Frosted Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Bars

Frosted Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Bars 1 1/2 - cups sugar 1 - cup butter, softened 1 - 8 oz package cream cheese, softened 1 - egg 1/2 - teaspoon almond extract 1 - teaspoon vanilla 1/2 - teaspoon baking soda 1 - teaspoon baking powder 2 1/2 - cups all purpose flour Frosting: 1/2 - cup butter softened 4 oz - cream cheese, softened 3 1/2 - cups powdered sugar 3-5 - tablespoons milk 1 - teaspoon vanilla food coloring or icing paste In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer beat the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and egg until nice and frothy. About 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and almond extract and beat for 1 minute more. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix them around so that all ingredients are well incorporated. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat for about 2 minutes. Press the dough into a large jelly roll (baking sheet with a rim) pan (12 x 16) that has been sprayed with non stick spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let the pan cool completely. To make the frosting, in a medium sized bowl (or your stand mixer) combine the butter and cream cheese. Beat for about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and food coloring. Mix for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Frost your pan of cookies. Cut the cookies into bars and serve! As a fun decorative option, you could pipe a bit of white frosting onto the bars. Just take about 1/4 of the frosting out of the mixer before you add the food coloring. Put the white frosting into to sandwich sized zip loc bag. Carefully snip the tip and pipe some fun decorations onto the bars. If you don't have time for all that you can just use festive sprinkles. Store frosted bars in the refrigerator. Cook's Note: If you don't want to use almond extract you can substitute with all vanilla extract.