Frosted Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars

These frosted lemon sugar cookie bars (or lemon blondies) have soft, chewy centers with tons of lemon flavor in every bite! Topped with lemon buttercream and toasted almonds, they're a fun, easy cookie bar for any occasion!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 35

Total Time 55

Servings bars

Calories 352kcal

Author Kyleigh Sage

Equipment

Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Bars

1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 large eggs room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon almond extract optional
2 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Lemon Buttercream

½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon almond extract optional
toasted sliced almonds optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Sugar Cookie Bars

Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, and, granulated sugar until smooth and creamy.
Add in the eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and almond extract and beat until the texture is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes, it should look much paler than before).
Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. The dough should be wet and sticky.
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the blondies right out of the pan!
Scoop the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan and press down into a nice even layer (you can wet the tips of your fingers to easily flatten out the dough).
Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up slightly before baking.
While the blondies are chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake blondies at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the lemon sugar cookie bars out of the pan.

Lemon Buttercream

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
Add in the lemon juice and almond extract. Beat the buttercream for 3-4 minutes on high speed until light and fluffy.
Once the lemon blondies are fully cool, scoop dollops of lemon frosting over the surface of the blondies. Then gently smooth into an even layer and make swirls in the frosting using the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle the lemon sugar cookie bars with toasted sliced almonds if desired!

Notes

It's better to undercook the blondies slightly, than overcook them! Blondies will dry out quick, so it's best to err on the side of caution when baking them. Bake just until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out mostly clean but still a tad gooey. If you aren't sure, just go ahead and take them out because they'll continue to firm up as they cool. Note: the larger the pan, the less time the blondies will take to cook.

Nutrition