Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
Updated March 26, 2019
Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars-soft and chewy lemon sugar cookie bars topped with lemon cream cheese frosting! Perfect bars for parties and entertaining!
I don’t know about you, but our summers are always filled with BBQ’s, picnics, and pool parties! Most of these events are potluck style and our friends and family usually ask me to bring a dessert. I think the word has gotten out that I like to bake:) One of my favorite desserts to take to summer potlucks are Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. They are easy to make and feed a crowd! Plus, they are always a hit! I never have cookie bars to bring home…which is good and bad. Good so I won’t eat them and bad because I want to eat them:)
The sugar cookie dough is easy to mix up and the best part? You don’t have to get out the cookie cutters! There is no chilling, rolling, or cutting involved! You just press the cookie dough into a 9×13 pan and put them in the oven to bake. These bars are super simple to make!
The sugar cookie bars are soft and chewy with a hint of lemon. I put lemon zest and fresh lemon juice in the cookie dough. When the bars are cooled, I frost them with a sweet lemon cream cheese frosting that really brings out the lemon flavor. If you are a lemon lover, these bars will make you do a happy dance! They are delightful!
I like to add colored yellow sugar or sprinkles to decorate the bars. It helps cover up my poor frosting skills:) I cut the bars into squares, put them on a big platter and my work is done! Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars are my “go to” summer dessert recipe!
If you are looking for a fool proof dessert recipe to take to your summer potlucks, you have to try our Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. I promise they will be the talk of the party. Well, maybe people won’t be talking about them because they will be too busy eating them…and we all know it isn’t polite to talk with your mouth full of cookies:)
Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
For the bars:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 large lemon
- 3/4 cup butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the lemon cream cheese frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 8 ounce package cream cheese at room temperature
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- Colored sugar or sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 pan (I use a glass Pyrex dish) with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and lemon zest. Rub together with your fingers until fragrant.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and and lemon sugar mixture together until combined. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.
- Evenly spread the cookie dough into the prepared pan with a spatula. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the bars are slightly set in the middle. You don't want the bars to brown. Remove from the oven and let the bars cool completely.
- While the bars are cooling, make the lemon cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice. Slowly add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Mix until smooth.
- Frost the cooled cookie bars with lemon cream cheese frosting. I always have a little frosting leftover, but use as much as you like! Decorate with colored sugar or sprinkles, if desired. Cut the bars into squares and serve.
- Note-store bars in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Have you tried this recipe?
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They were a big hit on Easter. Thanks Maria for another great recipe!
Yay! You are welcome!
Hi I was wondering, I have freshly squeezed lemon juice in a bottle an lemon ice cubes as as well, but no lemon zest. Can I just increase the amount of the juice?
I liked your post for sugar cookie bar. We love cheese lemon stuffs. I’m always looking for good cookie ideas. We made raspberry this one a little while ago and it has been very popular. Thank you for your post.
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I made these spur of the moment yesterday afternoon for visiting daughter and grandchildren. My granddaughter (age 14) ate one and asked her Mom “Is it possible that these are already addicting”. Great dessert!
So glad your granddaughter liked them!
LOVE THESE! I made this and I am not kidding when I say everyone asked for the recipe! One to treasure!
Hi, can you pls tell me the quantity (weight) you are considering for “cup”?
In pastry I try to use the exact recipe at first until I have it under control, and I tend to notice that the cup measurement is not that accurate….tks vmuch! they look yumy indeed 🙂
Melisa
It looks very good :p
Yum!! My only suggesting is to cut the frosting part in half! This makes a lot… Enough for 2 or 3 pans of the cookie base. I’m going to be making more of the cookie portion to use up the extra frosting, which isn’t terrible. 😉 But next time I’ll cut it down.
These cookie bars turned out lovely and light. Based on some of the reviews, I opted to halve the icing portion of the recipe and it worked out well. Thanks for the recipe!
Hello – your lemon bars look so yummy. In your directions, you say to use a stand mixer. I don’t have one of those, and wonder if I would get good results using a hand mixer.
Thank you.
Yes, you can use a hand mixer. Enjoy!
Thanks very much for your reply! I look forward to making them this weekend.
I made this a few weeks ago. The bars weren’t as lemony as I thought they would be. They were ok. The frosting makes ALOT! We used the leftover frosting between graham crackers to make little cracker sandwiches. I probably won’t ever make them again.
hey girl- these bars look amazing! yummy!
I just made these today and they were amazing. I will definitely make them again.
Can I half the recipe ingredients to make a 8×8?
What’s the difference in lemon jest and plain lemons?and could you please tell me what turando sugar is please?I’ve never heard of it but it sounds super important I hope I spelled it right if not forgive me
Such an amazing recipe for sugar cookie bars! I thought that the lemon added such a nice touch to it – being able to taste it without the citrus flavor being too overwhelming. My family loved them and they were gone so fast!
These are amazing and everyone loves them / just wondering if the time and temp is the same if I use a 9×13 metal pan instead of glass??
Can this recipe be made in a 9×9 pan?
The bars will be thicker and you will need to adjust the baking time. I haven’t tried it.