Description
Easy, chewy snickerdoodle bars with tangy cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Cookie Bars:
- 2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (plus extra for sprinkling on top of bars)
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup whole milk
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2–3 tablespoons of milk or cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil and spray it with nonstick cooking spray.
- Make the Bars: Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda salt, baking, and cinnamon in a bowl and then set aside.
- Add the butter to a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until creamy. Next, add the sugars and the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
- Next, beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.
- Add the milk. And then reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually mix in the flour mixture. Finish by stirring the batter by hand, if needed, to ensure all ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Spread the cookie bar batter in the prepared pan and then smooth the top. Bake until the top is beginning to turn golden, about 25-30 minutes.
- Rotate the pan 180 degrees, and while doing so, rap the baking dish on the oven rack until the bars deflate. Bake until the bars have started to pull away from the sides of the pan and a skewer or toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean, about 5 minutes. The bars will still look/feel soft and may have a few of those signature snickerdoodle cracks on top. That’s OK.
- Place the baking pan on a cooling rack and let the bars cool completely before frosting.
- Make the Frosting: While the bars are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. Add the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat well. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and salt and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Assemble the Bars: Once the cookie bars are cooled, spread the frosting in an even layer over the snickerdoodle bars using an offset spatula. Sprinkle very lightly with cinnamon and cut into 24 squares.