Christmas cookies, great idea, I thought! Tis the season, after all. And then I remembered the rolling, and chilling and rolling and chilling (because even if a recipe says you don’t need to chill, I still chill). I wasn’t feelin’ it. But, I didn’t want to squash my child’s sweet and creative spirit. I needed something easy. So I got to thinking…how can I get my kid some sugar cookies to decorate without the headache? Well, I can make sugar cookie bars (easy) and use cookie cutters to make shapes (easy). After all, my child is four. He’ll decorate two cookies, get bored and walk away. It’s not like I need a million cookies. My plan turned out perfectly!
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a large standing mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy- approximately 1-2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and powdered sugar and continue to mix until fully combined. With the mixer on low, add the egg, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix well.
Gradually begin adding flour mixture to the wet ingredients and continue to mix until the dough comes together. Avoid overmixing.
Transfer dough to the prepared pan and gently press and spread dough into the bottom of the pan. Transfer pan to the preheated oven and bake. Remove cookie bars from the oven and allow to cool. While the cookie bars are still warm use the Ugly Sweater Cookie Cutter to cut out cookies. Transfer cutouts to a wire rack to cool completely.
As the cookie bars cool completely, prepare the frosting. In a medium bowl mix together the butter until very fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the cream cheese and continue to mix until fully combined. Mix in the peppermint (or almond) extract. Gradually start mixing in the powdered sugar and mix until fully combined.
Spread a generous helping of frosting over cooled cookie bars and sprinkle with crushed candy canes and colored sprinkles.