Sugar Cookie Bars

I made some Razorback sugar cookies last weekend and had some leftover dough that I needed to use, so I decided that this ice/snow day we're getting in Arkansas would be the perfect opportunity to make some cookies.  I didn't want to go to all of the trouble of flouring the counter, rolling out the dough, cutting cookies, etc.  I wanted something easy and different.  So off to Google I went to find something to do with sugar cookie dough.  After a couple of minutes of searching, I came across My Baking Addiction.  She had made sugar cookies bars that looked too cute!  I knew I had found exactly what I was looking for.

With my cookie dough in one hand and a diet coke in the other I set off to try my hand at sugar cookie bars.

Cookie Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla
3 teaspoons almond
2 eggs
3 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons milk

Cream shortening, butter, sugar, almond, and vanilla.  Add eggs, beat well. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder.  Stir into creamed mixture along with milk. Chill overnight.  Grease 2 13x9 casserole dishes and evenly spread dough out.  Bake on 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack and cut into desired shapes (I chose triangles).

Buttercream Icing Ingredients:
1 lbs powdered sugar (10x sifted)
1 tablespoon Wilton Meringue Powder
1 dash salt
1 cup white crisco
1 teaspoon Wilton no-color butter flavor
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons water

Cream shortening, add butter flavor and vanilla and mix well. Add Meringue powder, sugar, and salt and gradually add water.

I transferred the icing to a bag and used a Wilton #12 tip to make the icing design.  Even though Valentine's Day (and Ben's birthday!) is over two weeks away, I still went with a Valentine's color scheme!

I'm thinking about bringing that snow back to my blog, since it's coming down pretty hard here!