M&M Cookie Bars!! One of my favorite desserts of all times. And also be warned - one is NOT to be left alone with a pan of these! These cookie bars are on par with my famous cheesecake cookie bars. You may want to check those out as well!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
Is there anything better than a soft cookie in bar form? Where the edges are just lightly golden brown and a tad bit crunchy... and the inside is gooey and soft and melts in your mouth? Let me answer that for you.... no.
It doesn't get better than cookie bars when it comes to a quick and easy dessert that literally every single person will love. These cookie bars are my favorite sugar cookie recipe baked up in bar form.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Butter
- Light Brown Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Large Eggs
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Christmas M&M’s
- Maldon
How to Make M&M Cookie Bars
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar and mix with a wooden spoon for 1 minute until combined. Add the vanilla and eggs, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix until fully incorporated.
Add the dry ingredients into the bowl and slowly mix until just combined. The batter will be a bit stiff, but that's normal. Fold in 1 cup of the Milk Chocolate M&M’s.
Spray a 9x9 metal baking pan (see note above) with baking spray and line it with parchment paper. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the remaining Milk Chocolate M&M’s and Maldon sea salt if desired and transfer it into the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Once the bars have baked, remove them from the oven and let cool for at least 2 hours before cutting and serving.
Tips & Tricks
1: Use a 9x9 pan. Don't try and do it in a 9x13 or an 8x8... it won't be the same. Trust me - there's a reason I developed it this way! And a glass baking dish doesn't retain heat the same way a metal baking dish does... so use a metal baking dish!
2: Don't skimp on the M&M's and the sprinkle of salt on top. It really makes all the flavors sing! If you want to add more M&M's mid bake, that will ensure they don't fall to the bottom of the pan.
3: After the baking time - LET THESE SET FOR 2 HOURS. These cookie bars might look a little under-baked but they need time to finish residual baking once they come out of the oven.
4: Proceed with caution once these cookie bars are baked and cut. I've eaten pretty much an entire pan once before and I'm not even remotely exaggerating. Thomas had to remove the last 2 squares from the house because I could NOT BE STOPPED.
Similar Recipes
If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
Soft Sugar M&M Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter melted
- 2 cup light brown sugar
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 cup Milk Chocolate M&M’s plus extra for garnish
- Maldon sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar and mix with a wooden spoon for 1 minute until combined. Add the vanilla and eggs, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add the dry ingredients into the bowl and slowly mix until just combined. The batter will be a bit stiff, but that's normal. Fold in 1 cup of the Milk Chocolate M&M’s.
- Spray a 9x9 metal baking pan (see note above) with baking spray and line it with parchment paper. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the remaining Milk Chocolate M&M’s and Maldon sea salt if desired and transfer it into the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Once the bars have baked, remove them from the oven and let cool for at least 2 hours before cutting and serving.
Notes
- Use a 9×9 pan. Don’t try and do it in a 9×13 or an 8×8… it won’t be the same. Trust me – there’s a reason I developed it this way! And a glass baking dish doesn’t retain heat the same way a metal baking dish does… so use a metal baking dish!
- Don’t skimp on the M&M’s and the sprinkle of salt on top. It really makes all the flavors sing! If you want to add more M&M’s mid bake, that will ensure they don’t fall to the bottom of the pan.
- After the baking time – LET THESE SET FOR 2 HOURS. They might look a little under-baked but they need time to finish residual baking once they come out of the oven.
Nutrition Information
Photography by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson
Any suggested adjustments for high altitude baking?
Very tasty, but I am surprised that there is no salt called out in the ingredients (I added a little over a teaspoon of diamond kosher and definitely would add again next time). Also, next time I will not be spraying my pans - my cookies came out a little bit greasy on the bottom/sides, and I think there's enough butter that it wouldn't have stuck without spray. Alternatively, I might try using parchment paper instead of spray next time. Lastly - I didn't have a 9x9 pan, so I used a 8x8 pan and a mini loaf pan and it worked out great. The bars did seem underdone when I took them out of the oven, but they cooled/set to perfection.
Hey Brogan! There is salt mentioned - on top! Maldon 🙂 But totally down for you to add salt to the batter. Parchment paper works great too as I mention in the directions 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly except I did not have a 9x9 metal pan so I divided the batter into 2 8x8 metal pans and baked for 30 minutes, cooled for 1 hour and they were perfect! The family devoured them!
I tried this and it totally worked! Thank you for the recommendation!
Would love to know if you’ve you’ve ever heard of anyone experimenting (and seeing success) with gluten free flour. I use the standard 1-to-1 gluten free flour. Made some modifications to your Christmas mix last week and it was a big hit!
I am letting mine cool now. Definitely soft in the middle. I hope they set up after they cool.
Gaby, do you ever do weights for measurements?
Deliciousness! For Pete’s sake, read the note about pan size, still grabbed the wrong one and used 8 x 8. Had to Cook longer. Middle too soft. Use the 9 x 9! Couldn’t use for cookie exchange as planned but kept for ourselves….darn. Will definitely make again and use the correct pan.
Just made this and wondering whether or not they will keep for 4 days in the refrigerator? Or should I freeze?
fridge is totally fine!
Any recommendations for storing and how long they last? Making for Holiday gifts but not sure how far in advance they are OK make to keep safe until gifting. Will be individually bagging.
Also my m&ms did not stay on top so they don't look pretty from above. Any recommendations on how to get them not to sink in batter?
You can freeze them and they last forever! And you can sprinkle more m&ms' on top mid-bake
Am I reading correctly, no salt in the recipe itself? I made as written and feel like they're missing a depth of flavor ... possibly because there's no salt in the recipe, except for the optional sprinkling on top??
Your recipe calls for 2 eggs but your video shows 3 eggs. Looks like you used a 9x9 pan. Can you explain please? Thank you.
I did 1 1/2 times recipe for the video in a 9x13!! So follow the recipe here