Fairy Bread Sugar Cookie Bars

Fairy Bread, an Australian children’s birthday party staple, is turned into rich, buttery, sugar cookie bars loaded with sprinkles!

I feel like I need to warn you… this post is going to be very bright. Very bright and full of all the colors of the rainbow. SPRINKLES EVERYWHERE. Prepare yourself.

Let’s start with a quick quiz:

• Do you know what 100s and 1000s are?
• Have you ever considered slathering a piece of cheap white bread with cheap butter and dousing it with nonpareils?

100s and 1000s are what they call nonpareil sprinkles in the UK and Australia. You know – the little round, rainbow-colored sprinkles that bounce all over the place if they hit something that isn’t frosting and end up in places you would never expect to find them months from now. 

Clearly, nonpareils aren’t my sprinkle of choice. But they are necessary for Fairy Bread. Or, you know, Fairy Bread Sugar Cookie Bars.

I tried Fairy Bread and… I think it’s safe to say it’s not my thing. It’s literally just cheap white bread, cheap butter and sprinkles. Nothing is toasted, or warmed, or baked… nothing. The combination of butter and sprinkles didn’t set well with me. But it got me thinking about the bottle of LorAnn Butter Vanilla Bakery Emulsion sitting in my pantry that needed a purpose in life. And that purpose is clearly to make me rich, buttery sugar cookie bars frosting.

A 9×13 pan makes 32 small triangles, so you’ll be all set if you’re planning to make these for a party. They’re rich and dense, so this isn’t the kind of dessert that you’ll find yourself mindlessly eating half a pan of while you chat with friends. 

I feel like these are reminiscent of frosted Lofthouse cookies, in bar form. Super soft, perfectly sweet, and wonderfully colorful. 

I brought these to my office and people lost their minds. There was practically a stampede for the kitchen after I told everyone I brought them in. Someone described them as “rainbow-colored bars of heaven”. I mean… how can you say no to that? 

Fairy Bread Sugar Cookie Bars

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• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 32 triangle slices
• Category: Dessert

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Description

Fairy Bread, an Australian children’s birthday party staple, is turned into rich, buttery, sugar cookie bars loaded with sprinkles!

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Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Bars:

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt

Frosting:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon butter vanilla bakery emulsion (I highly recommend LorAnn brand)
• 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream (as needed)
• Rainbow Nonpareils (I highly recommend Wilton brand)

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Instructions

Sugar Cookie Bars:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare a 9×13 baking dish by lining it with parchment paper and lightly spraying with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, use the paddle attachment on your mixer to beat together the butter and cream cheese until combined and smooth.
3. Add the sugar and beat again to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Add in the egg, vanilla and almond extracts and beat briefly to combine.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
6. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix until a soft dough is formed. It will be heavy!
7. Spread the dough evenly in the prepared baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs.
8. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then lift out of the pan by the parchment paper and let cool completely on a cooling rack.

Frosting:

1. In a large bowl, use the paddle attachment on your mixer on high speed to beat the butter until smooth.
2. Add butter emulsion and then the powdered sugar, a little at a time, and beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Add heavy cream, one tablespoon at a time, if needed to get the desired consistency.
3. Top with as many rainbow nonpareils as your heart desired. Cut into triangles, serve, and enjoy!

Notes

How to cut for serving:
– Since these are dense, you’ll want them in small triangles. To do that, start by cutting the bars into 2 rows of 4 rectangles.
– Next, cut each of those 8 rectangles diagonally to form 16 triangles.
– Then cut each of the rectangles again, diagonally in the opposite direction.
– You should end up with 32 small triangles that are perfect for serving!

Storage:
Best served same day, but can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container. The sprinkles will bleed into the frosting a bit as time goes by.

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