Easter Sugar Cookie Bars

5 from 1 vote

Easter sugar cookie bars are the perfect sweet treat! Topped with a homemade coconut frosting, shredded coconut flakes, Peep candies, and jelly beans.

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Total Time40

Course: Dessert, Holidays

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Julie Maestre

Ingredients

For The Cookie Base

3 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 & ½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract optional
¼ cup confetti sprinkles

Coconut Frosting

½ cup unsalted butter softened
3 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup cream of coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
pinch of salt

For assembly

1 & ½ cups sweetened coconut flakes
green food coloring
Easter Peeps
Jelly beans

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper and spray with baking spray, set aside.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl and whisk until combined, set aside.
In the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer and a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add in the vanilla and almond extracts, mix until combined.
Add the flour mixture a little at a time to the wet ingredients and mix in until just combined, with no dry patches, but do not overmix. Scrape down the sides as needed.
Add the sprinkles and stir until just incorporated.
Press the cookie dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20-24 minutes until lightly golden brown along the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
While the cookie bar cools, make the frosting. Place the butter in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer and whip the butter until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix until combined.
Add in the cream of coconut, vanilla, coconut extract, and salt, and stir in until combined. Scrape the sides as needed. Whip on medium-high speed for 3 minutes until fluffy.
Take the cookie bars out of the baking dish, you can use the parchment paper to help. Evenly spread the frosting on top of the bars.
In a gallon-sized zip-topped bag, add the coconut flakes and a couple of drops of green food coloring. Close the bag and toss around until the coconut is dyed green, add more food coloring if needed to reach your desired shade.
It is easier to serve if you cut the bars first and then sprinkle the dyed coconut on top.
Add an Easter peep to each slice and jelly beans, and serve immediately.

Notes

Don’t overmix! Create the batter slowly, adding ingredients one at a time and mixing just until they are smooth and well incorporated.
Adjust the baking time. Typically, these cookie bars take between 20-24 minutes to bake. However, every oven is different. So, be sure to keep a close eye on them in the oven, and remove them as soon as the edges are golden brown and a toothpick can be inserted into the center and comes out mostly clean.
Transfer the baked Easter sugar cookie bars to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. This step is crucial. If you decorate too soon, the cookies are likely to crumble and fall apart under the weight of the toppings.
Slice your cookie bars before decorating. Trust me. This makes the process so much easier!
Feel free to use different toppings to make these Easter sugar cookie bars your own. For example, some of my favorite variations include Easter M&M’s, Chocolate bunnies, creme eggs, robin eggs, or mini eggs.

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