Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
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Easy lemon sugar cookie bars make the perfect springtime treat! These buttery soft cookie bars topped with delicious swirls of lemon frosting are perfection.
Flavored with fresh lemon zest and vanilla, sugar cookie bars come together quickly and are perfect for bakers of all skill levels. These versatile bars are also delicious with lime, orange, tangerine zest, or any blend of citrus that you love!
Ingredients for Sugar Cookie Bars
To make these bars, you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- Fresh lemons (this recipe uses fresh lemon zest and juice)
- Sugar
- Unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- Vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
- Powdered sugar
Perfect Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
Cookie Bars – Soft and buttery, the cookie bars are flavored with fresh lemon zest and pure vanilla extract. Cornstarch gives the cookie bars an ultra soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Lemon Frosting – Flecked with fresh lemon zest, this creamy lemon frosting is buttery and sweet. Fresh lemon juice and vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste) add incredible flavor.
Assemble Bars – Once the cookie bars are completely cool, use an offset spatula to swirl lemon frosting over the top. Top with fresh lemon zest and chill for 15 minutes to set the frosting before cutting into bars.
Double the Recipe – If you’re making treats to share, this recipe easily doubles for a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Simply double the ingredients and bake as directed (the baking time will remain the same).
Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Total Time: 49 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
The BEST lemon sugar cookie bars! Soft and buttery cookie bars topped with delicious swirls of lemon frosting are so easy and delicous!
Ingredients
Bars
- 1 1/2 cups (210 g) flour
- 1 1/2 tsp (4 g) cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 g) baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp (1.5 g) salt
- 2 Tbsp (6 g) fresh lemon zest
- 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (112 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg (50 g), at room temperature
- 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract
Frosting
- 6 Tbsp (84 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp (3 g) fresh lemon zest
- 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp (15 g) fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch square metal baking pan with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Combine lemon zest and sugar in a food processor and pulse for 1 minute to combine. Beat butter and lemon-sugar in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture; beat just until incorporated.
- Scrape dough into prepared pan and use a piece of wax paper lightly coated with nonstick spray to press dough evenly into pan. Bake bars for 22 to 24 minutes, until edges are golden, top is set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in baking pan on a wire rack.
- For the frosting, beat butter and salt in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until smooth. Beat in lemon zest and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and beat in powdered sugar until incorporated. Add lemon juice and mix on low speed until combined, then beat on medium speed for 1 minute, until light and airy.
- Lift parchment and place cookie bars on a cutting board. Use an offset spatula to swirl frosting over the bars and top with lemon zest or sprinkles. Chill for 15 minutes in the refrigerator to set frosting before cutting into bars with a sharp knife. Store leftover bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
This recipe easily doubles for a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Simply double the ingredients and bake as directed (the baking time will remain the same).
Keywords: Lemon, Meyer Lemon, Sugar Cookie Bars, Cookie Bars
More easy lemon dessert recipes:
Lemon Sheet Cake
Vanilla Citrus Sandwich Cookies
Meyer Lemon Yogurt Cake
These bars are perfect for a summer get together! So good and so refreshing!
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Thanks so much, Lu! I’m so glad you tried this recipe! 🙂
Made these over the weekend and they are so yum! The perfect sugar cookie bar!
★★★★★
Thank you, Leslie! So glad you tried these bars! 🙂
It would be so incredibly helpful if you had gram measurements included with your ingredient measurements! I have started baking only by ingredient weight and it has made a HUGE difference for me in being able to replicate a recipe precisely each and every time. I had no idea just how divergent one measuring cup can be from another and from the standard 120 grams it should be until I started weighing things out! The scale has become my best baking buddy! Thanks!
Hi Diane, thank you for your note. I’ve added weight measurements to the recipe. Happy baking! 🙂