Snickerdoodle Bars

When I do my grocery shopping for the week, I typically pick with cookies I am going to make and but any different ingredients that I need. This week, before our shopping trip, I just couldn’t decide and I had picked a couple of different options, and made sure that I had the ingredients on hand. I knew I would be getting home a little late on the night that I baked, so that was a consideration. It was time to bake and I still hadn’t decided. So I did what I typically do: narrow it down to a couple of choices and let my husband or a friend at work pick. My husband picked these snickerdoodle bars.

While I love snickerdoodles, I really don’t think that anything with cinnamon sugar in them should be considered snickerdoodles. My go-to recipe for snickerdoodles contain cream of tartar, so I’m not sure that I consider it a snickerdoodle unless that’s the case. There are sugar cookies bars with cinnamon sugar, but I’ll just stick with calling them snickerdoodle bars. I’m sure there’s a true definition, but you’d probably get as many definitions as people you asked.

These bars are easy to put together. The dough is more like thick, sticky cake batter, and the cookies do have a cakey quality. I love that the original recipe says to carefully spread the dough and that greased hands may help with spreading. I’ll be honest: this dough/batter was nearly impossible to spread in the pan, and the top layer was even more impossible. Take your time and do your best, that’s all you can do. It’s hard to go wrong with cookies mixed with cinnamon sugar, and these don’t disappoint. They’re not the fanciest cookie, but that’s not what’s important!

Snickerdoodle Bars

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/3 cups flour

1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla. Stir in the baking powder and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, mixing just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the batter in the bottom of the prepared pan, using a combination of a spatula and your greased hands. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the base. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the cinnamon sugar. This will be tricky, and the dough won’t make a complete, even layer. That’s ok.

Bake for 25-27 minutes, until golden along the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean. Half way through the baking time, remove the pan from the oven, and rap it against the counter. This will remove any air bubbles. Allow the bars to cool for an hour before glazing.

Whisk the powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream to create a glaze. Pour the glaze over the cooled bars and spread evenly with a small spatula. Allow the glaze to set before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Crazy for Crust