Sugar Cookie Bars

These were absolutely fantastic!! My grandma and grandpa have an annual steak fry for my entire family and I volunteered to bring bars for dessert. I had a couple of recipes that I wanted to try and this was one of them. They were so good that I was glad that they didn't all fit on the plate that I was taking and we had some extras waiting for us at home! :)

Sugar Cookie Bars
(recipe found at www.loveandoliveoil.com)

Cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting:
1 cup butter; at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons milk
food coloring, if desired

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add to butter mixture and mix just until combine. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet (13x18 or 10x15 jelly roll pan) or line with parchment paper. Gently and evenly spread out batter onto sheet.

Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes (mine took more like 20-25), until light golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

To prepare frosting, in a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Mix in vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until well combined, then add milk and mix until smooth and spreadable. Add a few drops of color if desired. Spread over cooled cookie and then cut into bars.