These soft Glazed Berry Sugar Bars are bursting with summer berry flavors! The cookie is soft and buttery, the berries are sweet and flavorful and it’s all topped with a creamy sugar glaze!
I’m trying to make the most of what we have left of summer. I hate it.
I feel like in NJ we waited until July for summer to actually start and now it’s August and it’s almost over! Don’t get me wrong, I do love me some fall cozies and a good PSL, but oh summer, you’re gone too fast.
I am sure in other parts of the country you’re DYING for a reprieve from the hot temperatures. I grew up in Houston, I get it for sure. And I guess it’s not just the warmer temperatures I am already beginning to mourn, it’s the fact that my babies will be starting school soon. I love them being home. I hate it when they go to school…most of the time… and of course I know the times that they are spending with me now are fleeting. Ugh I hate time passing. Hate.
But at least we still have summer fruit. There’s always that.
Womp womp.
Today I decided to fatten up some berries by introducing them to the sugar cookie bar. They are now officially the best of friends.
The soft cookie base is the perfect partner in crime for the sweet berries. Oh and did I mention I topped the whole situation with a sweet sugar glaze.
I mean look at the gorgeousness of these berries…
I know you will ask, so please note you can use any combo of berries. I did try this recipe with strawberries, however, and I found they made my cookie base a little wetter than I like. Maybe I just got an especially juicy batch of strawberries, who knows! But if you want to use all raspberries, go for it…all blueberries, suit yourself…I just like the combo of all the berries because it looks cute and tastes cuter.
Just whip up the simple sugar cookie base and spread 2/3 of it into a lined and greased pan.
Then top it with your berries, which you will coat with sugar and cornstarch (before adding them).
And then just randomly drop the remaining sugar cookie dough on top.
Bake it and and pour your gorgeous glaze all over!
I use a ton of glaze on these bars, but you don’t have to. Feel free to use as much, or as little as you like!
When they’re cooled you can slice them up and eat them with your fingers or with a fork…depending on how civilized you want to be!
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
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Glazed Berry Sugar Cookie Bars
- Yield: 20 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 cups fresh berries, I used blueberries, raspberries and blackberries
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, plus 1 yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups flour
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C
- Line a 9×9 baking dish with aluminum foil and coat with cooking/baking spray. Set aside.
- In a small bowl combine 1/3 cup granulated sugar with the cornstarch. Place the berries in a medium bowl and sprinkle the cornstarch mixer on top, tossing the berries to coat them evenly. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and 3/4 cup of sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add in the egg, yolk, vanilla, salt and baking powder and mix for another minute until smooth. Turn the speed to low and add in the flour, mixing until just incorporated.
- Press 2/3 of the dough into the prepared pan. Top this evenly with the prepared berries. Next drop the remaining dough by the teaspoon-ful evenly onto the berries. This will not cover the berries completely.
- Bake the bars for 35-40 minutes until the bars are set in the middle and lightly golden on top.
- Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Meanwhile prepare the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together until smooth. Pour this on top of the warm bars.
- Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting into pieces.
Do these berry bars need to be refrigerated? They look and smell amazing I cant wait to bring them to work tomorrow!
You don’t have to, but you can!
Do these need to be refrigerated?
Do these need to be refeigerated ?
These were delicious. I did not have three cups of berries, but I did have a cup of black and a cup of blue berries. I put in a cup of quartered cherries for the last cup of fruit and it was an awesome combination. I had a little trouble with the dough. It was very soft and difficult to spread in the pan, it was very sticky as well. Did I do something wrong or is this normal?
I like the idea of this recipe, but it would need substantial adjustment for me to enjoy eating it. I used frozen berries and drained them, but there was not enough cornstarch to made the berry juice set adequately, so the berry top was runny and made the crust very wet and soft. I also felt there was waaaaaay too much frosting on them. Both the frosting and the berry topping was sliding off when I cut them. Overall, with nearly 3 cups of sugar in the recipe, it was too sweet. To improve the recipe, I would put more of the cookie base on the bottom to create a firmer base, add more cornstarch to the berries, and reduce the frosting by 3/4 or eliminate it completely.
I used fresh berries in my recipe, but did note in a comment that if you do use frozen berries to make sure they are not only drained but patted dry of all excess moisture. Sorry you had trouble!
Okay! I substituted frozen olallieberries that I had picked a week ago. I let them thaw but not fully. It was the most delicious treat. Repeat recipe for sure!
Yay!! So glad you liked them!!
Can this recipe be doubled and put in an 9×13 pan?
You could just increase it by 50% to bake in a 9×13 pan. If you would like to double the recipe, the bars will be thicker made in a 9×13, so I might recommend just using 2 9×9 pans 🙂
I used to own a bakery so I always tear apart recipes I saw this and thought it might be one I might use for a catering job. made this recipe three times and finally discovered — You MUST bake the crust 5 minutes first before you put in the fruit Then go ahead and bake as the recipe says Otherwise the crust is too gummy. If you prebake the crust is cookie like just like it needs to be I went ahead and made 4 for a summer sweets table and they were delicious.
Absolutely delicious! I used only half of the glaze recipe, but my husband and I could not stop eating these bars. So good!
These bars are perfection! Yummy.