Here’s Why You’ll Love These M&M Cookie Bars
Easy Ingredients, No Mixer
Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of this recipe. Baking Soda: Baking soda helps these bars rise as they bake. Cornstarch: Cornstarch gives the cookie bars that ultra-soft consistency we all know and love. Salt: Salt adds flavor and balances the sweetness. Butter: Use melted butter in this recipe for the chewiest cookie bars. Because we use melted butter, there’s no need to get out your mixer. Sugar: I like to use a mix of brown sugar and white granulated sugar this recipe. More brown sugar than white granulated sugar promises an extra soft and chewy cookie bar because there’s more moisture in brown sugar. Eggs: Eggs bind everything together and add richness. Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract adds flavor. If you have any homemade vanilla extract, use that! M&M Candies: Use regular-size, mini, or a mix of both. I also like to crush up about 1/4 cup of the M&Ms so some are broken, and sprinkle some on top. Totally optional—just adds some texture variety. You can even use different colors for different holidays. I love using red, white, and blue M&Ms for one of my 4th of July desserts. Chocolate Chips: I typically use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but feel free to swap them for white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or butterscotch chips.
Have I Mentioned No Dough Chilling?
I strongly recommend lining the baking pan with parchment paper (with overhang on the sides) to make cutting into bars easier. Spread the dough into the pan: Let’s call these no-chill, no-roll M&M cookies! When you need a big batch of cookies but are pressed for time (or mental energy, LOL), cookie bars are the solution. This recipe makes a generously sized 9×13-inch pan of M&M cookie bars, perfect for sharing, especially at the holidays. Kids love these, but so do adults. Seriously, aside from special diets, have you ever met anyone who would turn down a chewy chocolate chip M&M cookie bar? I’m pretty sure I haven’t! Using melted butter also means you don’t need an electric mixer to make these bar cookies, AND you get that shiny, crackled look on top similar to brownies. It’s also similar to my smaller recipe for chocolate chip cookie bars, but scaled up to make a full 9×13-inch pan. Here’s everything you need: The dough will be slick from the melted butter, but should be easy enough to spread/press into the pan. In fact, it doesn’t even look like regular cookie dough and you might remember that from a batch of these chewy chocolate chip cookies. Before & after adding your add-ins: It’s almost gooey-like, so it’s easier to spread than regular, creamy-thick cookie dough. Bake for just 26–30 minutes and avoid over-baking: I press a few more M&Ms and chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookie bars, for looks. This is optional. Cool the bars for 1 hour inside the pan, then simply lift the whole thing out using the parchment paper lining. Set it onto a cutting board and slice. They’ll still be a bit warm and that’s fine!
Success Tips for M&M Cookie Bars
Feel Free to Pipe Some Buttercream Decor
These M&M cookie bars are fabulous on their own, but then again, a little frosting is always a good idea. My favorite chocolate buttercream is far from basic; it’s incredibly creamy, silky, smooth, and rich. Even though it’s wonderfully creamy, it holds its shape well, and is perfect for piping. It makes a delicious and beautiful finishing touch on this chocolate chip cookie cake, and would have the same effect on these cookie bars if you want to add some flair! This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
Peanut Butter Blossoms Christmas Sugar Cookies Andes Mint Cookies Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Shortbread Cookies Gingerbread Cookie Bars
and here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips.
