Instructions

1. Add the sugar and the softened butter to a mixing bowl.
2. Cream the butter and sugar for 2 minutes and then add the eggs and mix for 3 more minutes.
3. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
4. Mix in the flour, one cup at a time. Add the Baking Soda with the first cup of flour.
5. The Sugar Cookie Bars dough is now ready to prepare for baking.  No chilling necessary.
6. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Pour all of the dough out onto the prepared cookie sheet.
7. Press the dough down onto the cookie sheet.  The dough is soft and sticky so it is a little tricky to get the dough evenly distributed on the cookie sheet.  If you cover the dough with another piece of parchment paper it makes the process a little less messy.
8. You want the dough to be about 3/4″ high. It will rise to about 1″ high during the baking process. The dough may not fill the entire cookie sheet if you are using a large baking sheet as we did here.
9. Bake the Sugar Cookie Bars in a 375-degree oven for 18-20 minutes.  The cookie bars will be lightly browned around the edges and slightly golden on the top. You don't want to overbake the cookies.  The cookie bar will not come out of the oven a deep golden brown – in fact, it might look a little undone but it is not.  If you bake these cookie bars too long they will be dry. Let the cookie bar cool completely before you frost them.
10. While the cookie bars are cooling, make a double batch of our yummy The Best Buttercream Frosting.  It is the perfect topping for these Sugar Cookie Bars.  You can find detailed instructions on how to make our Buttercream Frosting here.
11. We colored our Buttercream Frosting pink.  We used 3 drops of Wilton Color Right Pink food coloring to get this pretty light pink color.
12. Scoop the frosting onto the cookie bar.
13. Spread the frosting with a knife or an offset spatula.
14. Add some pretty sprinkles.
15. Allow the frosting to setup for a bit and then cut into individual bars.