Sourdough Sugar Cookie Bars
Yield: 16 cookie bars
These Sourdough Sugar Cookie Bars are soft, chewy, and topped with a creamy vanilla buttercream frosting for an easy dessert everyone will love. Made with sourdough discard and simple pantry ingredients, they're perfect for birthdays, holidays, and everyday celebrations.
Ingredients
Sourdough Sugar Cookie Bars
- 220 grams all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups + 1 Tablespoon
- 4 grams baking powder 1 teaspoon
- 2 grams baking soda 1/4 teaspoon
- 7 grams cornstarch 2 teaspoons
- 3 grams salt 1/2 teaspoon
- 200 grams sugar 1 cup
- 113 grams unsalted butter, room temperature 1/2 cup
- 2 egg yolks, room temperature
- 100 grams sourdough discard, room temperature 1/3 cup
- 8 grams vanilla extract 2 teaspoons
- 1 gram almond extract, optional 1/4 teaspoons
Vanilla Buttercream
- 113 grams unsalted butter, room temperature 1/2 cup
- 180 grams powdered sugar scant 1 1/3 cups
- 30 grams heavy cream 2 Tablespoon
- 4 grams vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
- pinch of salt
- food coloring, optional
Instructions
Sourdough Sugar Cookie Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8x8 inch square pan with parchment paper. Set to the side.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch and salt. Set to the side.220 grams all-purpose flour, 4 grams baking powder, 2 grams baking soda, 7 grams cornstarch, 3 grams salt
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.200 grams sugar, 113 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
- On low speed, mix in the egg yolks one at a time until fully incorporated. Then add the sourdough discard, vanilla extract and almond extract until smooth.100 grams sourdough discard, room temperature, 2 egg yolks, room temperature, 8 grams vanilla extract, 1 gram almond extract, optional
- Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until there are no more streaks of flour. The cookie dough will be thick. If you’d light, you can add sprinkles to the cookie dough. I’d add 60-80 grams of jimmy-style sprinkles and give a quick mix.
- Press the sourdough cookie dough into the prepared baking pan. Note: Since the dough is thick, it can be quite challenging to spread. I like to lightly wet my fingers and press the dough into an even layer. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect since we’ll be covering it with frosting!
- Bake the Sourdough Sugar Cookie Bars for 20-25 minutes. Be careful not to OVERBAKE. The bars are done when the edges are lightly golden brown and the center still has a slight jiggle. The bars will continue to bake while they cool in the pan. If you poke a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean, it is overbaked.
- Remove the cookie bars from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Note: The bars will sink, this is expected! If you’d like a more even finish, you can press the bake of a spoon on the edges to help flatten them.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the softened butter on medium speed for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.113 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
- Next, add the powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, pinch of salt and food coloring. I used one drop of red food coloring for a light shade of pink. Mix on low until everything is combined, then beat on medium-high for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.180 grams powdered sugar, 30 grams heavy cream, 4 grams vanilla extract, pinch of salt, food coloring, optional
- Once the sugar cookie bars have completely cooled, spread the frosting evenly on top and top with sprinkles, if desired. Slice into 8 larger bars or 16 smaller bars and enjoy!
Notes
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Unsalted butter—You'll want to use room-temperature butter. If you press the butter, it leaves a fingerprint, but it doesn’t leave your finger oily. Cold butter doesn’t cream as well.
- Sugar—I wouldn't recommend reducing the sugar. It helps keep the cookie bars chewy rather than cakey, while also giving them the right amount of sweetness. Granulated white sugar gives these bars the classic sugar cookie flavor and texture, but organic cane sugar works well too.
- Eggs—Use room temperature eggs so they mix more easily into the batter. Since the sourdough discard adds extra moisture, I only use the egg yolks to help keep the dough balanced. If you forgot to take the eggs out ahead of time, place them in a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes.
- Vanilla Extract—I used a combination of vanilla and almond extracts. I love the subtle fruity, nutty notes the almond extract adds to these sourdough sugar cookie bars, but you can leave it out if you prefer.
- Flour - I use all-purpose flour for these sourdough discard sugar cookie bars. I haven't tested this recipe with bread flour or whole wheat flour yet, but if you give either one a try, I'd love to hear how it turns out.
- Leaveners—A little baking powder and baking soda give these delicious sugar cookie bars a light lift without making them cakey.
- Cornstarch—Adding some cornstarch keeps these sourdough cookie bars soft, more tender, and chewier.
- Sourdough Discard—For sweet treats like these easy sugar cookie bars, I prefer to use fresh sourdough discard that's no older than 1–2 days. It gives the bars a classic sugar cookie flavor, while older discard adds a more noticeable tang. You can also use the same amount (by weight) of active sourdough starter.
Vanilla Buttercream
- Unsalted butter: Use softened butter for the creamiest, smoothest buttercream. If you're using salted butter instead, leave out the pinch of salt.
- Food color: I used 1 drop of red food coloring to create a soft pastel pink, but it's completely optional. You can easily customize these sugar cookie bars for any holiday or celebration by changing the frosting color and using your favorite sprinkles.
- Powdered sugar
Helpful Tips
- Don't overbake. This will make the bars cakey and dry instead of thick and chewy. The bars will continue to bake as they cool in the pan.
- Use wet fingers to press the dough into the pan. The dough is thick, and lightly wetting your fingers makes it much easier to spread into an even layer.
- Wipe your knife clean between slices. It only takes a few seconds, but it gives you much cleaner-looking bars after the buttercream has been spread on top. It's the same trick that gives me clean-cut Sourdough Brownies.
- The bars will sink. Don't worry. This is normal. They'll be covered with buttercream frosting, so no one will ever know.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bar | Calories: 267kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 24mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 413IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg
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