These Root Beer Bars are chewy, sweet, and covered in a thick layer of root beer icing. They’re a quick and easy cookie bar recipe that is always a hit at birthday parties, potlucks, and as a special treat at home.
Serve with a scoop of ice cream for a twist on a root beer float. Or, add toasted pecans or chocolate chips for a fun little twist. If you love root beer, you may also love these Root Beer Cupcakes or our Easy Homemade Root Beer.
Frosted Root Beer Bars
If you’re looking for an easy treat that’s a little outside of the usual cookies or brownies, these root beer bars are where it’s at. A cross between root beer brownies and root beer blondies, they’re basically a thick and chewy root beer flavored cookie topped with root beer icing.
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In order to get a strong enough root beer flavor, using extract is a must. Don’t try and use regular root beer or you will end up disappointed! It’s easy to find online and you can use it as an alternative to vanilla extract to flavor all sorts of cookies, icings, or cake batters.
And if you’re looking for more blondie or cookie bar recipes, be sure to try our Lemon Blondies,Strawberry Blondies, and our Coconut Cookie Bars.
Key Ingredients
- Butter – if you use salted butter, reduce the additional salt by about half. Make sure your butter is soft before trying to cream with the sugar.
- Eggs – the egg is what helps bind the dough together and also helps to keep it nice and chewy.
- Sugar – this recipe uses white granulated sugar, but if you want even chewier blondies you can substitute light brown sugar.
- Baking Powder – you only need a tiny bit of baking powder to help keep these blondies nice and chewy.
- Flour – all-purpose flour is perfect for brownies and blondies like this. If you want to try making these gluten-free, just substitute your favorite gluten-free flour!
- Root Beer Extract – adding straight root beer would require far too much liquid to be able to get a strong enough root beer flavor. That is why root beer extract is so amazing! You only need a couple teaspoons to do the trick. You may find it in the grocery store, but I usually purchase it online.
- Milk – the milk helps keep the batter emulsified and loose enough to mix together easily. Whole milk is best but 2% will work.
For the Root Beer Icing
- Butter – just like with the blondies, you want your butter to be nice and soft so that it will creamy up super fluffy.
- Powdered Sugar – powdered sugar will sweeten the icing without adding any grittiness.
- Root Beer Extract – again, you will need a little root beer extract to get that strong root beer flavor.
- Milk – use whole milk or even heavy cream to thin down the frosting enough so that it can be easily spread over the tops of the blondies.
How to Make Root Beer Bars
- Mix the batter. Cream the butter, sugar, root beer extract, and milk using the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy—about 1-2 minutes. Next, add the egg, scraping down the bowl as needed, and finally the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat but don’t overmix!
- Press into a baking dish. Line a 9″ x 9″ baking sheet with parchment paper, or lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Press the cookie dough into the prepared baking pan, covering the bottom of the pan as evenly as possible.
- Bake. Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until just barely golden on the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
- Make the root beer icing. Meanwhile, cream together the butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add the remaining powdered sugar, root beer extract, and milk and mix again until spreadable.
- Add the icing and serve. Using an offset spatula, spread the icing evenly over the warm blondies making sure to spread all the way to the edges.
- Serve. Let the cookie bars cool completely before cutting into 9 even squares. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
No! The flavor of regular root beer is not nearly strong enough to carry over in the batter. You need to use root beer extract which is highly concentrated. If you can’t find it at the grocery store, you can easily find it online.
Yes—because of the milk and butter in the icing, these blondies should be refrigerated after you are done serving them. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Storing Instructions
- Refrigerator: wrap or store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: blondies that haven’t yet been iced can be wrapped well with plastic wrap and then stored for up to 2 months in the freezer. To thaw, transfer to the fridge overnight or room temperature for about an hour. From there, you can frost them and serve.
Root Beer Blondie Recipe
Ingredients
Root Beer Blondies
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons root beer extract
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Root Beer Icing
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons root beer extract, just enough to thin to a spreadable consistency
- 1-1½ teaspoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the room temperature butter, sugar, and root beer extract. Cream, using the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy—about 1-2 minutes. Next, add the egg, scraping down the bowl as needed, then add the milk.
- Finally, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat on low speed until well incorporated and no streaks of butter remain, but do not overmix.
- Line a 9" x 9" baking sheet with parchment paper, or lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Press the cookie dough into the prepared baking pan, covering the bottom of the pan as evenly as possible.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until just barely golden on the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the room temperature butter and ½ cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add the remaining powdered sugar, root beer extract, and milk and mix again. You want your icing to be spreadable, so adjust by adding a little more milk or powdered sugar as necessary.
- Using an offset spatula, spread the icing evenly over the warm blondies, making sure to get all the way to the edges.
- Let the cookie bars cool completely before cutting into 9 even squares. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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These chewy brownies with root beer extract have a unique taste. Pair with a scoop of ice cream for root beer float bars that everyone will love.
