Dive into the delicious flavors of Air Fryer Sugar Cookie Bars. These cookie bars blend the timeless taste of classic sugar cookie bars with the ease of using the air fryer. Each bite is the perfect mix of sweetness and crispiness. Seriously, it's a must-have dessert for any occasion.
Why You'll Love These Air Fryer Sugar Cookie Bars
They're effortless to make. You don't need to be a professional baker to whip up a batch of these cookie bars. The air fryer does most of the work for you.
The cleanup is a breeze. With minimal dishes used in the process, you'll spend less time washing up and more time enjoying your treats.
The versatility of sugar cookie bars allows for endless customization. Whether you're a fan of classic vanilla or looking for something more adventurous with sprinkles and frosting, these bars can be tailored to your preference.
What You'll Need When Making Air Fryer Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- corn starch
- salt
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- light brown sugar
- egg
- vanilla extract
- sprinkles
- confectioners’ sugar
- gel food coloring
Equipment
- air fryer
- 6” x 6” square cake pan
- non-stick cooking spray
- measuring cups and spoons of various sizes
- mixing bowls of various sizes
- whisk
- spatula
- electric mixer
- tipless icing bags
- optional: icing decorating tip
How to Make Air Fryer Sugar Cookie Bars
Preheat the air fryer. Prep a 6” x 6” square cake pan.
Combine the batter- Using a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Set aside. Then in a separate bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, and light brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla to the wet ingredients and whisk until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the sprinkles and stir until just combined.
Bake- Press the sugar cookie dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 17 to 19 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick. It is done when the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Overbaking the cookie bars will make them dried out.
Decorating the cookie bars- Let the cookie bars cool completely before removing them to decorate. Make the buttercream frosting. Split the frosting between 6 bowls and dye each one a different color.
Frost the bars in any rainbow design you’d like – stripes, polka dots, camouflage, etc. using tipless icing bags. Cut and serve.
Tips and Tricks for Making Air Fryer Sugar Cookie Bars
Measuring the flour correctly is important, or those sugar cookie bars won’t come out just right (they’ll end up dry and crumbly if there's too much flour). Fun fact: Did you know that using a measuring cup to scoop flour straight from the bag can lead to 25% more flour than you actually need? This happens because the flour gets packed down into the cup when you scoop it. The absolute best way to measure flour is with a food scale. If you don’t have one, you can go for the spoon and scoop method. Place the measuring cup on the counter, grab a spoon, and scoop some flour out of the bag, then sprinkle it gently into the cup. 🍪
Use the jimmies style of sprinkles. You want the kind that are long, skinny, and oval in shape. Not the nonpareils (small ball style) as the nonpareils tend to bleed color into the cookie dough.
Sugar cookie bars can be stored at room temperature (in a sealed food safe container) for up to 4 days.
FAQS for the Sugar Cookie Bars in the Air Fryer
The sugar cookie bar dough is very dry. What went wrong?
If your dough isn’t coming together to a consistency like play dough, the issue might be too much flour in the mix. Check out the tips and tricks section for how to measure flour accurately.
I let the sugar cookie bars cool before slicing and it still looks raw in the middle. What went wrong?
Air fryers cook at different speeds. What bakes in 18 minutes for me might be all set in your air fryer in just 16 minutes or even 20 minutes. For perfect cookie bars, insert a toothpick in the middle - if it comes out wet (like the center is still gooey), give it a little extra time to bake.
These sugar cookie bars are very chewy so if they come out dry and crispy, you know it was over baked. If your air fryer tends to bake fast, start checking for doneness at 15 minutes.
The middle of my bars sank a lot after cooling. Why?
It's normal for the edges to come out crispier than the middle of the bars, giving them that extra crunch. If you notice the middle sinking a tad, that's expected. But if it sinks a lot and you see the edges parting ways (cracking) from the middle, looks like your sugar cookie bars might've been a bit undercooked.
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Air Fryer Sugar Cookie Bars
Dive into the delicious flavors of Air Fryer Sugar Cookie Bars. These cookie bars blend the timeless taste of classic sugar cookie bars with the ease of using the air fryer. Each bite is the perfect mix of sweetness and crispiness. Seriously, it's a must-have dessert for any occasion.
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Bars
- 1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour*
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon corn starch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup (76 grams) unsalted butter, melted but not hot
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (38 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour*
- ½ lightly beaten large egg (about 25 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles (jimmies)**
Buttercream
- ¾ cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 ½ cups (300 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- gel food coloring: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
Instructions
Preheat air fryer to 325 degrees F.
Spray a 6” x 6” square cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.**
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, corn starch and salt until well combined. Set aside for now.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar until well combined.
Whisk the ½ egg and vanilla extract into the wet ingredients. Whisk until well combined.
Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to stir and make sure all of the dry ingredients are combined well with the wet ingredients.
Gently stir the sprinkles into the dough just until combined. Do not overmix.
Press the sugar cookie dough evenly into the prepared cake pan.
Bake the sugar cookie bars in the air fryer for 17 to 19 minutes. The bars are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean (should no longer see wet batter stuck to the toothpick). The top should be lightly browned. Do not over bake or the cookie bars will be dried out.
Let the sugar cookie bars cool completely before removing them from the cake pan and decorating with buttercream.
Buttercream Instructions:
In a large bowl, beat the butter on high speed until smooth. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract on low speed until combined then turn the speed up to high and beat until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Split the buttercream evenly into 6 different bowls then color one bowl of frosting red, one orange, one yellow, one green, one blue, and one purple.
Frost the bars in any rainbow design you’d like – stripes, polka dots, camouflage, etc. using tipless icing bags.
Cut into bars for serving.
Notes
Sugar cookie bars can be stored at room temperature (in a sealed food safe container) for up to 4 days.
* It’s important to measure the flour correctly or the sugar cookie bars won’t turn out properly (they’ll be dry and crumbly if too much flour is added). Did you know that using a measuring cup to scoop flour directly out of the bag leads to 25% more flour than you actually need? This is because the flour gets packed down into the cup when using it as a scoop. The best way to measure flour is with a food scale. If you don’t have a food scale, you can use the spoon and scoop method. For this method, place the measuring cup on the counter and use a spoon to scoop flour out of the bag then gently sprinkle it into the measuring cup.
** Use the jimmies style of sprinkles (long skinny oval shape) and not the nonpareils (small ball style) as the nonpareils tend to bleed color into the cookie dough.
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