Chocolate Crumble Milky Way Bar Cookies – 🍫🍪😋 My new favorite layered bar is a chocolate cookie dough base, topped with Milky Way bars, chocolate cookie dough crumbles, and drenched with creamy sweetened condensed milk! Less than 10 minutes to make without a mixer!
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Cookies with Milky Way Bars
I’m so in love with my peanut butter cup cookie dough crumble bars, I made gave them a second flavor with this Milk Way bar cookies recipe! And I’m in love all over again.
Sometimes I go through dessert phases where all I want is cookies. And for weeks, I make batch after batch of cookies. Right now I’m in a gooey bar phase. I just couldn’t get the rich, gooey goodness out of my head, and these Milky Way cookie bars always hit the spot.
Soft and squishy centers with chewy edges. Dense, buttery, and full of gooey creaminess from the sweetened condensed milk. Not to mention, mini peanut butter cups in every bite!
Prep and assembly take 10 minutes, no mixer is needed, and you can stir everything together in one bowl. The fewer dishes a recipe generates, the better.
The Milky Ways provide texture and another dimension of chocolate flavor. Between the nougat in them, and the creamy, rich, sweetened condensed milk that thickens while baking, I was in gooey nougat heaven.
Supremely rich, intense, bold, dark, and perfect for impromptu chocolate cravings. So many layers of textures and flavors, all in one bite from chocolate to caramel to vanilla.
Layered bars are where it’s at. Definitely a new favorite! Make a batch for holiday parties or afternoon treats. They always disappear fast!
Ingredients in Chocolate Milky Way Bar Cookies
To make this easy recipe for candy-filled cookie bars, you’ll need:
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Unsalted butter – melt your butter before you begin
- Egg – let it come to room temperature for easy mixing
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Brewed coffee – this is optional but highly recommended! The bars won’t taste like coffee, but it does bring out the chocolate flavor. Water will also work
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour – feel free to use a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour if you need to keep these bars gluten-free
- Unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Milky Way candy bars – I like to use fun size Milky Way bars for easy chopping, but full-sized varieties also work
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make the Best Cookie Bars with Milky Ways
If you’ve ever made any kind of rich chocolate cookie, you can make these cookie bars! Here’s a quick overview of the baking process:
- Combine the melted and slightly cooled butter in a bowl with the egg, sugars, coffee, and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Add the dry ingredients, mixing just until the dough is well combined. It will be quite thick and dense!
- Reserve about 2/3 cup of dough, and turn the rest into a baking pan lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper and greased with cooking spray. Smooth it into an even layer, and sprinkle the candy bar pieces over the dough.
- Lightly crumble the reserved cookie dough on top in irregular, marble-sized chunks. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top.
- Bake until the center is mostly set and the edges are firm, raised, and darker than the interior of the bars.
- Cool for at least 3 hours to allow the bars to set. Then, slice, serve, and enjoy!
Create picture-worthy bars
I recommend cooling your cookie bars for 1 hour on the counter and at least 2 hours in the fridge or ideally up to overnight. This ensures clean, pretty cut marks!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, just double all the ingredients, and use a 9×13 baking pan. Keep a close eye on the oven, and adjust the baking time as needed!
Not at all. If you’re not a fan, you can substitute your favorite candy bars or chocolate chips. Experiment with different varieties and combinations to make this recipe your own. It’s a great way to use up leftover Halloween candy!
Stored in an airtight container leftover bars will stay fresh for up to 1 week.
Yes! Allow the bars to cool completely. Then, wrap them with plastic wrap, transfer them to a sealable bag, and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature when you’re ready to serve.
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Milky Way Chocolate Cookie Crumble Bars
Equipment
- 1 (8×8 inch) Baking Pan
- 1 Large, Microwave-Safe Bowl
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons brewed coffee, leftover from the morning brew is fine, optional but highly recommended
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder, I don’t sift
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 ½ cups diced Milky Way Bars, or substitute with Snickers, Peanut Butter Cups Butterfinger, Heath, Rolos, 3 Musketeers
- about 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, just slightly more than half of one standard 14-ounce can
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute. Allow the butter to cool momentarily so you don’t scramble the egg. Add the egg, sugars, coffee (water may be substituted but coffee is highly recommended to bring out the chocolate flavor; the bars do not taste like coffee at all), vanilla, and stir or whisk vigorously to combine, about 1 minute.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, optional salt and stir until just incorporated. Dough will be quite thick and dense.
- Reserve about 2/3 cup dough; set aside. Turn remaining dough out into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula. Evenly sprinkle the Milky Ways over the dough. Using your fingers, lightly crumble the reserved cookie dough over the top in irregular, marble-sized chunks. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the top (just eyeball slightly over half of the can as you pour slowly).
- Bake for about 27 to 30 minutes, or until center is mostly set. The sweetened condensed milk should nearly be set in all places, but possibly a little loose in the very center of the pan is okay. Edges will be firm, raised, and darker than the interior. Bars firm up more in pan as they cool; don’t overbake because you want these to stay soft and gooey, and cocoa powder is prone to turning dry.
- Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 3 hours before slicing and serving (use foil overhang to lift out). I recommend cooling for 1 hour on the counter, and at least 2 hours in the refrigerator, or overnight. This ensures clean, pretty cut marks. If you don’t care about that, bars may be consumed as soon as they are cool enough to eat; grab a spoon and dig in. Extra bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Bars may be kept gluten-free by replacing the flour with your favorite gluten-free baking blend. Take care any ingredients used are suitable for your dietary needs.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Dessert Bar Recipes:
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bars – All the taste and texture of cookies, minus the work of making individual cookies. Bar cookies are so much faster and these are soft, chewy, and loaded with chocolate chunks.
Coconut Peanut Butter Magic Cake Bars – One of my favorite desserts of 2011, and similar to Seven Layer or Magic Bars, but a cake base is used instead of a graham cracker crust. Soft, dense, rich, chewy, tons of textures and flavors, and so easy.
Cookie Butter Brown Sugar Streusel Bars – Soft, chewy and moist from the cookie butter and all brown sugar dough base that’s topped with crunchy streusel bits.
Peanut Butter Cocoa Krispies Smores Bars – No need for campfires, make s’mores at home. These smores have three layers, including a cocoa-crispy cereal top layer that’s made with peanut butter.
Caramel and Chocolate Gooey Bars (GF with Vegan adaptation) – The hardest part of this recipe is unwrapping the caramels. Easy, loaded with texture from the oats, and dripping with chocolate.
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Thanks for the entries in the 24 Hours of Peanuts Cookbook and Prize Pack Giveaway and the Bestowed Healthy Care Package Delivery Giveaway
Will I have the same result with parchment paper? I’m concerned about sticking with foil (even greased foil)ย
You can try parchment if that’s what you have. I always use heavy duty nonstick foil but do what you think will work best.
Could I enjoy these warm out of the oven with ice cream or is it better to let them set for 2 hours before consuming?
Hi Averie!
Love these…I am including them as part of my new post- a Milky Way Cupcake recipe- to share more Milky Way recipes and I just had to include these! They look scrumptious :)
Thanks for sharing!
I’m not sure if you’ll see this message (it’s been a couple years since the last comment) but I’ve just got these out the oven, had a sneaky bit as I couldn’t resist, and the condensed milk is still completely liquid underneath (not on the surface though). Should I cook them for longer or is that going to set during the cooling? Thanks
Should I cook them for longer or is that going to set during the cooling? = I would say both. All ovens, climates, pans, etc vary so baking a little longer could be helpful in your situation. Some of it does ‘soak up’ upon cooling, but use your judgment.
Thanks for the recipe! I used Twix bars and doubled the recipe and my lucky coworkers will have a great treat tomorrow. (I may have snuck a taste and it may have been delicious.) I love your blog!
You have super lucky coworkers! I looooove Twix. I was having a major craving for them and raided my daughter’s leftover Halloween stash the other day :) I know they’d be great in the bars! Thanks for trying the recipe!
Just made these tonight with my daughter and her friend and they were a HUGE hit. Made the chocolate w the milky ways. Can’t wait to try these with snickers. Thank you for sharing such an awesome recipe.
Glad you and the girls enjoyed these…and Snickers (or most any Halloween candy that’s leftover!) would work great…Milky Way, 100 Grand, 3 Muskateers.. :)