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Christmas Cookie Bars
Christmas cookie bars are soft and chewy, loaded with red and green M&Ms, chocolate chips, and holiday sprinkles. Your family will adore this festive treat!
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Packed with red and green M&Ms, chocolate chips, and holiday sprinkles, homemade Christmas Cookie Bars are a fun dessert for the family during the holiday season. Warm, gooey, and delicious, your friends and family will love these Christmas cookie bars.
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Fun and festive, Christmas Cookie Bars are soft and chewy. These buttery blondie bars are all dressed up for the holiday season with bright holiday sprinkles and chocolatey candy.
The best way to celebrate the holidays, Christmas cookie bars will be a big hit at a cookie exchange or on a cookie plate at your holiday celebrations. Or curl up with your cookie bars warm and fresh from the oven and enjoy them with a scoop of ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream for an extra decadent holiday dessert.
These irresistible dessert bars will be guaranteed family favorites with their soft, chewy texture and bright festive colors. You can even put out a plate of these easy homemade cookie bars for Santa on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Cookie Bars Ingredients
- Butter - unsalted butter
- Sugar - light brown sugar
- Sugar - granulated sugar
- Egg - large egg
- Vanilla extract
- Flour - all-purpose flour
- Salt
- Chocolate chips - semi-sweet chocolate chips
- M&M’s - red and green M&M’s
- Christmas jimmies
- Christmas sprinkles - for sprinkling over the baked cookie bars if desired
These dessert bars are perfect for the holiday season because they are easy to make and freezer friendly. Make a double batch and keep them in the freezer for your family to enjoy or as a homemade holiday gift during the festive season.
Jimmies are the best type of sprinkle to use for these dessert bars as the dye will not bleed into the batter. If you use other sprinkles only add them to the top of the cookies.
You can adjust the chocolate chips, M&M’s, and sprinkles amounts however you’d like. Personalize your cookie bars by adding different kinds of chips like butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, milk chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips. You can also add in chopped walnuts or other chopped nuts to these sweet treats for a bit of extra crunch. Make your cookies extra sweet by adding a drizzle of caramel sauce.
How to Make Christmas Cookie Bars
FIRST STEP: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush an 8×8-inch square baking pan with a bit of the melted butter and line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides.
SECOND STEP: In a large bowl, whisk the remaining butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in egg and vanilla until fully incorporated.
THIRD STEP: Add flour and salt and mix just until moistened (do not over-mix).
FOURTH STEP: Fold in ½ cup chocolate chips, ⅓ cup of the M&Ms, and jimmies.
FIFTH STEP: Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the top with the remaining M&M’s.
SIXTH STEP: Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
SEVENTH STEP: Set the pan on a wire rack and sprinkle with additional sprinkles, as desired. Cool completely. Using the parchment overhang, lift the blondies from the pan and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into squares.
Why are my bars crumbly?
Overmixing can cause the bars to be crumbly and tough. Stir the batter together gently to keep the cookies soft and chewy.
What’s the best way to slice the dessert bars?
Adding the overhanging parchment paper will allow you to lift the bars out of the pan and transfer them to a cutting board so you can easily slice the bars.
Can I make these chocolate chip cookie bars in a larger pan?
If you would like to make these in a larger pan such as a 9-inch baking pan, you certainly can. Just keep in mind you’d have to adjust the baking time since the bars would be thinner and bake more quickly.
How to Store Christmas Cookie Bars
ON THE COUNTER: Store Christmas cookie bars in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
IN THE FRIDGE: If you want to keep them for longer, this easy cookie bars recipe can be stored in the fridge. Wrap the bars tightly with plastic wrap to keep the air from getting in and drying them out. Store cookie bars in the fridge for up to a week.
IN THE FREEZER: These chewy bars can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and store them in an airtight freezer-safe container. When you are ready to serve them they can be thawed on the counter. You can eat them cold, or pop them in the microwave in 15-second increments to make them soft and delicious once again.
Christmas Cookie Bars
Christmas cookie bars are soft and chewy, loaded with red and green M&Ms, chocolate chips, and holiday sprinkles. Your family will adore this festive treat!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 9
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup red and green M&M’s
- ¼ cup Christmas jimmies
- Christmas sprinkles for sprinkling over the baked cookie bars if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush an 8×8-inch square baking pan with a bit of the melted butter and line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides.
- In a large bowl, whisk the remaining butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in egg and vanilla until fully incorporated.
- Add flour and salt and mix just until moistened (do not over-mix).
- Fold in ½ cup chocolate chips, ⅓ cup of the M&Ms, and jimmies.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the top with the remaining M&M’s.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a wire rack and sprinkle with additional sprinkles, as desired. Cool completely. Using the parchment overhang, lift the blondies from the pan and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into squares.
Nutrition
Calories: 359kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 86mg | Potassium: 98mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 372IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg
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