These colorful M&M cookie bars are buttery and chocolatey, and makes a large batch on a sheetpan quick and easy. Make these delicious cookie bars for Fourth of July, Christmas, BBQ's, birthday parties, potlucks and more!
Equipment
1 11x 17 rimmed baking sheet
parchment paper
Ingredients
1cupbutterunsalted butter softened to room temperature
1 ½cupbrown sugarlight brown sugar or dark brown sugar
½cupwhite sugar
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
3largeeggs
3cupsflourall purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonsalt
2cupsM&MsRed, white and blue mix, or other colorful candy-coated chocolate.
2cupschocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.. Line a rimmed baking sheet fully with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl add softened butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Crack and lightly beat the eggs to break the yolks. Add eggs and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture and fully mix with an electric mixer into the wet ingredients.
In a separate medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients together.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time until fully mixed with an electric mixer.
Fold in the chocolate chips and one cup of the M&M’s until mixed evenly into the cookie dough. The dough is thick so if using a hand mixer this step is best done with a wooden or silicone spatula.
Spread the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Take a few extra minutes to press the dough evenly into the pan. See notes below.
Sprinkle one cup of M & M’s across the top of the cookie dough.
Bake for 20-22 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges. when you tip the pan slightly the center of the dough should move a little, but not be raw in the center.
Allow cookie bars to cool for at least 20 minutes on the pan. Don't skip this step! The cookie bars continue to bake on the pan, plus can be difficult to move without breaking if you remove them too early.
Allow the cookie bars to cool completely. Cut into 36 even bars, and enjoy!
Notes
Do Not Over Bake!
These cookie bars taste their best when they are a little gooey. If you overbake they become too crispy and go from amazing cookie bars, to just ok. It's better to under bake these cookie bars a little than to over-bake.
Can I Use A Hand Mixer?
This recipe is best made using a stand mixer or by hand. The dough is thick so using a hand mixer could overwork the moter and cause the moter to burn out with this dough.
My Cookie Bars Are Too Gooey!
First, let the cookie bars cool all the way before you start slicing. I know it's really hard to have patience because these bars look really delicious!If after cooling the cookie bars are still too gooey to slice, try sliding the parchment paper with the cookie bars back onto a cookie sheet and sliding them into the refrigerator or freezer for a little bit. This can help the cookie bars to firm up a little bit more before slicing.
Do I Have To Use Parchment Paper?
Technically you could skip using parchment paper and oil the pan generously with butter or cooking oil. The tricky part is cookie bars will often stick to the pan if you use a butter or oil method. While they can be sliced in the pan, this may scratch your pan.With parchment paper, you can literally lift the cookies off the pan once they have cooled enough. This makes it really easy on you to have delicious cookie bars that look as beautiful as they taste.You can also use aluminum foil. This will need to be oiled but does lift out easier from the pan than skipping the foil.
Pressing Cookie Dough Into Pan Tips
When you first add the dough to the pan it looks like there isn't enough dough for the full sheet pan. Use your hands to spend a few extra minutes and press the dough evenly into the pan.This dough is thick, and while it may not look like the dough fits, when you spend just a few minutes pressing the dough evenly in the pan it will fit properly. Not spending a few extra minutes to make the dough even may mean the cookie bars cook unevenly, so it's important not to skip this step!