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Berry Cheesecake Sugar Cookie Bars are a simple, 6 ingredient sugar cookie bar topped with rich Cheesecake Frosting finished off with fresh berries!
Sugar Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Berry cheesecake sugar cookie bars are the tasty dessert treat that you didn’t know you needed. With this soft, sweet, rich dessert in every bite and the refreshing sweet tang of fresh berries, you’ll wonder where it’s been all of your life!
The sugar cookie bar is made up of only 6 simple ingredients. The bars are soft, and quite literally just melt in your mouth. This is the only sugar cookie bar recipe I will use -I have been perfecting it for about a year now!
The frosting, it is a Cream Cheese Frosting that rivals the best cheesecake you’ve ever tasted. I use it on everything from Red Velvet Cookies to entire cakes! I absolutely love how the rich frosting pairs with the sweet sugar cookie and tart fruit!
Butter: Regular, salted butter is what I use. You’ll want it either softened or at room temperature.
Granulated Sugar: It is the butter and only white granulated sugar that make a classic sugar cookie, so that is what we are using in our sugar cookie bars, too.
Egg: Just one egg needed.
Vanilla Extract: The vanilla is the star of the sugar cookie bar show! The sweet vanilla flavor of these bars are top notch.
All Purpose Flour: No fancy baking flour needed. *cue the dance party*
Baking Powder
For the Cream Cheese you will need:
Butter: Again, just regular, room temperature Salted Butter is what I use.
Cream Cheese: Use a brick of cream cheese, not the fluffy easy to spread stuff.
Powdered Sugar: this is the sweetener for the frosting and can’t be substituted for anything else.
Vanilla Extract
Salt
How to Make Berry Cheesecake Sugar Cookie Bars
The sugar cookie bars are made in a few steps. First, the sugar cookie dough is made (I use my stand mixer!) and then pressed into a 9×9 pan. If you want thinner bars, you could use a 9×13 pan, the cook time will decrease if you use a larger pan.
We will bake the sugar cookie bars and allow them to cool completely before frosting. Honestly, the waiting thing is the hardest part of the entire recipe.
The frosting is as easy as combining all of the ingredients together with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. Spread it all over your bars and top with fresh fruit and you are set! If you are planning on taking these to a potluck or something of the sort, I would suggest frosting and topping with fruit right before serving.
Can you freeze sugar cookie bars?
Yes, you can freeze these sugar cookie bars before or after they’ve been frosted. To thaw and eat, you can simply place them on the counter for a few hours prior to serving or place them in the fridge overnight.
Can I use margarine instead of butter?
For the frosting, you’ll want to use butter if at all possible. While you can use margarine, butter holds up much better in frostings and yields a better texture and flavor.
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Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9×9 pan. Set aside. (For thinner bars, use a 9×13 pan.)
For the Sugar Cookie Bars:Cream together the butter and sugar for 2 minutes.
3/4 cup butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar
Add in the vanilla and egg. Mix thoroughly.
1 egg, 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
Mix in the baking powder and flour until well combined.
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Press into the prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until puffy and no longer glossy. You’ll want to pull them before they start turning brown.
Let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
Cream together the butter and cream cheese until fully incorporated.
2 tbsp butter, 4 oz cream cheese
Scrape the sides of the bowl and slowly add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. You can adjust the texture of the frosting by adding a splash of milk or more powdered sugar to your preference.
2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 pinch salt
Frost the cooled sugar cookie bars and top with fresh berries right before serving.
This blog is a little glimpse into my kitchen, family & life. I hope you’ll giggle the days away with me and enjoy the craziness that goes on at my house. If you are Cookie obsessed like I am, check out my Sister Site, Cookies for Days.
Hey Karli, do you use salted or unsalted butter? Second question: the ingredient list doesn’t list salt, but step 4 states to add salt. Do you add salt? If so, how much?
Hey Stephanie, great catch! I always use salted butter. The cookie bar does not have salt, but the frosting does require a pinch! I fixed that in the instructions – thanks again!
So yummy! Made it for the 4th of July and everyone loved it! Easy to make too!
So happy to hear this, Sara! Thanks for the comment and stars!
Hey Karli, do you use salted or unsalted butter? Second question: the ingredient list doesn’t list salt, but step 4 states to add salt. Do you add salt? If so, how much?
Hey Stephanie, great catch! I always use salted butter. The cookie bar does not have salt, but the frosting does require a pinch! I fixed that in the instructions – thanks again!