Celebrate with these soft and chewy patriotic sugar cookie bars—they’re one of the easiest and most colorful 4th of July cookie bars you can make for your holiday party. These frosted sugar cookie bars come loaded with sweet vanilla frosting and sprinkles in red, white, and blue, perfect for any Independence Day dessert table.
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Perfect Summer Dessert
- Looking to add some sweetness to your 4th of July bash? I’ve got just the thing for you: an easy-peasy sugar cookie bar recipe.
- Let me tell you, mixing up a batch of cookie dough has never been easier, and the result is oh-so-sweet with soft and chewy cookie bars generously slathered with velvety vanilla buttercream frosting and topped with colorful patriotic sprinkles that scream summer celebration.
- But here’s the best part: these cookies aren’t just for the 4th of July. I’ve whipped them up for all sorts of occasions, swapping out the sprinkles to match the theme.
- I’ll be honest, I have a bit of a sweet tooth, and these sugar cookies are always a favorite. Plus, who can resist anything with sprinkles? Not me, that’s for sure!”
Table of contents
Effortlessly Delicious: Sugar Cookie Bars for Every Occasion – Even the Fourth of July
- This is the easiest sprinkle cookie recipe to make. Mix the dough and pat it in the pan. You don’t even chill the dough.
- No rolling the dough or cutting out with cookie cutters. Just bake, frost, and cut.
- You can color the frosting or use different sprinkles. There are tons of variations you can create here.
- These cookies are perfect for Memorial Day, too or any special occasion.
- These 4th of July cookies can be made ahead and stored so that you can enjoy your party without any last-minute stress. After all, you have fireworks to watch and picnics to attend
For more Fourth of July cookies, bake a batch of these awesome Patriotic Red, White, and Blue Thumbprint Cookies. These Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles are a favorite, and each cookie has a colorful surprise inside.
And if you want Fourth of July desserts, I have those too. Make these colorful Ice Cream Sundaes, and these kid-favorite Red, White and Blue Jello Cups.
Cookie Ingredients
As you can see, the ingredients for these sugar cookies are just basic pantry staples plus some awesome 4th of July sprinkles.
How to Make Fourth Of July Cookie Bars
Step 1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 13″ x 9″ pan. You can leave the cookies in the pan or line the pan with parchment paper if you want to remove the whole cookie.
Step 2. Add the room-temperature butter and sugars to a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. A stand mixer with the paddle attachment or an electric mixer will work, too.
Step 3. Beat the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla until combined.
Step 4. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the mixing bowl and mix on low speed to incorporate the flour. Then, mix at medium speed until all the dry ingredients are combined.
Step 5. Scrape the bowl and mix again to combine everything into a soft dough.
Step 6. Drop spoonfuls of the dough into the baking pan, then press it into an even layer with your fingers. If the dough is sticking, lightly butter your fingers.
Step 7. Bake the cookie for 14-16 minutes until golden brown. The dough might be a bit puffy when it’s done. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool completely before frosting.
Step 8. If you want to remove the cookie to a cutting board, pull the cookie out of the pan with the parchment paper.
Make the frosting and decorating
Step 9. Make the frosting by adding the softened butter and powdered sugar to a large mixing bowl and beating until light and fluffy.
Step 10. Add the milk and vanilla and beat on medium speed until nice, creamy, and of spreading consistency. If necessary, add a small amount of milk.
Frosting Tip: This is the time to add food coloring if you want a colorful frosting.
Step 11. Drop spoonfuls of frosting over the top of the cookie then spread the icing to the edges and top with the sprinkles. Add the sprinkles on top immediately so they will stick to the icing.
Step 12. Cut the cookies into squares, logs, or diamond shapes.
Baked, frosted, and decorated, these are easy, chewy cookie bars for your patriotic celebration.
How to cut diamond shapes
I love cutting these cookies into diamond shapes; they’re more fun than squares. You can do this right in the pan or cookie sheet.
Cut the cookie into three or four long strips with a sharp knife. Then, cut each strip at an angle to make the diamond shape. You will have odd shapes at the ends of each strip.
Storing And Freezing Instructions
- To store the cookies, place them in an airtight container for up to three days.
- If you need to stack the cookies, place a piece of parchment paper between the layers so they don’t stick together.
- You can freeze the giant uncut cookie. Just take it from the pan, wrap it in plastic and aluminum foil, and pop it into your freezer.
- When you are ready to serve the frozen cookie bars, unwrap the cookie and let it thaw at room temperature, then frost and decorate.
- Want to freeze the frosted cookie bars? Place them in an airtight container with parchment between the layers and freeze for up to three months. Let the cookies thaw at room temperature before eating. The sprinkles’ colors may bleed when defrosting.
Cookie Variation
- You can change the flavor of these Easy Sugar Cookie Bars by swapping out the vanilla and adding almond extract, maple flavor, or even lemon or orange extract. For the almond flavoring, add 1/2 teaspoon; for all others, add 1 teaspoon.
- With a little bit of food coloring, you can change the color of the icing for any occasion or just because you want a different frosting color.
- There are so many options for sprinkles these days that can go with all the holidays, wedding colors, birthday colors, or even your team colors. Indeed, the sprinkle combinations are endless!
- Short on time? You can even use a sugar cookie mix as a shortcut for these bars. Just follow the instructions on the box, then bake and decorate like usual. These still turn out as some of the best sugar cookie bars around.
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Recipe
4th of July Sugar Cookie Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Batter
- ¾ cups unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup Powdered sugar
- ¾ cups Granulated sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups AP flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
Buttercream frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2½ cups Powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons Milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Decorative red, white and blue sprinkles use any colors you like for the season
Instructions
- Cookie Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 13" x 9" baking pan. If you want to remove the bars, put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. It's easiest to let the parchment paper hang over the sides of the pan so you can easily pull out it.
- In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and mix again to incorporate. Scrape the bowl as needed.
- To the mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, and baking powder. Start mixing on low speed to get the flour incorporated, then increase to medium just to get a good mix for the dough.
- Drop spoonfuls of dough into the baking dish, then press the cookie dough together into an even layer. It may be helpful to use buttered fingers to press the dough.
- Bake the cookies for 14-16 minutes. Do not overbake these bars. The dough will be a bit puffy, and just baked through. This dough will continue to bake in the hot pans as it cools.
- Let the cookies cool completely before frosting.
Making the buttercream frosting
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter and the powdered sugar and mix on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of milk then mix until creamy. Add additional milk as needed to get a nice spreadable icing. At this time you can add food colors to the frosting if desired.
- Spread the icing over the cookies and immediately top with the sprinkles while the icing is sticky. Slice and enjoy.
- If you prepared your pan with parchment paper, remove the cookie to a platter or cutting board and frost and immediatly top with sprinkles. Slice and enjoy!!!!
- Cover the bars with plastic wrap or store them in an airtight container for several days.
Notes
For more July 4th recipes, try these sweet treats
Red, White & Blue Ice Cream Sundaes Red, White & Blue Jello Cups Red, White & Blue Thumbprint Cookies Red, White & Blue Sprinkle CookiesAs an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition
First Published: Aug 2, 2022. Last Updated: May 26, 2025, for better readability.
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About Jere’ Cassidy
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place. I am glad to be sharing sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.
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I made these for a party and used confetti sprinkles, they turned out great, and they are easy to take to potlucks.
So easy to make and the frosting was just perfect. I added almond extract to the frosting for extra flavor and it tasted really really good. I’ve changed it to multi-colored sprinkles for a birthday party. What a fun and festive treat!
Wishing you a happy 4th of July! I think everyone must have these cookies on their party table; they look so festive!
In the instructions it says almond and vanilla extract. However in the ingredients almond is not on the list. So if it is in the recipe how much do you add? Thank you
Now, that I’ve made these sugar cookie bars, I will definitely be making a second batch for our 4th of July potluck. I love that they stay soft and chewy, like cookies, without the time investment to bake individual cookies. Thanks so much for this scrumptious recipe!
I LOVE these cookies! So simple and so tasty (and addictive). I would make these in two batches one to share and a secret stash for yourself
This sugar cookie dough is so darn good. I just bought some new gel food coloring in shades of the sunset. I might just have to bake these for the bake sale!
I want to see what those colors look like. Shades of sunset on my cookies sound awesome.
such a great cookie bar, I am trying to make more vanilla treats and this one stood out, thank you for the easy to follow instructions
I love that these cookies aren’t complicated and are baked in one pan. Definitely a winner! Thanks for all the variation tips for different flavors and toppings. Such a versatile recipe!