4th July Sugar Cookie Bars
I love a good sugar cookie! This sheet pan of sugar cookies, with a cream cheese frosting, is the perfect patriotic dessert for Fourth of July or Memorial Day holidays. Add fresh red, white and blue berries on top for these festive 4th of July Sugar Cookie Bars!
Fruit pizza is one of my favorite summer desserts. It’s so versatile with the berries or fresh fruit you can put on top. This Sugar Cookie Bars recipe is a fruit pizza recipe–with a dreamy cream cheese frosting! I promise, it’s a family favorite, and a real crowd pleaser (serves a lot).
4th of July Sugar Cookie Bars
I grew up enjoying every kind of summer berry, and many types of desserts that my mom would make. I was the blackberry picker and I’d sell them to my mom’s friends. This dessert has a variety of berries on top, but of course you can add your favorites (strawberries are great, too).
Read more: 4th July Sugar Cookie Bars
I’m a huge blueberry fan, and when I came across this exert I had written in my journal awhile back from Jack London in 1906, it made me smile.
“I shall never forget the first time I saw blueberries served on the table. I had never seen blueberries before, and yet, at the sight of them, there leaped up in my mind memories of dreams wherein I had wandered through swampy land, eating my fill of them. My mother set before me a dish of the berries. I filled my spoon, but before I raised it to my mouth, I knew just how they would taste. Nor was I disappointed. It was the same tang that I had tasted a thousand times in my sleep.” –The Complete Novels by Jack London
Why I love this recipe
- It feeds a lot (up to 12)
- You can make it ahead
- Add whatever toppings you prefer (berries, shaved chocolate, funfetti, chopped cookies, nuts)
Gather these ingredients:
This recipe crust is made up of 5 ingredients:
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Flour
- Egg
- Almond extract
The cream cheese frosting is made up of:
- White chocolate chips
- Heavy cream
- Light Cream Cheese
How do you make Sugar Cookie Bars
- Prep your pan with cooking spray. Grease either a quarter sheet pan, a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, or a 12-inch round pizza pan with cooking spray.
- Make the sugar cookie dough with 3 simple ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon—no hand or standup mixer needed!
- Press the dough into the baking pan.
- TIP: Spray your fingertips with cooking spray as you press the crust.
- That’s it—bake and cool!
How to make the cream cheese frosting
- Whisk together the frosting ingredients until smooth. I like to melt (on 50%) in the microwave the chips to get them soft, and then do the same for a few seconds with the cream cheese.
- The frosting comes together very nice and smooth.
- Spread on top of the cookie crust.
- Prepare your fruit (wash and dry) and lay down on the bars. Do this while it’s semi-wet, so the berries will stick to the frosting.
Best served immediately, but okay to make a few hours ahead.
Tips and substitutions (ways to serve for various holidays):
- 4th of July: Festive red and blue berries. Or get creative and make a flag, with white coconut or bananas, and berries.
- Valentine’s Day: Red cherries, strawberries, or raspberries in the shape of a heart. Or, add anything chocolate, or candy!
- Easter: Make an egg with fruit or berries or pastel M&Ms.
- Halloween: Candy corn!
- Thanksgiving: Use fruit or candy to spell out “GIVE THANKS”.
- Christmas: Make a wreath or tree on top with candy or fruit.
- Sugar Cookie Bars are baked on a cookie sheet, and then frosted with a thick white chocolate chip frosting.
- Change up the frosting color and sprinkles, or the seasonal berries, according to the occasion or holiday!
- We love this dessert with fresh berries!
- Dessert should be served within 24 hours (or the crust gets soft).
- Store any leftovers in the fridge.
How do you serve Cookie Bars?
- This easy appetizer: 4th of July Blueberry Caprese Skewers or for a larger gathering, this Epic July 4th Charcuterie Board.
- This lovely salad: Grilled Avocado Mango Shrimp Salad or Quinoa and Currant Summer Salad Recipe or the most popular salad on my blog, Summer Italian Spaghetti Salad Recipe.
- Grill this chicken: Best Grilled Chicken Thighs or Pineapple Mango Grilled Chicken Skewers or Asian Grilled Chicken.
- Dessert? Easy Sugar Cookie Bars and Millie’s Old Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream! (Millie is my mom!)
Get the Recipe:
Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Cookie:
- ¾ cup butter
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp almond extract
Frosting:
- 11 oz. package white chips
- ¼ cup cream
- 8 oz. cream cheese, we used light cream cheese
- Berries: blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries
Instructions
For the crust:
- Mix the first 5 ingredients well and press onto a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Bake at 300° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
For the filling:
- For the filling (next 3 ingredients): Melt the chips in the microwave or stove top; soften the cream cheese. Mix together and add the cream. Stir until smooth. Spread onto the cooled crust.
- Arrange a variety of berries (or favorite toppings) on top while the frosting is soft.
- Dessert should be served within 24 hours (or the crust gets soft).
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
