Peppermint Crunch Sugar Cookie Bars
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Thick, chewy, and soft Peppermint Crunch Sugar Cookie Bars with peppermint frosting! Easy to make, festive, and so yummy!
Try these other Christmas recipes when you’re done enjoying these cookie bars! Gingerbread Cake, Thumbprint Cookies, and Easiest 3 Ingredient Peppermint Bark.
It’s official guys, we are knee-deep into the holiday season. I just found out that people put their Christmas trees up the day after Halloween. Say whaaa? That’s crazy. Unless you’re one of those people….. actually it’s still crazy. We put ours up on Thanksgiving Day this year and I still felt like we were bordering on being a bit premature.
My first post-Thanksgiving recipe is very Christmas-y I feel like. Peppermint, that’s definitely a holiday flavor, right? I actually made these peppermint sugar cookie bars on Thanksgiving morning. right before decorating the tree. I’ve decided that simultaneously tree-trimming, candy cane-crushing, and singing your lungs out (not always on key I might add) just might be the single most enjoyable thing on earth.
If you haven’t tried it, please cease all current activity and join me in soaking up this holiday bliss – tree-trimming/peppermint sugar cookie-frosting/feliz navidad off-key-singing style.
These bars got the official stamp of approval from my mom so I know they’ve gotta be really, really good. She usually has some helpful, positive constructive criticism but these bars left her critique-less. She said they were moist, soft, thick and chewy, and loaded with just enough fluffy peppermint frosting. Actually, she said she wouldn’t mind a whole bowl of just the frosting!
What people are saying about these Peppermint Crunch Sugar Cookie Bars
“I literally just made these! SO DELICIOUS! I used about 2 and half teaspoons of peppermint for the icing though. Came out SUPER minty and tasted exactly like candy canes! DELISH! Love these so much, may just have to make them year round! XD” – Lee
“Awesome recipe! I made these for a holiday gathering and they were a huge hit! I didn’t have the right size pan so used a 9×9 instead, so they were a bit thicker, but still tasted fantastic! And the frosting was to die for! Definitely going to be a go to holiday baking recipe from now on.” – Stephanie
Peppermint Crunch Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 4 tablespoons sour cream , OR plain greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Frosting
- ½ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract , (OR vanilla extract)
- ¼ cup finely crushed candy canes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with foil and lightly grease the foil. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl cream butter until light and fluffy (about 1 minute). Add sugars and mix until combined. Add egg, sour cream, and vanilla and mix well. Gradually mix flour mixture into wet ingredients and continue to mix until the dough comes together and not crumbly.
- Gently press dough into bottom of prepared pan. Bake 18-22 minutes until golden and the top no longer appears “wet”. Allow to cool completely.
- When the bars have cooled, prepare the frosting. In a medium bowl whip butter for 2-3 minutes (no less!) until very fluffy. Add cream cheese and mix well. Gradually mix in powdered sugar until completely combined. Mix in peppermint extract. Spread frosting over cooled bars. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Cut into squares or triangles and serve. Store in airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I was so excited for these and was DISAPPOINTED mainly in the sugar cookie. Not enough flavor and not like my idea of a cookie. But the frosting was good.
Thanks for your feedback, Cheri!
I just made these for coworker christmas gifts last night. Holy deliciousness – these are my new go-to treat. the icing alone is amazing, but the entire recipe is perfect. and they’re pretty and festive for the eyes, too. awesome job!
I would LOVE to be your coworker! 😉 I am excited that they turned out so well for you! They are a holiday must make here in our house!
Does the icing harden so the cut bars Can be stacked?
I don’t recommend stacking these!
Have you tried freezing these? Just wondering if I can make them ahead of time. Was thinking I would bake and frost them, then cut and freeze, but wait to add candy canes until after they thaw. Thanks!
Yes you can, but make sure you cover them VERY tightly so that they don’t dry out!
Awesome recipe! I made these for a holiday gathering and they were a huge hit! I didn’t have the right size pan so used a 9×9 instead, so they were a bit thicker, but still tasted fantastic! And the frosting was to die for! Definitely going to be a go to holiday baking recipe from now on.
These look amazing! I’m going to be making these on Christmas Eve! I was wondering, would unsalted butter be ok to use, or would that change the flavor? I ended up buying a lot of unsalted butter for other recipes and would love to use all that up before hitting the store again.
Unsalted butter should be okay, just add a pinch of salt. 🙂
I literally just made these! SO DELICIOUS! I used about 2 and half teaspoons of peppermint for the icing though. Came out SUPER minty and tasted exactly like candy canes! DELISH! Love these so much, may just have to make them year round! XD
Ooh, I’m all for extra peppermint!!! 🙂 🙂
Looks so yummy! Just one question before I make it on the spot – do you mean unsalted butter OR salted butter? I suspect you mean salted, but would like to clarify.
Salted Butter! 🙂
Thanks! 😀 Made it and it was goooooood~
These look delicious, but I’m one of those people who only like cream cheese frosting on carrot cake. (It seems to be showing up everywhere these days.) What do you think about making these with vanilla buttercream frosting instead? (Homemade, of course!)
Yes that would definitely work!! 🙂
the recipe calls for baking soda, but in the directions it says baking powder. just wondering which one is correct :).
Whoops! It’s baking powder. 🙂 I’m fixing it right now! 🙂