The Swig Cookie Bar recipe on my site is one of my most popular recipes. I love them too, and with my love of lemon desserts, combining the two was bound to happen.
I am thrilled with the delicious result of giving a lemon twist to this easy, crowd pleasing bar cookie recipe.
All I did was add lemon juice in place of the water in the original recipe, a little lemon zest, and then top them with a nice lemon butter cream frosting. YUM.YUM.YUM.
The bars have just a hint of lemon and the icing is a perfect combo of tart and sweet.
One of my favorite things about the Swig Cookie Bars is the unique texture they offer. They sort of melt in your mouth, yet have just the right amount of chewiness. They’re fabulous. The trick in keeping that delicious texture is not over baking them.
They will look almost underdone when it is time to take them out, but do it anyway. Over baking will leave them dry, and while they will still have a delicious flavor, you will need a BIG glass of milk to help wash them down.
Also, if you want the fancy looking lines in your finished, frosted cookies, it is an EASY step. After evenly spreading the frosting just drag a butter knife in diagonal lines about an inch or two apart and then start on the other side at the opposite corner and do it again. This results in nice diagonal boxes that once you cut the straight lines down, make for a nice, “semi-fancy” looking cookie bar.
It is hard to photograph white food so I tossed some zest in granulated sugar and sprinkled it on top of the bars to help the pictures pop better. Just wanted to disclose that I don’t actually eat them that way. Just wanted the pictures to be pretty. But hey, if you like zest, go for it.
More Awesome Bar Cookies
- ½ cup softened butter
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp Canola or Vegetable oil
- ½ cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1½ Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- pinch of baking soda approx 1/16 of a tsp
- a little extra granulated sugar for sprinkling on top of dough before baking (about 1-2 TBSP)
- FROSTING RECIPE:
- ¼ cup softened butter
- 1½-1¾ cups powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (depending on how tart you want your icing, I use 1½)
- Milk or cream to desired consistency...1-2 tbsp, I drizzle it in until frosting looks nice and creamy yet still a little thick.
- DIRECTIONS FOR FROSTING: Mix butter, powdered sugar, salt and lemon juice with a hand mixer or whisk. Add in the milk or cream until nice and smooth. Frost bars when they are completely cooled. I prefer to keep bars in the fridge because I like them cold, but you can leave them at room temperature if desired.
- DIRECTIONS FOR COOKIE BARS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Lightly butter or spray with cooking spray, a 9x13 pan and set aside
- Using your mixer thoroughly cream butter, oil, granulated sugar and powdered sugar until combined
- Add egg, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla and mix until well combined
- Add flour and sprinkle in salt, baking powder and baking soda, mix for approx 1 minute or until completely combined
- Spread/press cookie mixture evenly into greased 9x13 pan. (like to use a sandwich baggie on my hand to press it down evenly. Spray baggie with cooking spray if necessary)
- Evenly sprinkle 1-2 tbsp of sugar over the uncooked bars before placing them in the oven
- Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until edges are just barely turning a light brown. Do not over bake or bars will be dry.
- Let cool completely and frost with Lemon Butter Cream frosting recipe before cutting.
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