Christmas Cookie Bars

Christmas cookie bars soft, chewy, and loaded with festive chocolate and holiday candies for the ultimate seasonal treat. They come together in one bowl with no rolling or chilling, making them perfect for busy holiday baking. Easy, delicious, and guaranteed to be a hit at any Christmas party!

Love More Christmas Desserts? Try My No Bake Peppermint Pie or this Cherry Snowball Cookies next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Soft, chewy, and stay fresh for days—no more cookies going stale overnight. They’re quick to make in just 45 minutes, with no rolling or cutting required. A festive, stress-free holiday dessert that kids can help with and everyone will love!

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Ingredient List

For the Cookie Base:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• Red & green food coloring

For the Topping:

• Sprinkles (red, green, or festive mix)

Quick swaps: No almond extract? Just use extra vanilla. Want them dairy-free? Vegan butter works fine.

Why These Ingredients Work

Your butter can’t be cold or it won’t mix. Can’t be melted either or the cookies get dense. Room temp means you can easily poke it with your finger.

Almond extract is why these taste different than store-bought cookies. Most people just use vanilla. Half a teaspoon is enough – more tastes weird.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• 9×13-inch baking pan
• Big mixing bowl
• Electric mixer
• Another bowl for flour mixture
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Butter knife for swirling
• Parchment paper

How To Make Christmas Cookie Bars

Preheat and Prep

Set oven to 350°F. Grease your 9×13 pan or use parchment paper. Trust me on the parchment – these stick like crazy otherwise.

Mix the Dry Stuff

Put flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk it together. My grandma always said do this first so you don’t forget anything.

Cream Butter and Sugar

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Don’t skip this step or your bars will be dense instead of tender.

Add Egg and Extracts

Beat in the egg completely, then add vanilla and almond extracts. The kitchen starts smelling good right about now.

Combine Everything

Add flour mixture slowly. Mix just until you can’t see white streaks. Stop there – overmixing makes tough cookies.

Make It Festive

Split dough into three bowls. Leave one plain. Add red coloring to one, green to another. Start with just a tiny drop – you can always add more.

Create the Magic

Press plain dough in the bottom of your pan. Drop spoonfuls of colored dough on top. Take a knife and barely swirl it around – just a few strokes.

Add Sparkle

Sprinkle those red and green sprinkles all over. Kids love doing this part and honestly they do it better than me.

Bake Until Set

20-25 minutes max. Edges should barely start turning golden. Middle should look set but not brown.

Wait (The Hard Part)

Don’t even think about cutting these until they’re completely cool. Warm bars just crumble into a mess.

You Must Know

Room temperature butter is everything here. Should dent easy when you poke it but not be melty. Forgot to take it out? Cut it up small and it softens faster.

Personal Secret: I test food coloring on a tiny piece of dough first. Some brands are super strong and others are weak, so you never know until you try.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Stop mixing once you can’t see flour streaks anymore. Overmixed dough gets tough and nobody wants that.

Gel food coloring works better than liquid. The liquid stuff can make your dough sticky. Also, press that dough down firm in the pan or it bakes weird.

When swirling colors, barely touch it. I made mud-colored bars my first try because I went crazy with the knife.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

• Chocolate chip version: Mix in ½ cup mini chocolate chips before adding colors
• Orange cranberry: Add orange zest and dried cranberries
• Peppermint: Use peppermint extract instead of almond, crush candy canes on top
• Lemon bars: Swap almond extract for lemon extract and add lemon zest

Make-Ahead Options

Make the dough two days ahead, wrap it up and stick it in the fridge. Just let it warm up before you try pressing it in the pan or you’ll be fighting with hard dough.

These keep for a week on the counter covered. They’re actually better on day two when the flavors settle in.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Don’t swirl too much – just a few gentle knife strokes. These bars are done when they’re set but still soft looking. They keep cooking in the hot pan so take them out before they look totally done.

If your dough seems sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it’s workable.

Serving Suggestions

Cut them small for parties or big for when you want a real treat. They go great with milk, coffee, or hot chocolate.

I like making them for cookie exchanges because they travel well and you can make a huge batch without going crazy.

Hope these become your new go-to holiday treat like they did for me. My family asks for them every December now!

How to Store Your Christmas Cookie Bars

Keep them covered on the counter for up to a week. For longer storage, freeze them wrapped tight for up to 3 months. They thaw perfectly and taste just as good.

Allergy Information

Contains: Wheat, eggs, dairy Swaps: Use gluten-free flour for gluten-free, vegan butter for dairy-free, flax eggs for egg-free.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

My dough is too sticky, what do I do?

Add flour one tablespoon at a time until it’s workable. Usually happens if your butter was too warm.

Can I use salted butter?

Yes, just cut the salt in the recipe to ¼ teaspoon.

How do I know they’re done?

Edges should be barely golden and center should be set but still soft.

💬 Made these? Drop a comment below! I love seeing photos of your cookie bars!