Happy February friends!!!
That means we can officially pull out the red, pink and white, right? Or the gold and black… or whichever colors you choose to decorate on Valentine’s Day! I don’t do much decorating at all. A couple years ago I shared this cute DIY that you can make in less than an hour, but other than that, my decorating for this holiday is limited to baking. We’ll bake all the festive treats we can!
When my friend Jo-Anna from A Pretty Life In The Suburbs organized this fun Valentine blog hop, I knew right away that I wanted to share this delicious treat! There are 24 other super talented Canadian ladies joining me this week to share everything from delicious recipes to some amazing DIYs! Be sure to check the bottom of my post to see what everyone else shared!
I have to admit I’m not much a cookie baker at all. I’m more of a bars and squares kind of girl. If you check out my Pinterest dessert board, I’m sure the bar recipes will far outnumber the cookie recipes I have pinned. But when I saw this recipe from Chocolate With Grace, I knew it was going to be a winner in my books!
Sugar cookies especially take alot of time. Making the dough, often chilling it, and then cutting them all out. This Sugar Cookie Bar recipe I’m sharing today, can be whipped together in half the time and doesn’t sacrifice on taste. It is soo mouthwateringly delicious that I know we’ll be making them again. They’d be perfect for classroom parties and to take to work to share with your staff too!
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1½ tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 and ½ cups icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 or 2 tablespoons cream or milk
- Food coloring and sprinkles, if desired
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla.
- Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined.
- Spread dough into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Do not over bake or the bars will end up very dry.
- Let cool completely.
- Beat together butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and salt.
- Beat in enough cream or milk to make a smooth spreadable consistency.
- Add food coloring if desired.
- Ice bars once cooled. Add sprinkles.
Monday
Heart Shaped Pizzas for Valentine’s Day by Jo-Anna of A Pretty Life
Blood Orange Limoncello Cocktail for Valentine’s Day by Tara of Suburble
Ombre Cake Makeover from a Grocery Store Cake by Colleen of Lemon Thistle
Valentine’s Popcorn by Janella of Ma Belle Vie
“Warm Heart” Hand Warmers by Sarah of Flourish & Knot
Tuesday
Valentine’s Day Embroidery Projects by Heather of Home to Heather
Valentine’s Candy Inspired Table Setting by Andrea of Personally Andrea
Valentine Heart Strawberry Pop Tarts by Jen of Kitchen Counter Chronicles
Valentine’s Day Date Night In Gift Basket Idea by Christina of The DIY Mommy
Valentine’s Day Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookies by Shauna of Satori Design for Living
Wednesday
Felt Valentine’s Day Cards by Alex of Northstory
Lovey Dovey Vegan Chocolate Bark by Joann of Woman in Real Life
Valentine’s Day Wall Hanging by Thalita of The Learner Observer
DIY Valentine String Art by Tash of The Dreamhouse Project
Fluffy Valentine Sugar Cookies by Kendra of Joy In Our Home
Thursday
Easy DIY Valentine’s Wreath by Laurie of VinYet ETC
Raspberry Pie Mousse Cups by Daniela of Lifeovereasy
Valentine’s Day Breakfast by Dannyelle of Life is a Party
Valentine’s Mantel by Jen of Rambling Renovators
Boyfriend Bouquet | Floating Heart Terrarium by Cynthia of Cynthia Zamaria
Friday
Embroidery Hoop Valentine Art by Christine of The DIY Dreamer
“You & Me” Wood Sign by Lindi of Love Create Celebrate
Chocolate and Coconut Coated Heart Mini-Cakes by Jane and Sonja of Sustain My Craft Habit
DIY String Heart Wall Hanging by Melissa of The Sweet Escape
Heart Shaped Marshmallows for Valentine’s Day by Christine of Amidst the Chaos
Look so yummy Kendra! The kids would love to make these with me!
Thank you, Sarah! I bet they would… especially licking the beaters 😉 Thanks so much for stopping by! xo
I’m with you…squares are SO much easier to make than cookies! These look delicious!
Thanks so much Jo-Anna! So glad you organized this blog hop!! xo
Pink icing always wins my girls hearts over!
Ours too, Alex!! Hope you are having a wonderful week! xo
Love the idea of doing cookies in bars. So much easier and just as pretty!
Thank you, Heather! I totally agree! Enjoy the rest of your week!
Mmm! These look so yummy and I’m a big fan of sprinkles!
Thanks so much, Jamie! Our kids love anything with sprinkles!! Thanks for coming by! xo
These are the sorts of treats I try to stay away from because they’re SO, SO good! There’s something about sugar cookies and sprinkles, isn’t there?!
Yes, there sure is, Shauna! Both are winners in my books! Thanks so much for stopping by! xo
I want to make (and eat) these right now. So fun.
I hope you make them, Cynthia… I know you will love them 🙂 Have a great weekend!
These would disappear in no time in my house!
In our home too, Dani! Thanks so much for coming by!
A cookie bar! I never tried that before. Looks so so yummy!
Thank you, Lindsay! Enjoy the rest of your week! xo
I want to eat some!!!!
Me too! Have a great weekend, Christine!
These look REALLY good Kendra! I want to eat them so badly! lol.
Thanks so much, Lindi! I would love one right now too 😉 Hope your weekend is wonderful! xo
I saw these on IG the other day Kendra and they looked SO good 🙂 and then I saw something similar in the store today so I bought them ‘cuz I had kids coming over. They are so disappointing (yes I ate one too) that next time I’ll definitely make the effort to bake some homemade ones. Thanks for the recipe! xo
I completely understand! Those store bought goodies look so good but yet nothing beats homemade! Let me know if you try these… making them for our kids Valentine parties! Hope you are having a great weekend! xo
Squares for the WIN! These sound fantastic and easy to make: my kind of baking.
Thanks so much, Sarah! I much prefer square baking to cookie baking, too! Enjoy your week!!
These look so completely appetizing and I’m really glad I don’t have them in my house right now… I’d either cut myself a very large square or have way more than one! So fluffy and delicious!
Thanks so much, Laurie!! Baked goodies are my absolute weakness so I totally wouldn’t judge you if you ate two (or three or four!) 😉 Enjoy your week, friend!
Oh Kendra…these look amazing! I love the idea of a sugar cookie bar too. A lot easier than cutting out all those shapes with a cookie cutter. The icing looks delicious and of course I love all the sprinkles. 😉
Thank you, Lisa! Of course, you would love the sprinkles… I cant look at sprinkled doughnuts or cookies without thinking of you! 😉 Have a wonderful week, friend! xo
YUM! I seriously almost jumped into my screen these look soooooooooo good! Great post 🙂 xo
Thank you… they really are delicious!
These look amazing, and so much easier than rolling out and cutting out regular sugar cookies. the pink is perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Thanks so much, Dannyelle!! I agree, I totally avoid recipes that you have to roll out and cut into shapes! So glad you stopped by! xo
These def. look fluffy and just delicious! Yum! I have been wanting to up my baking game, because I hardly ever take time out to make fun sweets for my family anymore. I am going to try and make these before V-Day!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Thank you, my friend!! These are very easy to make… I know your kids will love them!! Thanks so much for stopping by! xo
I like to focus on the baking for Valentine’s Day too. Food is almost always the most important part, right? 😉
I totally agree! Thanks for stopping by!
What a sweet alternative to sugar cookies! The kids would go crazy over these, especially with the sprinkles. Looking forward to trying out this recipe soon.
I’m sure your kids will love them, Sonja!! So fun to do this blog hop with you!
I’ll have to save this for when the boys are old enough to appreciate icing. They look lovely AND delicious!!
Thanks so much, Thalita!! I think the icing is the best part 😉 So glad you stopped by!