Go Back
+ servings
Print

Red, White, and Blue Cookie Bars

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 15 servings
Author Joe Boyle

Ingredients

Fruit

  • Strawberries and blue berries , rinsed and dried

Sugar Cookie Bars

  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup butter , room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Filling

  • 8 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon Curd

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest , optional
  • 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons cold butter , cut into 4 pieces

Instructions

Sugar Cookie Bars

  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Line a 10" X 15" jelly roll pan with heavy duty foil, then butter the foil or use non-stick spray; set aside.
  • Combine sugar, butter, milk, vanilla, and egg in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until well combined.
  • Spread the cookie dough onto the foil until even and smooth.
  • Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden.
  • Using the foil, lift the cookie bars off the pan and set on a rack until completely cool.

Cream cheese filling:

  • Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a small bowl and beat until smooth. Set aside.
  • Lemon Curd:
  • Combine the egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest, and granulated sugar in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick and coats the spoon. Immediately remove from the heat and add the pieces of butter, one at a time, stirring them in and returning the pan to the heat, if the mixture cools too much. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a small bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap to keep a skin from forming. Set aside.
  • Cut bars into any shape or size, then spread with some of the cream cheese filling, then add a layer of lemon curd. Top with the fanned strawberries and scatter a few blueberries on top.