Vanilla Frosting for Cookie Bars
This fluffy vanilla frosting is smooth, sweet, and spreads perfectly over baked cookie bars, sheet pan cakes, or brownies. It yields enough to cover one 9x13-inch baked good. Made from easy pantry ingredients, this will be a go-to frosting for holiday baking all year round.
Cookie bars make such a perfect potluck party treat since they travel well.
Whether you're baking for a holiday party or a birthday treat, you can dress up a simple pan of cookie bars with this easy fluffy vanilla frosting tinted just the right color and coated with pretty sprinkles.
This is a classic recipe you're going to turn to again and again all throughout the year once you see how quick it is to whip up and how pretty it looks when it matches your party theme!
Why This is the Best Recipe
- Pantry Ingredients: This simple recipe is made from items you likely keep in your pantry year-round.
- Smooth and Spreadable: It is so easy to spread this frosting over your completely-cooled treat.
- Perfect for Decorating: The lovely warm white color is pretty by itself but this frosting is easy to tint any color you desire and looks great with festive sprinkles.
Ingredients
- Butter: I use salted butter, if you use unsalted you'll want to add a pinch of salt to the recipe.
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla
- Milk
- Food Coloring Gel: Optional. I personally love this basic food coloring gel set because it doesn't affect the texture of the frosting and can be added at the end.
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Cream the Butter and Sugar
Add the softened butter and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Beat them together on medium-high speed until thoroughly combined.
Add the Milk and Vanilla
Pour just half of the milk into the bowl and add the vanilla.
Beat them into the butter mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
It is likely the frosting will be too thick at this point but you're trying to remove most of the lumps from the butter and powdered sugar first.
If you plan to tint your frosting with food coloring, now is a smart time to do it. Some liquid food colors will affect the texture so add them before you thin the frosting with additional milk.
Once the frosting has been tinted, you can add the remaining milk, just 1 tablespoon at a time, until your desired consistency has been reached.
Frost the Cookie Bars
Be sure to completely cool your baked goods before adding the prepared frosting or the heat will melt the butter and cause a mess.
Spoon the frosting over the top of the cookie bars and spread with the back of a spatula or a butter knife.
If you plan to use sprinkles or candies to decorate the top, be sure to add them immediately after you've spread the frosting.
The milk will cause the frosting to set up and sprinkles will simply bounce right off if they're not added while the frosting is still freshly spread.
Make Ahead Tips
You could make the frosting up to 24 hours in advance and keep it in an airtight container in the fridge.
Let it come to room temperature before you try to spread it over your treats.
I also recommend placing a piece of plastic wrap directly over the surface of the frosting before putting the lid on your storage container. This will help keep the frosting soft and prevent it from drying out on top and setting.
Variations
This basic vanilla frosting can be used for easy flavor variations:
- Almond Frosting: Add 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.
- Peppermint Frosting: Skip the vanilla and use 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- Lemon Frosting: Add 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or fresh lemon zest
Serving Suggestions
I've used this fluffy vanilla frosting over my Christmas sugar cookie bars with no tinting and my Halloween cookie bars with orange tinting. The festive holiday sprinkles showed off perfectly in both cases!
You could also use this to dress up a pan of sourdough discard brownies or these classic chocolate brownies.
For a special party, you could also add it to regular cookie bars like my OREO blondies if you want something even richer for a treat.
More Easy Frosting Recipes
Looking for more ways to dress up your favorite baked treats? Here are a few of my favorite easy frosting recipes:
📖 Recipe
Vanilla Frosting for Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter softened
- 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 cup milk divided
- 1 - 2 drops food coloring gel optional
Instructions Start Cooking
- Add the powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla to the stand mixer bowl. Beat them together on medium speed.
- Slowly drizzle about half of the milk in and continue to beat the frosting. If you want to tint the frosting, add the food coloring gel and stir it in before deciding whether you need more milk.
- If the texture is still too thick, add the reserved milk, a tablespoon at a time, and beat until fluffy.
- Spread the frosting over your cookie bars and immediately add sprinkles before the frosting sets otherwise they will just bounce off the top and not stick. Cookie bars frosted with this vanilla frosting should be stored in the refrigerator so that the milk doesn't spoil.
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