These pretty pastel-colored sugar cookie bars are perfect for celebrating Easter, spring, and summer holidays. Soft and chewy with a flavorful combination of lemon, orange, and lime layers, all topped with rich vanilla frosting and seasonal sprinkles for the perfect sweet treat.
These sugar cookie bars are so much fun to make with their pastel layers and light citrus flavors. They are thick and buttery and a bit cakier and softer than classic sugar cookies while their rainbow colors are seasonally perfect for Easter to spring to summer.
I love making seasonal desserts, especially those that have bright citrus flavors, like lemon, lime, and orange, that seem to fit the warmer months. Desserts like Key Lime Pie, Lemon Brownies, Mandarin Orange Cake, and these pretty bar cookies that look like a bite of spring.
Not to mention those with deliciously rich and fluffy frosting like these citrus bars. This sugar cookie frosting with powdered sugar is easy to whip up and lends the perfect creamy sweetness to the citrusy tart-sweet cookie flavor.
Why You'll Love These Spring Sugar Cookies
- Light, bright citrus flavor
- No chilling or cut-outs required
- Quick and easy, just press into a pan and bake
- Versatile - change the color of the bars, frosting, or sprinkles to make them for any occasion.
Ingredients for Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe
All-Purpose Flour - make sure to measure properly by using a spoon and scooping flour into a measuring cup
Butter - you can use salted or unsalted although unsalted is preferred. If using salted butter, cut salt to ¼ teaspoon.
Sugar/Powdered Sugar - they both add sweetness to the cookies while the powdered sugar helps the cookies to retain moisture and become extra tender and chewy
Eggs - use large eggs and make sure they are at room temperature
Baking powder - gives the cookies their lift
Salt - enhances all the flavors of the ingredients
Extracts - gives the layers their citrus flavors. Lime juice is added in lieu of lime extract since that flavor is hard to find. You can also use the juices of the other fruits in place of the extracts if preferred.
Citrus Zest - adds an extra tang to each cookie layer
Food coloring - adds a touch of springtime color to the cookies and gives them their visual appeal
How to Make Sugar Cookie Bars
- Place butter and sugar in mixing bowl.
- Cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix for another minute.
- Combine dry ingredients then add to creamed mixture.
- Beat just until flour is mixed in.
Tip: Just mix until the dough and flour are combined. This helps keep the bar cookies soft and tender.
- Separate the dough into 3 bowls, one for each color and flavor.
- To make the lemon dough, add lemon zest and lemon extract to one of the bowls of dough.
- Add yellow food coloring, a little at a time, and mix until your desired pastel yellow color is attained.
- For the orange dough, add orange zest and orange extract to the next bowl of dough.
- To color the orange-flavored dough, add red and yellow food coloring until it reaches a pretty orange color.
- For the lime dough, add lime zest and lime juice to the final bowl of dough.
- Color with green food coloring until you have a pastel green hue.
Just look at all that beautiful rainbow of colors! Line them up and get ready to roll.
- Start with the lime green dough. Place it in the bottom of a prepared square baking dish that has been lined with parchment paper. Using your fingers, spread it out.
- It should cover the entire bottom of the dish.
- Place orange dough on an 8"x8" piece of parchment paper.
- Spread to the edges of the parchment paper.
- Take the parchment paper and turn it upside down and lay it over the green cookie dough. Lift the parchment off the dough.
- Make sure to spread the dough out to the edges.
- Finish with the lemon layer. Place dough on the clean side of the 8"x8" piece of parchment paper.
- Spread to the edges.
- Lift and place over the orange layer and carefully remove parchment paper.
- Make sure it is spread to the edges. It's ready to bake!
- Bake until edges are turning a light golden color. (a little lighter than what you see here). Let cool.
How to Make Sugar Cookie Frosting with Powdered Sugar
Gather the simple ingredients for the vanilla frosting, confectioner's sugar, room temperature butter, half and half, and vanilla extract.
- Place butter in mixing bowl.
- Cream butter until light and fluffy.
- Add powdered sugar.
- Pour in half and half.
- Add vanilla extract.
- Best until fluffy. If too dry add a touch more half and half. If too runny, add additional powdered sugar.
Finishing Rainbow Cookie Bars
- After lifting cookies out of the baking dish, allow them to cool completely, When cool, place the cookies on a wooden cutting board, lime green side on top. Cut edges off so you have clean straight sides and can see the pastel layers.
- Spread the frosting on the top.
- Smooth it out.
- Decorate with sprinkles of your choice.
- Cut into 25 squares.
Serve these pastel sugar cookie bars any time of year for a sweet treat the whole family will enjoy.
Tips for Making the Best Cookie Bars
- Use real butter for the best flavor and make sure it is at room temperature for easy mixing.
- Just mix the dough until the flour is combined. This helps keep the bar cookies soft and tender.
- Always line the pan with parchment paper to aid in lifting the sugar cookie bars out of the pan without breaking them apart.
- Take the bar cookies out of the oven when they are just slightly golden around the edges so they don't overbake and become crispy. They will continue to cook as they cool.
Storing/Freezing Citrus Bars
These citrus cookies will keep on the counter in an air-tight container for up to a week.
If you want to freeze them, remove them from the baking dish and freeze them before they are frosted. They will keep for 2-3 months. When ready to serve, thaw in the refrigerator then frost and cut.
Variations
- Change the frosting up. You can use a classic buttercream, any cream cheese frosting or try my pineapple cream cheese frosting or Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make just one flavor of dough and omit the layering. Use colors appropriate for the holiday such as red, white and blue for patriotic holidays or red, green, and white for Christmas.
- Color the frosting and use different sprinkles to suit the season or occasions such as patriotic holidays, birthdays, weddings, and baby showers.
- Cut the bars into shapes instead of squares using cookie cutters. Stars for the 4th of July, hearts for Valentine's Day, or Christmas trees for Christmas then match with seasonal sprinkles.
More Cookie Recipes
Strawberry Mint Cookies are soft & rich cookies and full of fresh, juicy strawberries with just a hint of mint.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies are soft and chewy and just pop with lemon flavor!
Cherry Shortbread Crumble Bars from Of Batter & Dough are buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cherry shortbread bars topped with sweet crumbs.
Key Lime Cookies are melt-in-your-mouth buttery cookies filled with the tropical flavor of key limes.
Find lots of easy cookie recipes here on 2CM!
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Best Sugar Cookie Bars with Frosting
Ingredients
Basic Cookie
- ¾ cup butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Orange Layer
- ⅓ teaspoon orange extract
- ½ teaspoon orange zest
- Yellow and red food coloring to make orange
Green Layer
- ½ teaspoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon lime zest
- green food coloring
Yellow Layer
- ⅓ teaspoon lemon extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- yellow food coloring
Frosting
- 6 Tablespoons butter room temperature
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons half & half, coconut cream or your favorite milk
- Toppings: sprinkles chocolate Easter eggs or toasted coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a straight-sided 8-inch square baking dish with non-stick spray. Line bottom with parchment. Make it long enough so that it extends up sides so that it can help you lift the cookies out of the dish after baking.
Sugar Cookies
- Cream butter and both sugars together until creamy.
- Add eggs and mix for another minute.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour with baking powder and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and beat at lower speed until just mixed.
- Divide batter evenly between 3 bowls, about 1 cup each.
- Add zest and extract or juice to the bowls of batter to create the flavors. Add food coloring to create a nice pastel color for spring.
- Place green batter on bottom of pan and spread out evenly covering the entire bottom.
- Cut a square of parchment 8"x 8" and lay it on a flat surface.
- Place orange batter on top and work with fingers into a square shape, covering all of the parchment paper. Lift parchment paper over the baking dish, turn upside down, and place squarely on top of the green layer. Peel off parchment carefully.
- Repeat with yellow layer using the opposite side of the parchment paper. When placing batter on top, make sure you work the batter to the edges.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until edges take on a light golden hue and toothpick in center comes out clean. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Remove baking dish to wire rack to cool for 30 minutes. They will continue to cook as they cool.
- Lift cookies out with sides of parchment paper and place on wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- While cookies are cooling, make frosting.
- Using an electric mixer, cream butter until smooth.
- Continue beating while adding powdered sugar, vanilla and half & half. If frosting is too thick, adjust by adding a drop or two more of half and half.
To Assemble
- Once the cookies have cooled, turn cookies over so yellow is on the bottom. Cut off edges so you have pretty straight sides.
- Spread frosting evenly over top of cookies.
- Now you can get creative. Either decorate with sprinkles or try toasted coconut or, for Easter, some chocolate Easter eggs.
- Cut into 16 1-¾" squares.
Notes
- Use real butter for the best flavor and make sure it is at room temperature for easy mixing.
- Just mix the dough until the flour is combined. This helps keep the bar cookies soft and tender.
- Always line the pan with parchment paper to aid in lifting the sugar cookie bars out of the pan without breaking them apart.
- Take the bar cookies out of the oven when they are just slightly golden around the edges so they don't overbake and become crispy. They will continue to cook as they cool.
Nutrition
This post has been updated with new photos and step-by-step directions. It was first published on April 8, 2018.
