Strawberry Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

My little brother was married over the weekend. For much of the week I think everyone was on edge regarding the weather for the outdoor ceremony. Despite everything that could have gone wrong, the whole day turned out perfectly. It was a lot of fun celebrating their new life together and we were honored to be apart of it all.

I was in charge of cake and cupcakes. They were both so easy going and pretty much let me take control over everything. My mom and I decided to surprise them with this fun fishing themed cake topper. They both love being on their boat and fishing! The only thing my brother requested was sprinkles in his cake, ha! So the cake was vanilla sprinkle with strawberry filling. Cupcakes were vanilla, lemon with strawberry buttercream and Snickers.

Here are just a couple pics from our day:

So moving onto these new bars. With all the strawberries we picked last week, I was looking for some new ways to incorporate them into a dessert. I had told my mom I would help out with desserts for the rehearsal on Thursday evening. I had some extra cream cheese in the fridge and my favorite sugar cookies came to mind.

But instead of cookies, bars seemed much easier. I pressed the dough into a 9x13 pan but if you want a thicker bar feel free to use a smaller pan. As for the frosting, I added some of our ripe strawberries. It was the perfect addition! If you're lucky enough to have any U-Pick farms near you, I hope you take advantage of strawberry season!

Strawberry Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

Ingredients:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2-1/4 cups flour

For frosting:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup diced strawberries
3 cups powdered sugar
Splash of milk, if needed for thinning


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9x13 inch cookie sheet and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg yolk and extract. Gradually add in dry ingredients and mix well.

Press into prepared pan, bake for 25-30 mins in oven, or until bars are set. Remove from oven and let cool.

To make frosting: Cream butter with powdered sugar. Add in fresh strawberries and mix well. Add a splash of milk to thin frosting if needed.

When bars are cool, spread frosting over bars. Cut into squares to serve. Store extras in fridge.