Candy Corn Cookie Bars
on Aug 02, 2022, Updated Mar 31, 2023
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Candy Corn Cookie Bars are a delicious treat topped with vanilla frosting and sweet candy corn. They are perfect for taking to a Halloween party or serving as an after-dinner dessert.
The bright colors of these bar cookies are a real showstopper that everyone will love!
What are candy corn cookie bars?
Cookie bars are the perfect way to use up that extra bag of Halloween candy sitting on the counter, tempting you to devour them by the handful.
This easy recipe is perfect for candy corn lovers, and the best part is the creamy frosting on top.
There are many Halloween recipes out there, but this one really takes the cake with pieces of candy corn sprinkled on top. The yellow and orange sprinkles make these bars bright and colorful.
Ingredients
These candy corn magic bars are easy to make and use simple ingredients that you most likely already have in your pantry. If not, you can buy them from your local grocery store.
Cookies:
- Butter
- Sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Gel food coloring; yellow and orange
Frosting:
- Butter
- Vanilla extract
- Heavy cream
- Salt
- Powdered sugar
Topping:
- Candy corn
- Sprinkles; yellow and orange (optional)
How to make these cookie bars:
Here’s a brief overview of how to make this dish. See the recipe card below for the specific recipe instructions.
For the cookie bars:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a square 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper. Lightly butter or use cooking spray to grease the pan.
Then, with an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Add in the egg and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until they are all well incorporated.
Divide the dough in half and add yellow food coloring to one-half of the dough and knead until the color is even throughout.
Repeat with the other half of the dough and orange food coloring.
Press the yellow dough into the bottom of your prepared pan.
Place the orange dough on a piece of parchment or wax paper and roll or press it out into an 8×8 square.
Carefully place it on top of the yellow dough in the pan and gently press it into place.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until just set. Don’t over bake, or the cookies will be dry.
Then, place on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
Place butter in a mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer.
Add in vanilla and continue beating.
Then, pour in cream and half of the powdered sugar and mix. Add remaining powdered sugar and salt, beat until all ingredients are well incorporated, and the frosting is smooth.
Spread frosting across cooled cookie bars.
Decorate with candy corn and orange and yellow sprinkles.
Cut into 9 squares and serve!
Variations
Here are a few tips for success and variations you can try to make these the best candy corn cookie bars you’ve ever had.
- Replace the candy corn with other candies like M&Ms, Valentine‘s heart candies, or Sweet Tarts.
- Add mini marshmallows to the batter or the frosting.
- Mix in some white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Stir in some sweetened coconut flakes.
- Make a graham cracker crust for the bottom of these bars.
- Add chopped pecans for a crunchy texture.
- Add a scoop of peanut butter to turn these into peanut butter bars.
Other topping ideas
These cookie bars are a great treat with a top layer of vanilla cream frosting. You can easily alter the frosting by adding white chocolate, dark chocolate, or milk chocolate to the mixture.
You can also use store-bought frosting or make a cream cheese frosting.
You really can’t go wrong with any choice of frosting with this candy corn cookies recipe!
How to serve candy corn bars
These cookie bars are the perfect Halloween treat but can be served any time of year. They are easy to make and are covered with a tasty creamy frosting.
Some options for serving are at Halloween parties, sending them to school with your kids, taking them to work to share with your coworkers, or giving them as a gift to a friend.
You can take other desserts to serve at fall parties as well, like chocolate pecan turtle bark, monkey bread muffins, or muffin tin mini apple pies.
How to store
On the counter: You can keep the cookie bars in an airtight container on the counter for up to two days.
Refrigerate: If you store these Halloween treats in the refrigerator for up to five days. Keeping them below the temperature danger zone will allow you to keep them fresh even longer.
Set your slice on the counter and allow it to warm up slightly before eating if you prefer.
FAQs:
When baking, butter should be at room temperature or between 68-70 degrees F. This is the optimal temperature to cream butter and sugar together.
Yes, you can freeze these bars to eat later. Place the squares in a container in the freezer and keep them for up to three months.
You can use boxed cake mix from the grocery store to make these cake bars, but they won’t taste as good as when you use this recipe to make them from scratch.
Candy Corn Cookie Bars
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- ½ Cup Butter- softened
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- Yellow Gel Food Coloring
- Orange Gel Food Coloring
For the Frosting
- ½ Cup Butter- softened
- ½ tsp Vanilla
- 3 Tbsp Heavy Cream
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 ½ Cups Powdered Sugar
- ½ Cup Candy Corn
- Yellow & Orange Sprinkles, optional
Instructions
For the Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a square 8×8 baking pan with parchment and butter or oil spray.
- With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until they are all well incorporated.
- Divide the dough in half.
- Add yellow food coloring to one half of the dough and knead until the color is even throughout.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough and orange food coloring.
- Press the yellow dough into the bottom of your prepared pan.
- Place the orange dough on a piece of parchment or wax paper and roll or press it out into an 8×8 square. Carefully place it on top of the yellow dough in the pan and gently press it into place.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until just set. Don’t overbake or the cookies will be dry.
- Place on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting
- Place butter in a mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer.
- Add in vanilla and continue beating.
- Add in cream and half of the powdered sugar and mix. Add remaining powdered sugar and salt, beat until all ingredients are well incorporated and frosting is smooth.
- Spread frosting across cooled cookie bars.
- Decorate with candy corn and orange and yellow sprinkles.
- Cut into 9 squares and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
