Butterscotch bars with vanilla cardamom icing are rich cookie bars studded with butterscotch chips and topped with a powdered sugar icing.
Cookie bars are a great option when you don’t necessarily feel like standing by the oven baking several pans of cookies. These Butterscotch Bars are rich and decadent with a vanilla cardamom icing.
This butterscotch cookie dough can be made into cookies, but I think cookie bars are a nice change. Baking these in a cake pan gives you the best of both worlds – the outer edges are a little crispy and chewy, while the inner pieces are soft and gooey.
Cookie bars can be eaten just as they are – straight out of the pan. Frosting the bars isn’t required, but it is strongly encouraged because they are so delicious! This icing gets its vanilla flavor from vanilla bean paste which provides the pretty little specks of vanilla. The cardamom is a little unexpected but it gives the slightest hint of warmth and spice to the icing and pairs perfectly with butterscotch.
These cookie bars are easy to pull together. Mix up the dough and spread into a baking pan. Yes, it’s that easy. Mix, bake, cool, drizzle with icing, and enjoy!
Bake up some of these Butterscotch bars today! Cookie bars are great for parties, bake sales, or simply to have on hand to cure those sweet tooth moments!
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Butterscotch Bars with Vanilla Cardamom Icing
Ingredients
Cookie Bars
- 2 sticks butter, cold and cubed
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 11 ounces butterscotch morsels
Icing
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
Cookie Bars
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cubed butter and sugars. Cream together until well blended, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate.
- Next, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until incorporated. Stir in butterscotch morsels. Spread the dough evenly into the baking pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean (without wet batter, but may have residue from melted morsels). Let cool completely.
- Remove bars from pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 24 squares. Transfer to a cooling rack placed over a sheet pan.
Icing
- In a bowl, whisk together melted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, cardamom, and heavy cream. Mix until the icing is smooth, adding more cream if necessary to reach drizzling consistency. If icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar. Use a spoon or fork, drizzle the icing over the bars. Let the icing set up before transferring the bars to an airtight container for storing.
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