Birthday Cake Lush Bars
Looking for a way to make a special summer treat without turning on the oven for hours? These Birthday Cake Lush Bars from Twin Cities food blogger greens & chocolate are easy to make and they’re like a party in your mouth — literally!
It’s the time of year when no-bake desserts are in high demand, and do I have the recipe for you! Birthday Cake Lush Bars aren’t technically no-bake, since you do have to bake one pan of cookies, but the rest is simply whipped up and layered together. If you’re not familiar, lush desserts are layered desserts, typically a combination of cream cheese, whipped cream and pudding. They are sweet, creamy and absolutely luscious!
This dessert has the flavor of a birthday cake. It’s perfect for anyone who loves birthday cake or sprinkles! The birthday cake flavor comes from using refrigerated Funfetti sugar-cookie dough for the crust. The cookies are baked, crumbled and then mixed with butter and pressed into the bottom of a baking pan.
There is also birthday-cake flavor in the cream-cheese layer, with the addition of vanilla extract and almond extract, it gives the dessert that distinct birthday-cake flavor.
Lush bars make a perfect birthday dessert when you’re looking for a fun twist on birthday cake, or bring them to a summer BBQ or potluck dessert. They’ve been a hit every time I’ve made them!
12 servings
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Bake time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 pound package refrigerated sugar-cookie dough
⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 12-ounce containers Cool Whip, thawed, divided
½ cup rainbow sprinkles, plus extra for sprinkling
2 4-ounce boxes instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
Directions
- Heat oven to 350 F.
- Place the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and bake according to package directions. Let cool completely.
- Place all but 1 cookie into a large food processor and pulse until the cookies are fine crumbs.
- In a large bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and melted butter and stir well to combine.
- Press the mixture into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish to form the crust.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract, and beat until well combined, scraping down the edges of the bowl as needed.
- Stir in 1 container of the Cool Whip and the sprinkles. Spread this mixture on top of the cookie-crumb crust.
- In a large bowl, combine the pudding mix with the milk and stir for two minutes, until it starts to set up.
- Spread on top of the cream-cheese mixture. Top with the last container of Cool Whip.
- Crush the remaining sugar cookie and sprinkle on top of the dessert, along with additional rainbow sprinkles.
- Refrigerate for at least four hours. Cut into squares and serve. Enjoy!