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Frankensquares

Frankensquares

How franken’ cute are these little guys for Halloween?! … And so easy to make which is always awesome. I used a recipe from The I Heart Naptime Cookbook for Sugar Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting. It’s my food blogging friend, Jamielyn’s first cookbook full of quick and easy recipes perfect to pull off in an hour. Love that!

I Heart Naptime Cookbook

Sugar Cookie Bar Ingredients

Instead of the pretty in pink, party-worthy frosting and sprinkles in her book, I took a twist with the tops and turned them into Frankenstein faces. While these are super easy to make, the decorating will take you over the hour mark. But feel free to make them in any frosting and sprinkle color combination that you love. They’ll still be so cute.

Cookie Bar Steps

Making the sugar cookie bars is simple … whip up the dough, press into a baking pan, frost and sprinkle when baked and cooled. Cut into bars and done.

Frankensquares

Or break out the extra candies and go full on Frankenstein.

Halloween decorations

For the faces, I used black jelly beans, black jimmies, and jumbo candy eyes.

Jelly Bean Hair

Place 5-6 jelly beans on top of square sugar cookie bar for Frank’s hair. Use a toothpick to position if necessary and when in place, gently press into frosting.

Making Mouths

Set the eyes in place and use black jimmies for mouths and eyebrows. Most of the time, there are some curved jimmies in the sprinkle bottle which totally makes a subtle little smirk.

Okay, but now we need some bolts to finish the look.

Making Frankensteins

My mini marshmallows worked great to press into the sides of the frosting. Perfect proportions and lightweight enough not to fall off the sides. Win!

Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars

Yep, the faces look much cuter with bolts in place.

Frankensquares

Frankensquares

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Bars

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • (amended slightly from the book)
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 8 oz package cream cheese, room temperature
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of salt

Decorations

  • green food coloring
  • candy eyes
  • black jelly beans
  • black jimmies
  • mini marshmallows

Instructions

  1. For the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 15 X 10 X 1 jelly roll pan with nonstick spray. (Note: I used a 9 X 13 inch pan for thicker bars and greased and lined the pan with parchment paper to easily lift bigger bars out of the pan.)
  2. In a large bowl, beat together sugar and butter using a mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the sugar mixture until combined. Lightly flour your hands and press dough evenly into baking pan with palms of your hands.
  4. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Don’t let tops brown or over bake.
  5. For the Frosting: In a medium bowl, beat butter and cream cheese using a mixer until fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix until combined, smooth and creamy. Add any food coloring if desired and frost cooled sugar cookie bars. Top with sprinkles or cut into bars and then decorate into Frankenstein faces by attaching black jelly beans and jimmies, jumbo candy eyes and mini marshmallows to the frosting.

Notes

Recipe adapted slightly from The I Heart Naptime Cookbook by Jamielyn Nye, © 2016

Frankensquare Sugar Cookies

Enjoy!

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17 comments on “Frankensquares”

  1. How cute, I’ll do it on my brother’s birthday.

  2. Hi Pea – We ate them the same day. You can store them in an airtight container.

  3. Hey there
    Can anyone help me with a cream cheese frosting that’s piping consistency. Thanx.

  4. Great idea! I think I’ll make your lemon bars with a little blue food coloring to get to green.

  5. Lindos os bolinhos! Ameii!

  6. Lovely Halloween mini
    cakes :-)

  7. So darn cute! Quick question – How do you store these? Simpy in the fridge? Are they best eaten the day of or will they be ok to make the night before?

  8. I adore your creativivity. Always so cute!

  9. They’re darn-franken cute! Wonderful idea – I’m going to make these for my friends – thanks a bunch!! :)

  10. These make me wish I had littles to make them for!

  11. So freaking adorable!!!!

  12. These are too adorable! It sounds like a fun cookbook too :)

  13. Thanks guys & Tiffany – YAY – that’s what I was hoping for.

  14. So darn clever, brought a smile to my face this morning.

  15. I love them!!!

  16. These are so franken’ cute! Love the creativity!

  17. Thanks for the recipes of Frankensquares i love it <3 <3 <3

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