Vanilla Cream Bars

These VANILLA CREAM BARS are like a perfect blend of cake and pudding. Tastes like heaven in a dessert bar!

dessert in a pan

Vanilla Bars

One of my favourite desserts to make is anything ‘bars’. They are great for a treat at home or for taking to special occasions like school functions and as a thank you for a dinner invite.

You can cut them as small or big as you like, and usually they are a no-fail recipe to make.

Better yet? A bar recipe which calls for some of my favourite ingredients which I usually always have on hand.

A close up of a piece of dessert on a plate, with cream bars

I really do have a love for recipes that call for baking essentials, without that extra trip to the store. Just like this recipe for Vanilla Bars.

Everything in this recipe is always in my pantry or added to the list when I use it up. Meaning, it’s a great one to make last minute!

Most of the work in this Vanilla Cream Bars recipe is the baking of the crust and waiting for the pudding layer to chill onto the base.

Other than that, it’s simply mixing up the ingredients. Which, thanks to my KitchenAid Mixer, is no work at all.

A close up of a desserts on a table

Here’s the very best part: the sprinkles make the recipe. Meaning, you can get occasion sprinkles suited to holidays if you like. Little shamrocks for St. Patricks Day to tiny Snowmen for Christmas – it’s a recipe for all seasons!

You can even choose a solid colour to match the theme of a party or fancy it up with silver balls for a more formal occasion. 

Really, it’s one of those recipe that will come in handy all year long!

More Dessert Recipes:

A close up of a desserts on a table

Vanilla Cream Bars

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes

One of my favourite desserts to make is anything 'bars'. You can cut them as small or big as you like, and are a no-fail recipe to make. Vanilla Cream Bars are like heaven.

Ingredients

  • • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • • 1 cup butter, softened
  • • 1 80z. package cream cheese, softened
  • • 1 cup icing sugar
  • • 1 package vanilla pudding mix, 4 serving size
  • • 3/4 cup cold milk
  • • Coloured sprinkles for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 300ºF.
  2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour and sugar. Add in the butter and beat with an electric mixer on medium until crumbly.
  3. Add the dough mixture to a 13x9 inch ungreased pan and press down to make the shortbread base.
  4. Bake for 35 minutes or until edges of the shortbread are golden. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.
  5. Add the cream cheese and icing sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined.
  6. Add milk and pudding mix and continue to beat until smooth.
  7. Spoon the pudding mixture on the shortbread base and spread with a spoon evenly to cover.
  8. Sprinkle coloured sprinkles on top.
  9. Put in the fridge to set for a minimum one hour. I find it’s easier to cut if you leave it set overnight.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 334Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 271mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 1gSugar: 23gProtein: 3g

Did you make this recipe?

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43 Comments

  1. mmmmmm, thanks for sharing, I have everything here so I’m going to try this out, very easy to whip up, just hope I don’t eat the whole works I will have to share lol

  2. WOW I almost always have those ingredients on hand too! I have never heard of a recipe like this though – going to be trying it out! 🙂 TY

  3. We did a lemon lime bar similar to this a while back. I love bars w pudding

    Although we call those shots not sprinkles

  4. Those look both fluffy and creamy! Yum! Although, not sure how good I am at being patient for allowing the layers to cook properly lol

  5. These look so good! I have been craving sweets all day so I would love to make some of these right now…

  6. My kids would love, love, love these. We actually have an end of year party coming up and these would be perfect. Thanks so much for sharing

  7. Your photos are fantastic. I would love to eat one of the bars now! Thank you so much for sharing.

  8. True. All common ingredients that are always in the house! Perfect reason to be on lookout for specialty sprinkles. I tend to have to bring some form of “casual” dessert quite often, last minute and to serve multiple tastes. I usually go to the premade section, but this looks too simple that I might have to get rid of that habit.

  9. They look fantastic. I have been getting together ideas for summer treats for my kids. I will be adding this to the list.

  10. These sound really good, and easy to make. I love cream cheese we always have a couple blocks in our fridge.

  11. I have all the ingredients on hand to whip this up tomorrow night’s dessert treat. I am sure they will be very popular!

  12. These look delicious, I have always preferred creamy vanilla to heavier chocolate bars.

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