Name: Candy Corn Cookie Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 Cup unsalted butter (softened); 4 oz cream cheese (softened); 2 Cups Dixie Crystal's sugar; 2 large eggs + 1 egg white; 2 teaspoons Adams vanilla extract; 2 ½ Cups unbleached flour; ½ teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 Cup Candy Corn; 1 Cup unsalted butter (softened); 2 Cups Dixie Crystal's powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon Adams vanilla extract; ¼ teaspoon salt

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Do you love all things Halloween? Get the whole family in the mood to celebrate the season of all things spooky with a batch of these delicious candy corn cookie bars.

This post and recipe was created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.

Thankfully, after a record setting week of high temperatures here, the Fall weather has finally rolled in. Who knew I’d be so happy for the temps on the thermostat to match the time of year.

I love Summer, and warmer weather, I really do- but for whatever reason when Fall rolls around I need it to feel like it.

On top of the temperature outside finally getting on board, the grocery stores have recognized it too.

Halloween mixes are out, stocked on every shelf. Mellow creme pumpkins too, a favorite guilty pleasure of both the Hubs & I. Also stocked and out in full force? Candy corn.

I know candy corn has it’s haters, and I was always OK with that.

As a naturally fickle dessert person, I get that you either love it or hate it, or leave it. I was surprised to find out that it’s actually not just disliked by some people, but actually loathed.

People magazine’s recent survey ranked it as the most despised Halloween candy in the Nation. But me being me, I love the stuff. Therefore, it’s gonna be a star in my Halloween dessert repertoire.

It was bound to happen. Had to. And I’m so glad it is, because these candy corn cookie bars definitely did not disappoint.

As divisive as it can be, candy corn is a great addition to so many things. I mean a quick Google search will yield results for candy corn flavored recipes galore.

There’s now candy corn flavored M&M’s, coffee, Oreos, even martinis. Why not add them into some yummy baked goods?

Frosted sugar cookies are a seasonal staple for almost any season of the year. They’re perfect to customize to virtually any holiday or special occasion.

And while I most often see them at Christmas & birthdays, I figured it was high time Halloween got in on the sugary frosted action. What better way to open this year’s annual #HalloweenTreatsWeek than with these fun, festive candy corn cookie bars?!

How Do You Make Candy Corn Cookie Bars?

We’ll start by making the dough. After all, that’s where all the greatest baked goods begin. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter & cream cheese until evenly combined. Add in the sugar, and then mix again until the mixture’s smooth.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract, mix again until they’re also evenly incorporated into the wet ingredient mixture. Now it’s time to start on the dry portion.

In a large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk them together until combined.

Mix in the dry ingredients, a little at a time, until the flour mixture’s all been completely incorporated and the dough’s smooth. Try to avoid over-mixing. Use a spatula to fold in a handful of candy corn candies.

Now it’s time to bake these tasty cookie bars. Prepare a 9×13″ baking dish by spraying liberally with non stick cooking spray. You can alternatively use parchment paper for the same purpose. It will also make it easier to remove the bars from the pan, and lead to prettier more uniform slices.

Pour the batter evenly out into the prepped pan. Bake the candy corn cookie bars at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. When done remove the dish from the oven, and set it aside to cool completely. Cool completely, this is important.

While the cookie bars cool, we can whip our creamy white buttercream frosting.

Making Silky Smooth Butter Cream Frosting:

For the frosting, we only need a few baking staples-

softened butter
powdered sugar
vanilla extract
salt

That’s it, just four ingredients. Butter cream frosting is surprisingly simple to whip up, even in a pinch at the last minute. For a quick butter cream that’s sure to please, just whip everything together in a mixing bowl until smooth & creamy.

That being said, not all frosting’s are of the same quality and caliber. Luckily, we’ve got a couple simple tips for making the smoothest buttercream frosting around.

Start by adding the butter to a mixing bowl. Beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the extract, mixing just until combined. Keep the mixer running, but on a very low speed. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Once it’s mixed in, add a bit more. Continue until all the sugar’s incorporated.

Do NOT whip the frosting, I know it’s tempting but resist the urge. By not whipping it, and mixing the sugar in super slowly you prevent air bubbles from forming in the frosting. This leads to the smoothest, silkiest results.

Frost the cooled cookies bars using a spatula to gently spread the frosting. Spread, don’t wipe. Top the frosted bars with additional candy corn pieces. Slice, serve, & enjoy.

Tips & Tricks for Making The Best Candy Corn Cookie Bars:

Use salted butter instead of unsalted. This negates the need for extra salt when making the frosting, and in both the dough and the frosting, enhances the sweetness of the bars.
Use a high quality granulated sugar for the cookie dough, and a good powdered sugar for the frosting. I recommend Dixie Crystal’s brand.
Sift the flour before adding it into the dough. Sifted flour is lighter in texture than non-sifted which means it mixes better ensuring better flavor throughout the recipe.
Line the baking dish with parchment paper including a rim up and over the sides before pouring the batter in. This will be easy to grab and lift the cooked, cooled bars up and out of the dish. This makes for easier, prettier slices. It also makes clean up a breeze.
Prefer a different flavor of candy corn than the traditional? Swap those in instead. The Harvest & Caramel Apple versions are both yummy ones to try.

Candy corn cookie bars are a perfect way to get the whole family in the mood for the season, and excited about Halloween treats. This easy recipe doesn’t have any tricks up it’s sleeve, just a delicious frosting topped sugar cookie treat that’s ready to be devoured.

How To Store This Buttercream Frosting To Prevent It Drying Out:

Did you finish making this recipe and find you had leftover frosting? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.

It usually depends on how thick I spread it on. Don’t get rid of it, and try to keep yourself from eating it by the spoonful. Instead store it to make another batch of this cookie bar recipe.

Add the remaining frosting to a small tupperware dish. Wet a paper towel, and ring it out so that it’s just damp. Spread the damp paper towel evenly out, and tightly over the top of the tupperware.

Snap the accompanying dish’s lid on, sealing completely. Place the frosting in the fridge, keeping it chilled until you’re ready to use it. The frosting with be good and stay soft for up to 5 days.

When you’re ready to use the frosting, remove it from the fridge. Take of the lid and the paper towel, and microwave it for a few seconds to warm it up and make it supple & spreadable again.

Don’t forget to stay tuned after the recipe to ENTER THE GIVEAWAY for a chance to win some of this #HalloweenTreatsWeek ‘s awesome FREE PRIZES. There’s also a great list of other spooky sweets from the other bloggers this week. You’re bound to find plenty of ideas and inspiration for your own Halloween party spread.

If you’ve tried these easy CANDY CORN COOKIE BARS, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!

Candy Corn Cookie Bars

These fun sugar cookie bars are studded with the classic Fall candy & topped with a thick layer of rich, white butter cream frosting.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 35

Total Time: 45

Servings:

Calories: 671kcal

Author: Meaghan @ 4 Sons R Us

Ingredients

For The Cookie Bars

1 Cup unsalted butter softened
4 oz cream cheese softened
2 Cups Dixie Crystal's sugar
2 large eggs + 1 egg white
2 teaspoons Adams vanilla extract
2 ½ Cups unbleached flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 Cup Candy Corn

For The Frosting

1 Cup unsalted butter softened
2 Cups Dixie Crystal's powdered sugar
1 teaspoon Adams vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray.
Combine butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer.
Add sugar and mix well.
Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
Add in flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mix well until dough forms.
Fold in candy corn.
Pour batter into pan and bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
Remove from oven and let cool completely *this is very important*
While the cookie is cooling, make the frosting.
For the frosting, mix all ingredients together until smooth.
Once the cookie is cooled, spread the icing evenly onto the cookie.
Sprinkle candy corn on top and cut into squares or bars.

Nutrition

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Happy Halloween! It’s October which means it’s time for Spooky Season and this year’s #HalloweenTreatsWeek event! #HalloweenTreatsWeek is hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife & its a creepy and haunting week-long event is filled with some amazingly wicked Halloween treats, recipes and some frightfully fun giveaways.

“When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers ‘tis near Halloween.”

For the 2nd annual #HalloweenTreatsWeek event we have 41 fantastically talented bloggers that are sharing their favorite Halloween recipes throughout the week! There are going to be over 160 Halloween themed recipes shared during this year’s #HalloweenTreatsWeek and we can’t wait for you to see them all! Follow the hashtag #HalloweenTreatsWeek on social media and look at the bottom of each post to see all of the Halloween recipes that we’re sharing!

Plus, don’t forget that we have 6 (six) great giveaways for you this week thanks to our amazing sponsors!

Scroll down to take a look!

Prize #1

Prize #1 — Dixie Crystals is giving away a “Dinner and Dessert Set” – ONE 6-Quart Cook & Carry Programmable Slow Cooker, a Pyrex mixing bowl set plus some fun Dixie Crystals items like a Dixie Crystal Apron and Cookbook!

Prize #2

Prize #2 — Adam’s Extract is giving away – 1 Gift Pack – including 4oz Adams Best, 1.5 oz Peppermint, 1.5oz Almond, 1 bottle vanilla cinnamon sugar, 1 bottle pumpkin pie spice

Prize #3

Prize #3 —Wilton is giving away a Texturra 7-Piece Bakeware Set

Prize #4

Prize #4 — Sweets and Treats Shop is giving away a large baking box of goodies! Sweets and Treats will send one lucky winner a large assortment of sprinkles and lines and other samples of their products!

Prize #5

Prize #5 — Treat Street USA is giving away a set of Holiday Treat Decorations (1 Gummy Assortment, 1 Marshmallow Snowman, 1 Toy Solider and 1 Gingerbread Men)

Prize #6

Prize # 6– Litehouseis giving away the following: 1 Litehouse® Honeycrisp Apple Cider, 1 Litehouse® Old Fashioned Caramel, 1 Litehouse® Pumpkin Spice Caramel, 1 Litehouse® Butterscotch Caramel & 1 Litehouse® Chocolate Dip, Snack Packs

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway open to US Residents 18 years or older. All entries will be verified. No PO Boxes Please. Prizes will be sent directly from sponsors to winners, bloggers are not responsible for prizes. This giveaway runs from October 7th – October 13th at 11:59PM EST. Winners will be selected soon afterward and contacted by e-mail. Winners will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. There are a total of 6 (six) prizes and therefore we will have a total of 6 (six) winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #HalloweenTreatsWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like to Thank our amazing sponsors: Dixie Crystals, Adam’s Extract, Wilton, Sweets and Treats Shop, Treat Street USA and Litehouse! These wonderful sponsors provided the prize packs for our giveaways and also sent samples and products to the #HalloweenTreatsWeek bloggers to use in their recipes.

Check out the amazing #HalloweenTreatsWeek recipes from our bloggers today!