This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These festive Cookie Bars are delicious and so easy to make. If you are short on time but want to bake something sweet, this is the recipe for you.
Making cookie bars cuts out a lot of the baking time for when you want some homemade cookies. And these taste so good! They don’t last very long here at my house.
I made these Cookie Bars for the first time last year for the holidays and they are now a recipe I make throughout the year as well. M&M’s are a favorite candy for so many…why not add it to another favorite, chocolate chip cookie bars!
Grocery Shopping List:
- butter
- granulated sugar
- brown sugar
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- chocolate chips
- M&M candy
These are made for Christmas with the red and green M&M’s. They can be made year round with regular M&M’s or festive colors for a variety of holidays and events.
Why make cookie bars instead of cookies?
They are much quicker to make. When baking cookies, you usually make several dozen cookies. By the time the cookie dough is made and cookies are baked, it can be a couple of hours. The prep for these cookie bars takes about 15 minutes and they only bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Quick and easy!
How to make these Cookie Bars:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease the sides and bottom of your 13 x 9 pan with butter. Set that aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy. It is important to have your butter softened so the sugar and butter mix together well.. Next, beat in the eggs, one at a time and then add in the vanilla extract.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
Slowly add the flour mixture in with the creamed mixture. Add in the chocolate chips and one cup of the M&M’s until they are just mixed in. Do not over mix the dough.
Spoon the batter into your greased 13 x 9 baking pan and spread out evenly using a spatula or large spoon.
Recipe Tip: If the dough is sticking to your spoon, grease it with some butter. The butter will help keep the dough from sticking to the spoon.
Take the remaining M&M’s and sprinkle them over the top. This will give the top of the cookie bars more color…and of course add just a little more chocolate!
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool completely before slicing into bars.
Recipe Tips:
- Grease the sides and bottom of your pan with butter. This helps the cookies from sticking to the pan.
- Use butter to grease the back of your spoon or spatula that you will be using to spread out the cookie dough. This will keep the cookie dough from sticking to your kitchen tool while spreading it out evenly in the pan.
How to measure brown sugar:
Measuring ingredients correctly is important for the finished product to come out looking and tasting delicious! Here is a tip for measuring out brown sugar…
Scoop the brown sugar into your measuring cup and pack it down with the back of a spoon until the sugar is flush with the top of the measuring cup. The reason for packing it down is so that there are no air gaps in the measurement of the brown sugar.
Make this recipe year round! These cookie bars are easy to do since there are many seasonally colored M&M’s available. You can use this recipe with pastel M&M’s for Easter and springtime celebrations, red white and blue for the Fourth of July and autumn colored M&M’s for Halloween!
If they are cooled but you want to have them just like they are right out of the oven? Just place the cookie bars on a microwave safe plate and heat them for 10 seconds.
Craving more delicious chocolate recipes? A few favorite recipes for you try are:
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below. Thanks so much!
Follow me on Pinterest and Instagram for all of my recipes.
Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 ½ cups M&M candy divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch pan with butter.
- In a large bowl, cream the softened butter and the sugars until light and fluffy.½ cup butter, ¾ cup granulated sugar, ¾ cup brown sugar
- Beat in eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla extract.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture.1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Mix in chocolate chips and 1 cup of the M&M’s until just combined. Do not over mix cookie dough.1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, 1 ½ cups M&M candy
- Spoon the cookie dough into your 9×13 baking pan. Spread the batter evenly in the pan.
- Sprinkle the remaining M&M’s over the top.1 ½ cups M&M candy
- Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool completely. Cut into bars.
Notes
- Grease the sides and bottom of your pan with butter. This helps the cookies from sticking to the pan.
- Use butter to grease the back of your spoon or spatula that you will be using to spread out the cookie dough. This will keep the cookie dough from sticking to your kitchen tool while spreading it out evenly in the pan.
Tip for how to measure brown sugar:
Scoop the brown sugar into your measuring cup and pack it down with the back of a spoon until the sugar is flush with the top of the measuring cup. The reason for packing it down is so that there are no air gaps in the measurement of the brown sugar. Measuring ingredients correctly is important for the finished product to come out looking and tasting delicious! Recipe makes 24 cookie bars. Adapted from Taste of HomeNutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
Update Note: This recipe was originally posted earlier, but was published again in 2020 to include step by step directions and new photos.
Save
This is a great easy recipe to make for the holidays! And it’s nice that you can make them at different times of the year and be festive!
I agree Annabelle! Easy recipes are great for the holidays since they take up less time.
Happy Holidays!
Jeannie
I love M&Ms and this recipe is such a great idea to use them! I tried your tip for warming them up in the microwave. It made them so soft and chocolately! Wow, were they good!
HI Nancy,
So glad you made them. I love to warm them up in the microwave!
Jeannie