Christmas Tree Sugar Cookie Bars are all dressed up for the holiday season! A festive baking project that's fun and simple to make (no cookie cutters required). Perfect for parties and as a festive gift.
I made this recipe with my daughter this weekend. The sugar cookie bars were thick and chewy and the buttercream frosting added just the right amount of sweetness. I couldn't believe how simple they were to make (much easier than Christmas cookies). They turned out adorable!
- Melissa
Tis the season, friends! Go all out this year. Get that Christmas music blasting, a cozy fire burning, grab your favorite apron, your best mixing bowls and let's whip up these adorable (and surprisingly simple) Christmas tree sugar cookie bars.
It's hard to describe just how tasty these are. The tender, thick and chewy cookie base (with a slight tang from the addition of cream cheese) makes the perfect counterpart to the sweet buttercream frosted topping. It's the perfect easy to make treat for this time of year.
This recipe was inspired by this Sugar Cookie Bar Recipe from The New York Times. Based on reviews, I halved the recipe and prepared the bars in an 8"x 8" pan to ensure the center cooked properly, upped the amount of egg used, and eliminated the lemon flavor from the icing.
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Ingredients For Sugar Cookie Bars
- All Purpose Flour - spoon the flour into your measuring cup instead of dipping for most accurate measurements
- Salt - kosher or regular table salt both work well
- Butter - use room temperature unsalted butter
- Cream Cheese - avoid reduced fat options - adds a perfect tang and chewiness
- Sugar - the most important ingredient when making "sugar cookie bars"
- Egg - helps to create structure and stability - ensure they are room temperature
- Vanilla - skip on using imitation vanilla and go for pure vanilla extract
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredients For Decorating
- piping bag fitted with a 1M decorating tip
- cut sugar cookie bars - an 8"x8" square sliced into triangles
- green buttercream icing - used store bought vanilla frosting or make your favorite buttercream recipe
- sprinkles - pick your favorite - I went with a fun holiday blend
- tootsie rolls (not pictured) - a last minute addition, because all Christmas trees need a trunk. You could also use a pretzel sticks.
See recipe for quantities.
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare the pan. Spray pan with non-stick spray OR coat with a thin layer of butter. Line with 2 sheets of perpenidcular parchment paper for easy removal of bars.
Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients. Add the flour and salt to a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
Step 3: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and beat until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, beat 1 minute. Finally, add flour and mix until smooth.
Step 4: Use a damp rubber spatula, pour the dough into the prepared pan. Use damp hands to gently press the bars to the edges, paying particular attention to the corners. Bake until edges are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Instructions For Slicing Bars
Step 5: Remove cooled bars from pan and slice in half.
Step 6: Slice top row into tree shaped triangles.
Step 7: Slice bottom row into tree shaped triangles.
Instructions For Decorating Christmas Tree Bars
Step 8: Prepare your green buttercream icing and load it into a piping bag fitted with a 1M decorating tip.
Step 9: Use the 1M decorator tip to apply small stars that cover the surface of the sugar cookie bar. Start and the bottom and work your way up to the tip of the tree.
Step 10: Strategically add sprinkles (ornaments) to your sugar cookie tree.
Step 11: Unwrap a Tootsie roll and mold it into the shape of a tree trunk. Use a butterknife to add lines that look like bark. Secure trunk with a tiny dab of buttercream.
Hint: This sugar cookie bar dough is very sticky and can be difficult to work with. Use wet hands to press the dough into place. Then, use the wrapper from the butter (greased side down) to make sure the top is flat and pressed into the corners of the pan.
Variations
Simple - Simple - if making Christmas bar cookies with younger children, skip the piping bag and ice the entire sugar cookie bar with green buttercream prior to cutting into triangles. Kids can then apply the sprinkles!
Royal Icing - using the same method described above, you could swap out buttercream icing for royal icing. This is my go-to recipe.
Creative - get creative with your and piping tip, grass tip or even round decorating tip would be a fun change! Sprinkles can also be swapped out for holiday candies or even dark and white chocolate chips.
Almond flavor -swap out the vanilla extract for almond extract for a fun flavor change-up for this Christmas dessert.
Equipment
18" piping bag - this is a large size, but if you are making this recipe with kids, bigger is always better as they tend to squeeze the middle of the bag. This causes the icing to pop out of the top and makes a mess. The larger bag grants a bit of grace and as always, I recommend using a disposable icing bag.
1M decorator/piping tip - this is a classic tip that you would use for much more than just this christmas cookie bars recipe
stand mixer - this is the one I use and love
festive sprinkles- best part of the recipe! I used this mix from Walmart and added gold pearls, but you can use any sprinkles that look fun and are available in your local stores.
Storage
Refrigerator - plain sugar cookie bars or decorated bars store well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Place in an airtight container. To serve, just allow them to come to room temperature on the counter.
Freezer - plain sugar cookie bars or decorated bars also freeze well. Arrange them into a single layer on a sheet pan and freezer for 2-3 hours. Bars can then be stacked with a sheet of parchment between each layer and stored in an airtight bag or container covered with plastic wrap. To thaw, remove from freezer and place into refrigerator (single layer - not stacked) overnight. Cookie bars can then be moved to the counter to come to room temperature.
Top Tip
For best results, use a very sharp large knife to slice cooled bars in order to ensure clean cuts.
PrintRecipe
Christmas Tree Iced Sugar Cookie Bars (Easy Recipe)
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 Christmas Tree Cookie Bars 1x
Description
Christmas Tree Sugar Cookie Bars are all dressed up for the season! A festive baking project that's fun and simple to make. Perfect for parties and holiday giving.
Ingredients
For the Sugar Cookie Bars:
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For Decorating:
- 8 cooled and sliced sugar cookie bar triangles
- Prepared buttercream icing or store-bought vanilla frosting
- 1 18" piping bag fitted with 1M tip
- green gel food coloring
- sprinkles
- 8 unwrapped Tootsie rolls
Instructions
For The Sugar Cookie Bars:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat the pan in cooking spray or with a thin layer of butter. Line the pan with 2 perpendicular sheets of parchment paper. The paper should extend past the rim of the baking pan. Place baking pan in the freezer (this helps the dough spread more easily).
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese at medium speed until fully incorporated, about 1 minute. Reserve the butter wrapper.
- Add the sugar and beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until well mixed, about 1 minute. Turn off the mixer, scrape the edges of the bowl.
- Add the flour mixture, mixing on low speed until just blended, about 1 minute.
- Using a damp spatula, scrape the dough into the prepared baking pan. Use damp hands to press it into an even layer. To ensure that the dough is as flat as possible, use the greased side of the reserved butter wrapper to press the dough into the pan, paying particular attention to the corners.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges edges turn golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Set pan on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
- Slice the cooled bars into 2 even halves. Use a sharp knife to slice each half of the bars into 4 triangles. You will have 8 in total. See tutorial in the post for step-by-step pictures.
To Decorate:
- Prepare your green buttercream icing and load it into a piping bag fitted with a 1M piping tip.
- Use the piping tip to apply small starts that cover the surface of the sugar cookie bar. Start at the bottom and work your way to the tip of the tree.
- Strategically add sprinkles (ornaments) to your Christmas tree.
- Unwrap a Tootsie Roll and mold it into the shape of a tree trunk. Use a butter knife to add lines for the "tree bark." Use a small amount of icing to secure the "trunk" to the "tree."
Notes
- This recipe was tested using an 8"x8" pan. Any variations will effect cooking time.
- This recipe makes 8 bars. A small baking pan made it much easier to remove cooled bars without breaking them. If doubling this recipe, do not use a 9"x13" pan, but instead - 2 8" square pans.
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Christmas Tree Cookie Bar
- Calories: 438
- Sugar: 44.7 g
- Sodium: 187.6 mg
- Fat: 21.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 59 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 54.5 mg
FAQS
This is a VERY sticky dough and it is difficult to work with. Here are a few things you can try to help ... 1) Once you prepare your pan, stick it in the freezer, dough is easier to work with on a cold surface. 2) Make sure you are handling the dough with damp hands or spatula. 3) Use your discarded butter wrapper (grease side down) to press the dough into place.
Different ovens vary in cook time quite significantly. A second factor may be the type of pan that you used for the recipe. These cookie bars were tested in an 8"x8" metal pan. Using a different size or pan material will affect cooking time.
If your bars are crumbly, you either added too much flour or over baked them.
Marie Cahill
Sorry, but I can't find the amounts for the ingredients. I couldn't find the recipe card. Please advise.
Bailey Sissom
Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention. Fixed!