These snickerdoodle cookie bars have all of the best qualities of classic snickerdoodles, but are baked up into thick and soft bars! Snickerdoodles were my favorite cookie to bake as a kid. I prefer my snickerdoodles super thick and soft, which is exactly what I wanted to achieve with these cookie bars. With a bit of cream of tartar, these cookie bars are given that signature fluffy snickerdoodle quality. And of course, they are topped with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar! By baking them in a square pan, it takes some of the effort away as you won't need to shape each cookie and roll into cinnamon sugar. So these cookie bars really do check all of the boxes - thick, soft, fluffy, and minimal effort. Nothing not to love!
How to bake the perfect cookie bars:
- Do not over-mix your cookie dough! You do not want to cream the butter and sugar together for very long. And you should fold the dry ingredients in with a rubber spatula and mix until just combined.
- Use parchment paper and a small measuring cup to evenly flatten out the dough in the square pan. Put the cookie dough in the square pan and place a piece of parchment paper on top. Press the dough out with your hands, then use the measuring cup to smooth it out.
- When sprinkling the cinnamon sugar topping, leave a border around the edges, so you can see when they become golden as they bake to know when they're done.
- Just as you would with cookies, you should slightly under-bake your cookie bars to get that perfect soft texture. They will also continue baking after they come out of the oven as they cool.
- Let the cookie bars cool completely before cutting into them! I know it's difficult to be patient, but if you want those clean cut edges, you should wait! A trick to speed up the cooling time is to just pop it in the fridge for a few minutes.
Ingredients you'll need to make these snickerdoodle cookie bars:
- All-Purpose Flour: You'll need about three cups of all-purpose flour.
- Cream of Tartar: This leavener is key to making snickerdoodles, even in bar form. It makes them perfectly soft and fluffy, just as all snickerdoodles should be!
- Unsalted Butter: You'll need about two sticks, plus two tablespoons of room temperature unsalted butter.
- Granulated Sugar: You'll need sugar for both the dough and the topping.
- Eggs: Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of warm water.
- Vanilla Extract: In any cookie recipe, vanilla is essential!
- Cinnamon: Mix one tablespoon of cinnamon with a couple tablespoons of sugar for the topping.
A few tips to make these snickerdoodle cookie bars:
- Do NOT over-mix the dough! To get the perfect soft snickerdoodle texture, only mix everything until they are just combined.
- You could probably get away with not chilling the dough, but I find that most cookies develop more flavor by resting in the fridge.
- It's hard to tell when the cookie bars are done baking, but I found that 27 minutes was the perfect amount of time. Everyones' ovens are different, so just look for slightly golden edges and trust your gut. No matter what, they're going to be good!
Happy baking! x
Print
Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 27 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 27 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
Description
These snickerdoodle cookie bars have all of the best qualities of classic snickerdoodles, but are baked up into thick and soft bars!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cookie Dough:
- 360g all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp cream of tartar
- ½ tsp salt
- 255g unsalted butter (room temp)
- 300g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs (room temp)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
- 30g granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
For the Cookie Dough:
- Line a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, salt.
- In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until just combined. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until just combined. Add the vanilla and mix.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and use another piece of parchment paper to press the dough out as evenly as you can. Use a small measuring cup to smooth it out.
- Place the cookie dough in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make the cinnamon sugar topping by combining the sugar and cinnamon.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on the dough, leaving a small border around the edges so you can see when they turn golden in the oven. Bake the cookie bars for about 27 minutes.
- Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it turned out!