You Only Need 1 Ingredient To Step Up Store-Bought Sugar Cookie Dough

Pastries are a truly fascinating subsect of the baking world. While some pastries — like the fear-inducing puff pastry – may require hours of work and a dozen different ingredients to get right, others are as simple as combining two delicious ingredients to build a quick and easy dessert. Whipping up some sweet treats is especially easy when you use store-bought sugar cookie dough. This malleable baking staple is great alone but is even better with some help from another ingredient.

The key ingredient in question? None other than jam or jelly. Add some to your store-bought sugar cookie dough to make delicious fruit bars — that's literally all you need. Although it might sound too good to be true, you can just spread some jam between two layers of the unbaked dough to create a two-ingredient pastry that's just as tasty as some of the most complicated recipes. While this sweet dessert is one you might think of as a holiday specialty, the sheer simplicity of sugar cookie fruit bars means it can be your go-to dessert all year long.

While it's well-known that putting pretzels in your cookie dough can give you that perfect mix of salty and sweet, the jam and sugar cookie combo doubles down on sweetness. To make sure things don't get too sugary it's important to pick the right jam. If you want to balance the sugar cookie flavor, you can opt for a jam with slightly tart or sour notes. However, there are no restrictions on what jam or jelly you use — it ultimately just depends on your tastes and what you have available.

If you're feeling creative and find yourself wanting to upgrade this simple recipe, you can always add some additional ingredients. For example, chopped nuts bring a nice crunch to the cookies, while some bakers choose to add a glaze – which can also be made with just a few ingredients — or dust powdered sugar over the top to put the finishing touch on the pastries. Even more drastic, some people like to replace the jam with fruit pie filling. This gives the bars a more fruity taste and a moist, chunky texture that takes them to a league of their own.