These Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars have a soft and chewy texture, delicious buttery flavor and crunchy cinnamon sugar topping. No mixer and way easier than making cookies. 
I absolutely love making cookie bars. They’re so easy, require way less busy work than making cookies, and you get seriously thick, chewy cookie goodness.
Plus there’s no need to chill your cookie dough. (Patience isn’t exactly my best personality trait).
So when I was craving snickerdoodles on a Friday night at 9 pm – making snickerdoodle cookie bars seemed like a waaaaaay better idea. And today’s recipe was born.
These chewy snickerdoodle cookie bars are soft, deliciously buttery cookie bars topped with a layer of crunchy cinnamon sugar. They remind me of cinnamon sugar doughnuts and are seriously easy to make.
What I love most about these bars is the texture. They’re soft and chewy because of a few key things:
- We’re using melted butter
- Adding a little brown sugar for extra moisture
- Skipping the electric mixer because the electric mixer adds air to the batter. More air = a lighter, fluffier texture. Less air = denser, chewier bars.
- Then we’re adding a little cornstarch and cream of tartar for melt-in-your mouth perfection.
We end up with bars that are thick, chewy and deliciously dense.
The batter is made in one bowl and we’re using a rubber spatula to mix everything together. (Less cleanup). Then the batter is spread into a prepared 8×8 inch pan, and our cinnamon sugar mixture is sprinkled overtop.
For this recipe I added a little ground nutmeg to the cinnamon sugar mixture. I love the extra flavor it adds, and how the spices taste warm and inviting while adding crunch to the bars. You’ll notice that there’s a lot of the cinnamon sugar mixture, but it’ll sink into the bars as they bake.
These chewy snickerdoodle cookie bars have all the flavor of your favorite snickerdoodles. I love the spices and deliciously buttery cookie taste especially around Christmas, but I think you’ll find they disappear any time of year!
Do you have a favorite snickerdoodle cookie recipe?
Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
Ingredients
For the Cookie Bar Base
- ½ cup unsalted butter , melted and cooled
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg , room temperature
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line an 8x8 or 9x9 inch square baking pan with aluminium foil and lightly grease with butter or nonstick cooking spray, or line with parchment paper. (If lining with parchment paper, you don't need to grease).
- In a large bowl stir together the melted butter and sugars until evenly combined and no sugar lumps remain. Ensure that the butter isn't still hot, then stir in the egg and vanilla until combined. Then carefully stir in the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar and salt until no flour lumps remain. Spoon/spread the mixture into your prepared pan.
- In a small bowl - or the bowl you used to make the batter - combine the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the cinnamon sugar mixture. Sprinkle the mixture over your cookie bar batter until it's evenly covered and you can't see the cookie batter underneath. You may have some extra if you use an 8x8 inch pan instead of a 9x9 inch pan.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 22-25 minutes or until you can start to see the sides of the bars just starting to pull away from the edges. Allow to cool, then remove from the pan and cut into 9 or 12 bars.
These were a great success with my friends!