on making sure your icing sets up just right without getting too hard later, I have a great post on easy cookie icing that hardens glossy that you might find helpful for other projects!

For the Vanilla Sugar Cookie Bars Base

Everything here needs to be ready to go. See those sprinkles? They’re not optional—they’re what makes these Frosted Sugar Cookie Squares scream ‘Christmas!’

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs (make sure these are room temperature too!)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup festive sprinkles (I always use red, green, and white nonpareils for that classic look)

For the Buttercream Frosted Bars

For the frosting, you absolutely must sift that powdered sugar. I know it seems like an extra step, but if you don’t, you end up with little rock-hard pockets of sugar in your beautiful Buttercream Frosted Bars. Nobody wants that!

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
• Food coloring (optional, for festive colors)

Step-by-Step Instructions for Perfect Frosted Sugar Cookie Squares

Now for the fun part! I’ve laid out the steps simply below so you have no excuses not to try these fantastic christmas sugar cookie bars. Remember, everything should be moving along happily—preheating the oven while you mix your first ingredients works perfectly for maximizing our time for these Quick Holiday Dessert Bars.

Preparing and Baking the christmas sugar cookie bars

We’re working fast but smart here. First things first: get that oven humming at 350°F (175°C). You absolutely need that 9×13 inch pan ready to go. I always use parchment paper leaving those little overhang tabs—it’s my cheat code for lifting the whole baked sheet out later, which saves me from any heartbreak!

Now, follow this closely for that soft base. Step two is key: when you beat that softened butter and sugar, I push mine until it’s almost cloud-like. Don’t just mix until combined; you want aeration there! That’s exactly what happens when you cream butter and sugar properly, which generates that essential structure for the bars.

After eggs and vanilla, alternate the dry mix (flour, baking powder, salt) with the milk. Go slow, and stop mixing the second you see no more big streaks of flour—seriously, do not overmix! Gently fold those bright sprinkles in last. Press the dough evenly into your prepared pan. Bake that beauty for about 20 to a gentle 25 minutes. When you pull it out, you want moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick, not a dry one! The final step here is the hardest: you must let these cool completely. If you frost a warm bar, you get a melted, sad mess!

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Making the Creamy Frosting and Decorating

Once the bars are totally cool (patience, darling, patience!), we whip up the sweet topping. I sometimes look at this as a chance to experiment with different frostings, but for the classic look, stick to the buttercream recipe. If you ever need a backup on a rich chocolate frosting, I have a great one you can check out!

Beat that butter until it’s creamy, then slowly add that sifted powdered sugar. I add the vanilla and milk last. If that frosting seems too thick for spreading—and sometimes it is!—just add another tiny splash of milk until you get a smooth, luscious spread. This is how we ensure we get those beautiful Buttercream Frosted Bars!

This is where we make these official Christmas Party Treats! Tint your frosting festive red or mint green if you feel artsy, then spread it evenly over the cooled base. The absolute best part? You need to get those extra sprinkles on *immediately* before the frosting firms up. They’ll stick beautifully! Once everything is set, use those parchment overhangs to lift the whole thing, slice it up, and admire your handiwork. We did it without rolling a single thing!

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Tips for Success: Achieving Chewy Cookie Bars Texture

Even though these christmas sugar cookie bars are wonderfully easy, getting that perfect chewy texture instead of something hard takes just a sliver of attention to detail regarding temperature and tools. Remember how I stressed room-temp butter and eggs for the batter? That’s pure E-E-A-T right there! When those ingredients are cool, they don’t incorporate air well when creamed, which is the secret to the ‘Melt in Your Mouth Cookie Bars’ experience we are aiming for. Slightly warmer fats mix smoothly and create those lovely airy pockets during creaming.

Another quick tip from the notes: if you decide to use a 9×9 inch pan instead of the recommended 9×13 inch pan—maybe you just want a thicker batch!—you must adjust your baking time down slightly. Thicker batters take longer to heat through, and we want to avoid over-baking at all costs if we are aiming for that soft center. I always think of it this way: underbake for five minutes rather than overbake for two minutes when dealing with Chewy Cookie Bars!

For more ways to nail that soft-baked feel in cookies, I have a post full of tips on creating the best soft, chewy classic snickerdoodle recipe that applies perfectly here too!

Variations for Your Festive Sheet Pan Cookies

Even though these christmas sugar cookie bars are pretty much perfect as written, I always love giving you all a chance to customize things a bit! Holiday baking is all about making things your own, isn’t it? Since these bars are such a wonderful blank canvas, we can easily tweak them for different parties or just to keep things interesting throughout December. These little additions turn them into truly unique Holiday Baking Ideas!

For starters, let’s talk extracts. While the tablespoon of clear vanilla we use gives that classic pure sugar cookie flavor, feel free to switch things up! If you have some almond extract hanging around, swapping just half a teaspoon of the vanilla for almond gives you this amazing depth—it’s subtle but so delicious.

Or, for something bright and cheerful, especially if you’re pairing these with dark chocolate treats, try adding the zest of half a lemon! It really wakes up the flavor profile. I covered how much I love that zesty punch in my lemon crinkle cookies post, and that brightness works wonderfully here, too.

Regarding the visuals, we used nonpareils because they look so festive, but don’t stop there! If you are making these ahead of time for a Christmas eve treat, try using sanding sugar instead of mixed sprinkles for a gorgeous, shimmering effect that catches the light. Or, if you’re feeling ambitious, use seasonal shapes like tiny green Christmas trees or silver stars.

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If you need a slightly different flavor profile entirely, you could even add a swirl of cinnamon sugar right before baking for a little extra warmth, although I find the plain, vanilla-forward base lets the frosting shine best. They are so versatile, which is why everyone saves this recipe!

Serving Suggestions for christmas sugar cookie bars at Your Party

Okay, these christmas sugar cookie bars are beautiful all on their own, right? But when you’re building out a holiday dessert table—because let’s be honest, half the fun is looking at all the treats!—you want variety. Since these bars are sweet, buttery, and already have that satisfying vanilla flavor, they act as the perfect anchor for almost any platter.

When I bring these to a big gathering, I pair them with things that offer a textural contrast or a different main flavor profile. They look absolutely divine next to something dark and rich. Think about setting them beside some fudgy brownies or maybe some salty snacks. The salty-sweet combination is always a winner at any event, and these bars offer that perfect, soft sweetness.

But the real showstopper pairing in my book? Hot drinks! Nothing says cozy Christmas like grabbing a warm mug next to a square of soft, frosted cookie bar. If you’re looking for the ultimate cozy combination, you absolutely have to try making my recipe for best rich creamy homemade hot chocolate. The vanilla from the bar just melts right into the chocolate notes of the cocoa. It’s pure heaven!

And finally, don’t forget the color! Because these are colorful Christmas Party Treats anyway, use a white platter or a simple wooden board. The bright sprinkles and the smooth icing pop wonderfully against a neutral background. They add cheer without shouting over the other delicious Holiday Baking Ideas you may have prepared!

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Storage and Make Ahead Christmas Sweets Guidance

This is where these christmas sugar cookie bars really shine for busy holiday planners like us! Since they are so sturdy and already boast that fantastic classic sugar cookie flavor, they are amazing candidates for being made ahead of time. Trust me, being able to pull something delicious out of the pantry when guests drop by unannounced is the best kind of holiday magic.

I broke down exactly how I store them based on whether they have the lovely frosting on them yet, which is super important for keeping that buttercream gorgeous and fresh for your Christmas Potluck Desserts.

If you are making these a few days out, you can totally leave the frosting off. Unfrosted bars are surprisingly resilient! Just make sure they are cooled completely—and I mean stone cold—before you store them. Place a layer of plastic wrap in an airtight container, lay the bars in a single layer if you can, or carefully separate layers with pieces of wax paper. You can keep the unfrosted bars on the counter at room temperature for about three days. They stay wonderfully fresh this way!

Now, once they are frosted? That changes things just a bit. Because we used that lovely buttercream that sits nicely at room temperature, if you plan to serve them within 48 hours, you can absolutely store the *frosted* bars airtight on the counter, too. Those sprinkles stay perfectly glued in place!

If you need them for longer than two days, or if your kitchen is unusually warm, you might want to move the frosted bars into the fridge. Just be aware that sometimes cold can slightly stiffen that delicious Frosted Sugar Cookie Squares frosting. My trick to fix this? Pull them out about an hour before you plan to serve them. That little bit of time on the counter lets them soften right up to that perfect, melt-in-your-mouth texture we worked so hard to achieve. These are truly the best Make Ahead Christmas Sweets because they thrive on planning ahead!

Frequently Asked Questions About christmas sugar cookie bars

I know you might have a few lingering thoughts before diving into the oven! That’s totally fair. When you’re trying out a new **Holiday Cookie Bars Recipe**, questions always pop up. I tried to answer the ones I hear most often from folks who are trying to achieve that perfect **Chewy Cookie Bars** texture without all the fuss of traditional cut-outs. If you’re looking for more inspiration, you can always find me sharing sweet holiday things over on my Pinterest page which you can find here: Pinterest account!

Can I use cream cheese frosting instead of the buttercream?

Oh, absolutely! If you prefer that slight tanginess, the Buttercream Frosted Bars recipe works beautifully when swapped out for a cream cheese version. The base of the bar is so classic and vanilla-forward that it holds up to different toppings really well. Just make sure your cream cheese is softened before beating it with the powdered sugar. You might need to adjust the liquid slightly—cream cheese frosting often needs just a touch more powdered sugar to reach the stiffness needed for spreading, but go slow so you don’t end up biting into a rock-hard topping!

Why did my bars turn out dry, even though I followed the recipe?

This is my biggest fear when baking any bar cookie, but with these christmas sugar cookie bars, dryness usually comes down to one of two things we talked about in the tips section. First, make sure you aren’t switching to a 9×9 pan without reducing your bake time—that’s a recipe for dry edges! Secondly, and this is huge for texture: check how the toothpick comes out. You want moist crumbs, not a few wet streaks, but definitely not bone dry, either. If you accidentally overbake them by even two minutes, that moisture evaporates quickly.

I really don’t like sprinkles. Can I skip them completely?

You totally can skip them if sprinkles aren’t your thing, though I always encourage adding *something* festive to these **Easy Christmas Desserts**! If you skip the sprinkles, you lose the little pops of color and texture that make them visually appealing. Instead, try dusting the still-warm, unfrosted bars very lightly with powdered sugar, or use a light layer of colored sugar (like sanding sugar) on top of the frosting for sparkle instead of the nonpareils. They will still be delicious **No Roll Sugar Cookies** in bar form!

How long do these keep, and what’s the best way to store them?

This is why I love making these early for the holidays! They hold up incredibly well, which makes them fantastic **Make Ahead Christmas Sweets**. If you store the *unfrosted* bars airtight on the counter, they stay soft for at least three days. The *frosted* squares are great at room temperature for about two days. If you need to keep them longer, you can refrigerate them, but remember to let them sit out for about an hour before serving so the frosting softens back up to perfection. For other appetizer needs during parties, check out my recipe for an easy cheese ball recipe!

Estimated Nutritional Snapshot for These Holiday Cookie Bars Recipe

I always try to give you all a little heads-up on what’s in the treats we make, especially when we’re sharing them around during the busy holiday season! Knowing what you’re serving is just part of being a responsible baker, even when the goal is pure, unadulterated fun. These figures are based on my calculations for 24 servings of these wonderful christmas sugar cookie bars.

Remember, this is just the snapshot, the rough guide! Since we all use different brands of butter, flour, and how generous we are with that dreamy frosting, your actual numbers might drift a little. If you are planning out a whole menu, this gives you a fantastic starting point, much like when I plan out serving sizes for my easy tamale pie 45-min comfort casserole!

Here’s the general breakdown for one square:

• Serving Size: 1 bar
• Calories: 350
• Fat: 16g (including about 10g Saturated Fat)
• Carbohydrates: 50g
• Sugar: 45g (Yes, it’s holiday time, so we don’t skimp on the sweet stuff!)
• Protein: 3g
• Sodium: 150mg (That little bit of salt really makes the vanilla pop!)

Enjoy these beautiful Holiday Cookie Bars Recipe squares guilt-free! They are made with love, and that’s the most wholesome ingredient we can add to any dish.

The Easiest Soft & Chewy Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars (No Chill, Perfect Frosting!)

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Make holiday baking simple with these soft and chewy Christmas sugar cookie bars. Skip the rolling and cutting; these festive sheet pan cookies are perfect for parties and gifting.

• Author: sophia collins
• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time: 25 min
• Total Time: 45 min
• Yield: 24 servings 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

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• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup festive sprinkles (red, green, white nonpareils)
• For Frosting: 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
• Food coloring (optional, for festive colors)

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides for easy removal.
2. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy. This step helps achieve that soft texture.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix.
6. Gently fold in the festive sprinkles.
7. Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared baking pan.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs attached. You want these chewy, not dry.
9. Let the bars cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. This is crucial before frosting.
10. Prepare the frosting: Beat the softened butter until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk until you reach a smooth, spreadable consistency. Add a splash more milk if the frosting is too stiff.
11. Tint the frosting with food coloring if desired.
12. Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cookie bars.
13. Immediately top the frosting with more festive sprinkles before the frosting sets.
14. Once the frosting is set, use the parchment paper overhang to lift the bars from the pan. Cut into squares.

Notes

• For the best melt in your mouth cookie bars texture, ensure your butter and eggs are at room temperature before mixing.
• If you want a thicker bar, use a 9×9 inch pan, but reduce the baking time slightly.
• These make excellent make ahead Christmas sweets; store unfrosted bars airtight for up to 3 days, or frosted bars at room temperature for 2 days.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 bar
• Calories: 350
• Sugar: 45g
• Sodium: 150mg
• Fat: 16g
• Saturated Fat: 10g
• Unsaturated Fat: 6g
• Trans Fat: 0.5g
• Carbohydrates: 50g
• Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 3g
• Cholesterol: 55mg