M&M Cookie Bars

October 19, 2021

M&M cookie bars are everything you love about blondies and candy in one! Golden, buttery, and ready to feed a crowd, this is the dessert recipe your family will not be able to get enough of!

Blondies are one of my favorite treats. They’re so delicious no matter what you add to them! For more golden-brown, chewy deliciousness, try out my Nutella blondies and brown butter blondies with toffee and walnuts! Pumpkin caramel blondies are also tasty and perfect for fall!

Easy Chewy M&M Cookie Bars

Whether you’ve got an event coming up that you want to make a killer treat for, or you’re just having a craving for M&M’s, this is the dessert for you. These tasty bars take all of the goodness of M&M cookies combined with the rich, chewy flavor of a blondie. M&M’s make everything better. This is one of my favorite dessert bar recipes to make, truly! Not only do they incorporate one of my favorite candies, but they are so thick and buttery! They turn out perfectly every time I make them. I swear my kids have a sensor for when these are made. They’re always eaten up at lightning speeds. So, speaking from experience, hide a few for yourself or else you’ll regret it!

Another great thing about M&M cookie bars is that they’re perfect for whipping up last minute. It’s easy to make big batches of these. M&M bars utilize so many simple ingredients! Then, you just mix up your batter, pop ’em in the oven, and go! And I mean, come on, who doesn’t love M&M’s? It’s a classic crowd-pleaser that is sure to bring happiness wherever it goes. Each bite of these bad boys is a soft, buttery delight. And if you need more M&M desserts in your life, I highly suggest trying my brown butter M&M cookies and M&M-filled oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwiches!

Ingredients Needed for M&M Bars

What’s better than a tasty M&M dessert? An M&M dessert that uses ingredients you already have in your pantry. Let me tell you- these bars are perfect for when you want dessert without a grocery trip! You can find measurements for each ingredient in the printable recipe card at the end of the post!

All-Purpose Flour: Gives your M&M cookie bars structure and keeps them from being too dense.
Baking Soda: Without baking soda, your M&M bars won’t be light and chewy!
Salt: Salt is added to enhance and balance flavors.
Unsalted Butter: I like using melted, unsalted butter for an added richness and fat content. It will help your bars be soft and moist. Gives them the best flavor, too!
Brown Sugar: Brown sugar is a must here! It gives your bars a deep sweetness.
Granulated Sugar: Added to sweeten up the bars. Granulated sugar melts down amazingly when baked.
Eggs: Eggs will bind all of your ingredients together and provide structure.
Vanilla: You can’t go wrong with vanilla! A little pure vanilla extract adds a nice depth of flavor.
M&Ms: You can use any kind of M&M’s you want! Feel free to experiment with minis, peanut, or almond M&M’s!
Mini Chocolate Chips: I like adding mini chocolate chips to my batter for a little extra indulgence. You can omit these or add more, depending on how chocolatey you want your M&M bars to be!

How to Make the Best M&M Cookie Bars

This is a tried and true recipe you can’t go wrong with! In just a few steps, you’ll have tasty M&M cookie bars in the oven. Really, the hardest part is waiting for them to get done!

Preheat and Prep Pan: To begin, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
Sift Dry Ingredients Together: Next, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
Mix Sugars and Wet Ingredients: In the bowl of a mixer, add the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until fully combined. Add in the vanilla and mix until combined.
Finish Batter, Add M&M’s: Mix dry ingredients with the sugar mixture on medium low until combined. Stir in the M&Ms and chocolate chips by hand.
Bake: Spread the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Tips for M&M Cookie Bars

M&M cookie bars maintain the great taste of a classic chocolate chip cookie but with the fun of M&M’s added in! These simple tips can ensure you make the most delicious cookie bars possible. They’ll become a favorite for sure!

Sift Dry Ingredients: Sifting your dry ingredients together will not only make your cookie bars lighter in texture, it will also help the ingredients mix together more evenly than if they were just mixed together with a whisk or spoon.
Melted Butter: Using melted butter in this recipe will give your cookie bars a chewier texture, as opposed to the more cake-like texture that softened butter gives.
Holiday M&Ms: There’s no shortage of holiday colored M&M’s, so if you feel inclined to make holiday themed M&M cookie bars, go ahead and use the colored M&M’s of your choice! You can also try using mini M&M’s instead of the regular size.
Serve With: These M&M cookie bars are amazing on their own, but you can serve them à la mode, too! This is also a fun recipe to customize with toppings. They’re sooo good with a little fudge or homemade caramel drizzled on top.

How to Store M&M Cookie Bars

These M&M bars usually don’t last too long, simply because everyone eats them so quickly! If you end up having leftovers, they’re easy to store and enjoy later.

At Room Temperature: M&M Cookie Bars will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
Reheating: For that just-out-of-the-oven experience, pop your cookie bars in the microwave for 10 second intervals until warmed through!

M&M Cookie Bars

M&M cookie bars are everything you love about blondies and candy in one! Golden, buttery, and ready to feed a crowd, this is the dessert recipe your family will not be able to get enough of!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cookie bars, M&M Cookie Bars

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 12 Bars

Calories 438kcal

Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

2 ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
¾ Teaspoon Salt
¾ Cup Unsalted Butter melted
1 Cup Brown Sugar packed
2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 large Eggs
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
1 Cup M&Ms
½ Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray and set aside.
In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
In the bowl of a mixer add the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Using the paddle attachment beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until fully combined. Add in the vanilla and mix until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and mix on medium-low until combined. Stir in the M&Ms and chocolate chips by hand.
Spread the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Allow cooling

Nutrition

0 Comments

M&M Cookie Bars

Easy Chewy M&M Cookie Bars

Ingredients Needed for M&M Bars