4th of July Sugar Cookie Bars

Celebrate with these soft, chewy red, white, and blue 4th of July Sugar Cookie Bars for a colorful patriotic dessert. We added a sweet, creamy frosting to these bars and topped them with the prettiest July 4th sprinkles. These Patriotic Sugar Cookie Bars are so perfect for a July dessert. You can serve these cookies with fresh fruit and watch your guests go wild! 

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Perfect Summer Dessert

Are you looking for a quick summer dessert for your 4th of July celebration? These cooled sugar cookie bars are quick and easy to make and you will be in and out of the kitchen in no time.

After all, there are BBQs and fireworks to attend. If you've never made sugar cookie dough, then you are in for a real treat. The thick layer of frosting makes these easy cookie bars even more decadent. By the end of the summer, these bars will be on your family's list of favorite desserts! 

These cookies are soft and chewy with delicious vanilla buttercream frosting on top, and of course, a patriotic cookie needs some colorful sprinkles for decoration. July Cookie Bars are not a new thing but they are the best sugar cookie recipe I've ever tried! 

There are tons of July 4th Recipes out there, but these cookies are one of my favorites!

Jump to:

• Perfect Summer Dessert
• Why You'll Love These 4th of July Sugar Cookie Bars
• Ingredients
• How to Make July 4th Sugar Cookie Bars: Step-By-Step Instructions
• Make the frosting and decorate
• How to cut diamond shapes
• Storing and freezing these cookies:
• Variation Options:
• More Cookie Recipes To Try:
• Recipe

Why You'll Love These 4th of July Sugar Cookie Bars

• 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.
• If you want, color the frosting or use different sprinkles. There are tons of variations you can do here.
• These cookies are perfect for Memorial Day, too or any special occasion. 
• You can make these cookies ahead of time to serve later. Perfect for a busy time.
• The blue sprinkles, white sprinkles, white frosting, and vanilla extract make for the best sweet treat for any July Party. 

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.

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 July 4th Sugar Cookie Bars: Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F., and prepare a 13" x 9" baking pan using either cookie spay if you leave the cookies in the pan, or lining the pan with parchment paper if you want to remove the whole cookie.

Step 2. In a large mixing bowl, add the room-temperature butter and both of the sugars and beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Step 3. Beat in 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 start mixing on low speed to get the flour incorporated, then mix on medium speed just until all the dry ingredients are combined.

Step 5. Scrape the bowl, and combine to make a nice soft dough.

Step 6. Drop spoonfuls of the dough in the baking pan, then press the dough into an even layer with your fingers. Lightly butter your fingers if the dough is sticking.

Step 7. Bake the cookie for 14-16 minutes. 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 decorate

Step 9. Make the frosting by adding the softened butter and powdered sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat until nice 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.

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 such an easy Fourth of July Cookie creation to make for your patriotic celebration.

How to cut diamond shapes

I love cutting Chewy Sugar Sookie Bars into diamond shapes; it just makes them more fun than just squares. You can do this right at the bottom of the pan or cookie sheet. 

Cut the cookie into three or four long strips with a sharp knife, then simply 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 these cookies:

• 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 of the cookies so they don't stick together.
• You can freeze the giant uncut cookie. Just take the cookie out of the pan, wrap it in plastic, then aluminum foil, and pop that into your freezer.
• When you are ready to serve the cooled cookie bars, unwrap the cookie and let it thaw at room temperature, then frost and decorate.
• Want to freeze the frosted cookie bars? Just 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. There is a possibility the colors from the sprinkles could bleed color when defrosting.

Variation Options:

• You can change the flavor of the Easy Sugar Cookie Bars by swapping out the vanilla and adding almond flavor, maple flavor, or even lemon or orange extract. For the almond flavoring, add ½ teaspoon and 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 some 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!

More Cookie Recipes To Try:

Recipe

First Published: Aug 2, 2022. Last Updated: June 8, 2023, for better readability.

Thank you for stopping by the One Hot Oven blog.  Please leave a comment to say Hello, or just let me know what you are baking these days; I always love hearing from fellow bakers. Have any questions or want to chat about the recipe? My contact information is on my About page, and I’ll be happy to help.                                                                                                                                          

About Jere'              

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, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.