Ohio Blogging Association Blog Swap! (With a Sugar Cookie Bar Recipe)

As a part of today's Ohio Blogging Association's Cleveland November Blog Swap, I'm happy to introduce you to Sarah from Cooker Girl. On this day, bloggers from around the Northeast Ohio area are guest posting on one another's blogs as a way to help to get to know each other in our blogging community. For a full listing of blog swap participants, please visit Poise in Parma today.

I am sharing one of my favorite recipes on Cooker Girl today so please visit me there as well!

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Hi, I'm Sarah from Cooker Girl.  I like to cook and I love to bake.  I created my food blog to keep track of recipes I've tried so I can go back to them later.  Most of the time they are adaptations of existing recipes, but there are some originals and family recipes that I've shared as well.  I hope you'll stop by sometime!

The holiday season is approaching, and for many people that means making and decorating cut-out sugar cookies.  It's a great project for the whole family, but they're time consuming.  For this reason, I only make cut-out cookies about once a year.

During the rest of the year, when you want the sugar cookie flavor (and frosting) without all the work, these bars are the perfect solution.  This recipe is made using a jelly roll pan, but it can easily be halved and baked in a 9x13 pan.

Sugar Cookie Bars
Adapted from Beantown Baker

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add the vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Spread dough onto a greased 11x 17 jelly roll pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely then frost.

Buttercream Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk
4 cups confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, mix the butter, vanilla and milk with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. Keep mixing until all the sugar is incorporated and the frosting is white and fluffy.

A big thanks to Amie for letting me take over for the day!