Frosted Chocolate Cookie Bars

I’ve never actually done a cookie bar on this site and honestly, this recipe was entirely unintentional at first: I was trying to make shape cookies out of the dough but I’d inadvertently made a too soft dough that lent itself so perfectly to a cookie bar (what this actually looks like: me frustratingly pressing dough into a pan because I didn’t like the wonky shapes it produced in the oven, lol). 

But it turned out so good! And I thought with all those cutesy holidays around the corner, we could use a situation that was double chocolate and could hold up all the cute sprinkles. 

Recipe Origins 

These have a lot in common with my ‘homemade oreos’ which are really black cocoa cut-out cookies. I wanted a thicker, more moist cookie bar so I kept the yolks and swapped in some brown sugar. The baking powder is there to lift the bars and make them a little less dense. The buttercream recipe follows my ‘basic buttercream’ method. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Butter: unsalted butter, at room temperature. 

Vanilla: pure vanilla extract. 

Salt: fine sea salt. If using table salt, use half the amount. 

Sugar: light or dark is fine.  

Eggs: whole large eggs, it’s best if they are at room temperature so the butter/sugar mixture doesn’t break. 

Cocoa: dutch process cocoa powder. 

Flour: all purpose flour of a medium protein content. 

Powdered sugar: preferably made with tapioca starch. 

How to make Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bars 

Soften the butter 

Beat the butter with the sugar, vanilla and salt 

Add the eggs and beat 

Sift in the cocoa and beat to combine 

Add the flour and beat to just combine 

Let the dough chill for a few hours or overnight, then bring it to room temperature (10 mins on the counter).

Prep the pan then press the dough into it:  

Bake 

Make the frosting 

Top the bars, slice & serve 

Topping Options

Vanilla frosting: make the chocolate frosting listed below in the recipe but instead of cocoa add half of a cup of powdered sugar. 

Cream cheese frosting: with the butter, beat in half of a cream cheese brick, then add about 260g or 2 cups powdered sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt. 

Chocolate cream cheese frosting: add half a brick of cream cheese to the butter when you beat it with the vanilla and salt, then make the recipe as directed below – you likely won’t need to add any milk to smooth out the frosting. 

Add ons for the cookie bars 

• Flaked sea salt: add this only after the frosting has set and right before serving, otherwise it simply melts into the frosting. 
• Sprinkles: add these right after you smooth the frosting over the cookies (if you wait they won’t adhere). 
• Chocolate shavings: after the frosting is on the cookie bar, use a vegetable peeler to shave off bits of a milk or dark chocolate cookie bar. Cocoa nibs work great too. 

Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe

Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bars

Sugar cookie bars but make them double chocolate: soft and chewy chocolate cookie bars topped with a sea salt, deeply chocolatey frosting.

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Yields: 16 cookie bars

5 from 2 votes

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Ingredients

Chocolate Cookie Bars

• 113g or ½ cup butter unsalted and softened
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 150g or ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 60g or ½ cup dutch process cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 190g or 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons tapioca flour (tapioca starch) or substitute with cornstarch

Frosting

• 113g or ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 130g or 1 cups powdered sugar made with tapioca starch
• 30g or ¼ dutch process cocoa if making chocolate frosting, otherwise skip
• 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream as needed

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 inch square cake pan with parchment paper.
• Using a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Affix the paddle attachment and beat until light and creamed, about 3-4 minutes.
• Add the egg together then turn the mixer on low and work up to medium. Beat the mixture until it’s airy, about 2 full minutes.
• Sift in the dry ingredients (the baking powder, flour, starch and cocoa) and beat to just mix the dough - stop once you can’t see any unmixed dry bits. Scrape down the bowl to ensure it’s all evenly mixed.
• Press the dough into the pan in an even layer, use your fingers, a rubber spatula and/or the bottom of a measuring cup (if it gets sticky, coat it in flour then press it into the dough).
• Bake the cookie bar for about 25 minutes, until it’s matte all over and slightly puffed.
• Let cool fully before frosting.
• To make the frosting: beat the butter with the salt and vanilla then add in the cocoa (if using) and powdered sugar (sift them in if there’s lumps) and beat until the frosting is well mixed. If it’s quite thick, add two tablespoons of milk and beat. Add more milk as needed, if it gets too runny or loose you’ll need to add more powdered sugar.
• Spread the frosting over the cooled cookie bar dough - if you like you can add sprinkles on top or chocolate shavings. Transfer to the fridge to set the frosting so it’s easier to slice.
• Slice and serve.

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