Skip the cookie cutters and make these EASY Christmas tree sugar cookie bars in a 9x13 pan! Simply bake, frost, and use the photo visuals below to cut into 24 perfectly-sized treats for holiday cookie platters!
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Why I Love These Christmas Tree Sugar Cookie Bars
- No cookie cutters needed: While I love decorating cut out sugar cookies when I have time, sometimes you just need something cute & delicious with minimal effort.
- No decorating skills needed: As long as you can spread frosting and toss on some sprinkles, you have the skills to make these adorable little tree cookies! I love coming up with easy holiday cookies and these are one of my go-to recipes!
- Perfect size for cookie platters! After slicing these, you'll have 24 perfectly sized tree cookies!
- Soft & thick bars: Let's not forget that these are made with my all-time favorite thick & soft sugar cookie bars recipe. My family literally begs me to make these whenever I visit!
P.S. These use the same cutting method as my cosmic christmas tree brownies which are so cute! Triangle Christmas bars for the win!
Ingredient Notes & Tips
Jump down to the full recipe card for the recipe amounts and condensed recipe instructions.
- Unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter for 95% of my baking because I like controlling the amount of salt. If salted butter is all you have, you can use that and simply omit the salt from the recipe.
- Almond Extract: If you're not a fan of almond extract, you can simply omit it or replace with more vanilla extract. But it is what makes these sugar cookie bars so delicious & flavorful!
- Sprinkles: Use your favorite nonpareil sprinkle mix to create the tiny ornaments or use any sprinkles you have on hand! These would be so cute with any kind of sprinkle and you could even put a little sprinkle star on top!
- 9x13 pan: I highly suggest using a parchment-lined, light-metal 9x13 pan for these. Light metal will allow your bars (and any baked good!) to bake more evenly and prevent the over-browning that dark metal or glass pans can cause.
Make it gluten-free! Use your favorite gluten-free flour to make this gluten-free! My favorite brand is Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
How to Make Christmas Tree Cookie Bars:
This is just an overview showing step-by-step photos, jump down to full recipe card with exact instructions to make these Christmas bar cookies.
Step 1: Make Sugar Cookie Bars
Use the recipe card below to mix your sugar cookie dough. The dough should have a thick consistency and soft texture. When pinched between your fingers, the dough should be similar to playdoh consistency and not be very sticky (if you use a handheld mixer, your dough will look a bit less solid than the photo below and that's okay).
Don’t skip the parchment! Lining the pan with a parchment sling will allow you to get these clean cuts; it will be very difficult to cut these in the pan itself.
Step 2: Make Frosting & Decorate
While your bars are in the oven, whip up the homemade buttercream frosting, dye it green, and then spread over the completely cooled bars.
If using sprinkles, add them immediately after frosting. If you wait too long, the frosting will set and the sprinkles won’t stick (and you'll have to press them in with your hand).
Fun tip! If you want to add a little frosting star (like I did on TikTok), reserve about 2 tablespoons of the white frosting so that you can dye it yellow!
Step 3: Cut Into Triangles
Run a knife along the edges of the bars (that aren’t covered with parchment), then carefully lift or slide the cookie bars out of the pan. Use the instructions & photo references below to cut.
- Use a large, straight-edged knife to cut the bars in half horizontally, then cut each half into half again.
- Starting on the bottom quadrant, use a sharp knife to cut into triangles. To keep clean edges, wipe the knife off on a warm, wet cloth in between each cut (or whenever the frosting is sticking to the knife).
- Continue until all triangles are cut (you should get 24 cookie trees). You can snack on the edge pieces.
Tips & Variations
- Don't overbake! The trick to soft sugar cookie bars is to take them out right when you see the TINIEST amount of brown around the edges. The center may look underdone and this is okay; the bars will continue to bake in the hot pan when cooling.
- Use a parchment sling: Lining your pan with parchment paper and allowing an overhang on the long sides will allow you to lift the bars out of the pan after they are cooled. This will allow you to get clean, even cuts using a large knife.
- Use different colors of frosting! These would be gorgeous frosted white for more of a winter wonderland theme or even red for little Santa hat cookies! There are lots of creative ways to experiment with these easy holiday cookie bars!
- Use canned frosting: Even though the homemade buttercream is so delicious, if you're needing to save time, you can totally use premade frosting! I find it helpful to microwave canned frosting for 15-20 seconds to help it spread smoothly (just make sure every piece of the foil seal is off the lid before microwaving!)
Looking for more fun Christmas tree cookie decorating ideas? Check out my roundup of 5 easy Christmas tree cookie decorating ideas or my series of twelve simple Christmas cookies using a circle cookie cutter!
Frequently Asked Questions:
These bars do not need to be refrigerated but are so delicious chilled! Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days (they last longer but will start to dry out). See the next question for freezing instructions.
These sugar cookie bars freeze really well and are actually so good straight from the freezer! To avoid smearing the icing, freeze the frosted bars in a single layer for 1-2 hours. Once frozen, you can stack them in between pieces of parchment paper and place in an airtight container. When ready to thaw, be sure to unstack them before thawing so that the frosting doesn't smear.
The tricks are to (a) make sure the frosting is chilled & firm, (b) make sure you use a parchment sling (see photo below) so that you can easily lift the bars out of the pan for cutting, and (c) wipe your knife off between cuts. The parchment sling will allow you to lift the bars out and use a large knife and cut across without the pan getting in the way. Wiping the knife off on a warm, wet cloth in between each cut (or whenever the frosting is sticking to the knife) will prevent smearing and crumbs.
You can also use the parchment sling overhang to help press down the edges to avoid crispy pieces.
Looking for more easy Christmas cookies to make this year? Check out some of my other recipes linked below!
Did you make this recipe? If so, will you do me a huge favor and leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe? This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Christmas Tree Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Bars:
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder not baking soda!
- ½ teaspoon salt omit if using salted butter
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick) softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Topping
- Green food coloring
- Sprinkles
Before you begin! If you make this, will you do me a huge favor and leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe? This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. If butter hasn't been softened you can place in microwave for 10 seconds to *slightly* soften it.
- In a large bowl, cream together unsalted butter (1 cup, i.e. 2 sticks) and granulated sugar (1 cup) on medium speed for 20-30 seconds. While mixer is still on medium speed, add in egg (1 large), vanilla extract (2 teaspoons), and almond extract (1 teaspoon).
- Once mixed, add in baking powder (1 ½ teaspoons), salt (½ teaspoon), and *all-purpose flour (2 ¼ cups); adding flour ½ cup at a time on low speed.*Be sure to measure your flour properly using the spoon & level method, as adding too much can result in dry bars.
- Mix until all flour disappears, typically 20-30 seconds. You do not need to beat/mix this any longer than it takes to mix in the flour. When pinched between your fingers, dough should be similar to a playdoh consistency and not be very sticky. Refer to photo above in post for how dough should look.
- Spray a light-colored metal 9×13 pan with cooking spray, then line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2 inch overhang on each long side so that you will be able to lift the bars out of the pan (photo reference in FAQ section above).
- Drop the dough into 1-tablespoon sized chunks into the prepared pan. Use your hands or a spatula to press down the dough until it covers the pan.Tip: If the dough is sticky, you can place another piece of parchment paper on top and continue pressing down. To get clean edges, you can fold down the sides of the parchment paper and press like shown in the FAQ section above.
- Bake bars at 350°F for 14-16 minutes. The trick to soft sugar cookie bars is to take them out right when you see the TINIEST amount of brown around the edges. The center may look underdone and this is okay; the bars will continue to bake in the hot pan when cooling.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting (you can put the pan in the fridge on a cooling rack to speed this up).
To Make Frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat unsalted butter (½ cup, i.e. 1 stick) on medium speed using a hand or stand mixer (with paddle attachment) for 1-2 minutes, until light and creamy.
- Keeping the mixer on medium speed, slowly add in vanilla extract (2 teaspoons), almond extract (½ teaspoon), and powdered sugar (2 cups).Once incorporated, turn mixer to high speed and beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and beat for 30 seconds. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of milk if frosting seems too thick to spread.
- Add green food coloring and mix until combined. If you plan to add a little frosting star, reserve about 2 tablespoons of the white frosting so that you can dye it yellow!!
- If using sprinkles, add them immediately after frosting. If you wait too long, the frosting will set and the sprinkles won't stick.Chill or freeze bars for 30-60 minutes before cutting (this will help prevent the frosting from smearing!).
Cutting & Storage:
- Refer to the tips in the post above on how to cut the perfect trees!
- If not eating same day or within 3-4 hours, place in airtight container to stay fresh. These bars can sit out for a few days due to the sugar in the frosting keeping the milk stable. These bars are also amazing chilled or frozen for 1-2 months (any longer and they tend to dry out).
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe! This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Liz says
Can you use shortening instead of butter for the cookie base? Didn’t know if it drastically changes the flavor?
Melissa says
I haven't tried it for these but it would definitely affect the flavor and texture. I would personally stick with butter for these if you can!
Rita Boarman says
Aside from the fact that these are delicious, let me tell you why this recipe is THE BEST recipe- EVER! It's because of the instructions. We all look for new recipes on the internet, but we are constantly having to scroll back up-and-down. We get down to the instructions that tell us what to do with the ingredients, but then we have to go back up to see how much of each ingredient we're supposed to use. This author/chef/baker/goddess has put the amount of each ingredient in the instructions! She is a freaking genius and should get an award from the cooking gods. I did actually make this recipe, and it was very good, very well received.
Melissa says
Thanks so much for your kind words, Rita! We're all about keeping it easy! I'm so glad you love the sugar cookie bars! Thanks so much for taking time to leave a review!
Roz Blevins says
Oh. My. Gosh. Made these for my Christmas cookie trays and they were DIVINE. so so glad I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest.
Melissa says
I'm so happy you enjoyed the Christmas tree sugar cookie bars, Roz!