Chewy M&M Cookie Bars

My oven is finally fixed! It got fixed the day before I left for a week-long trip, so this is the first chance that I have had to bake. Sorry I didn’t post anything this week but I am looking forward to having a working oven again. There are so many things that I want to bake. It’s really hard to decide what to make after several weeks of not baking, but my friend at work made it easier: she gave me a big bag of M&Ms because she thought I could use them in baking.

There are lots of things to bake with M&Ms. At work they sell M&M sugar cookies in the cafeteria, which are popular. So many of the recipes that I came across used mini M&Ms, which I didn’t have. I also had regular milk chocolate M&Ms, rather than mint ones, coconut ones, etc. This bar cookies recipe looked classic: a chewy bar cookies paired with the candies.

These cookies use very basic ingredients, which is good because I didn’t really check the pantry before I decided to make these. I’m almost out of butter, but I had just enough to make these. Everything else I had on hand. I had slightly less than 12 ounces of M&Ms (thanks hubby!) but it didn’t make a difference. The dough is easy to make and does seem a little oily, but the melted butter makes the cookies chewy. I really like M&Ms, and these bars are a perfect vehicle for delivering great M&M flavor. This was a great recipe to get back into the swing of baking.

Chewy M&M Cookie Bars

¾ cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/8 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

12 ounces M&Ms, divided

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil, allowing the foil to overhang the sides of the pan. Spray the foil with cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, add the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium speed until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer running on low, add half the flour mixture. When the flour is almost mixed in, add the remaining flour mixture. Be careful not to over mix. Stir in 1 cup M&Ms with a spatula.

Spread the dough in the prepared pan. Top with the remaining M&Ms, pressing the M&Ms into the dough
.

Bake for 24-28 minutes, until the bars start to pull away from the sides of the pan. They should be light brown along the edges but may look under cooked in the center; the bars will set as they cool. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Lift the cooled bars from the pan and peel away the foil. Cut into squares. 

Recipe from Fantastic Family Favorites