Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars

It's been a busy, busy week! I was supposed to get a lot of cleaning done, but that didn't happen. I've been on a mission, to finalize our carpet order! It's the first home improvement job that's been completely mine, and it's been quite an experience. I had to check the color I wanted twice, to make sure it was still what I remembered, re-scheduling appointments over and over because of that family stomach bug, waiting for calls back, changing my mind about carpet type... I'll be so glad when it's finally installed!! Dog hair is a serious pain to sweep, but a cinch to vacuum. The house is developing beastie-hair tumbleweeds in the corners...

Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars (inspired by Betty Crocker)
Printable Recipe

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tb granulated sugar

2 Tb cinnamon
a pinch of salt

Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tb milk

2 Tb melted butter

2 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.

In large bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and sugars together until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat eggs and vanilla into sugar mixture until combined. On low speed, add dry ingredients and mix till combined.

Spoon a little more than half of the batter into your greased pan and careful spread evenly to the edges. Stir cinnamon, sugar, and a pinch of salt together in a small bowl, and sprinkle evenly over batter. Dollop spoonfuls of remaining batter evenly over cinnamon-sugar mixture. Don't spread these, let them spread while baking.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. remove from the oven to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting.

Whisk frosting ingredients together until smooth, and thin enough to drizzle. Add a little more milk if it's too thick. Drizzle frosting over cooled cookie bars, and let set before cutting into pieces. (If you want to be more decadent, you can just spread the frosting on in a layer)

The original recipe is called "Snickerdoodle Bars", but honestly, they don't taste anything like snickerdoodles. They're missing the cream of tartar flavor. To me they tasted like a cookie version of cinnamon rolls, so I changed the name. If you're a huge fan of snickerdoodles, add 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar, and they'll be snickerdoodle bars!

I think next time I might dollop the top layer in even smaller spoonfuls, to get more of that scrumptious cinnamon layer peeking through. Aren't they lovely? Simple, but lovely. The boys have been on a cinnamon kick lately, so these were for them! And they LOVED them!

Mmmm, look at that cinnamon ribbon running all through. Soft and chewy cookie, rich spicy cinnamon layer, creamy vanilla frosting... Dead easy and yummy as can be!

They're awfully addictive...