M&M’S Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
The only thing I may possibly like better than soft and chewy M&M’S® cookies are cookie bars.
Bars are my favorite kitchen shortcut because they’re so fast and easy to make.
No dough to chill or individual cookies to form.
For these very soft, slightly chewy, buttery bars that are loaded with M&M’S and chocolate chips, I called upon my trusty blondie base.
When I want an easy, fuss-free, one-bowl, no-mixer recipe that I know everyone will love, it’s my go-to . With 25+ versions and counting, it never lets me down.
It’s an easy recipe to memorize because everything is ‘one’. In the 1 bowl used, melt 1 stick of butter, stir in 1 egg, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and 1 cup flour.
I stirred in 1 cup of the new Crispy M&M’S, but anything from Dark to Pretzel to Peanut Butter M&M’S would be wonderful. M&M’S just launched a new Pinterest page where you can check out new recipes for baking inspiration.
I loved the texture contrast of the soft bars, with gooey chocolate chips, and the Crispy M&M’S that stay crispy even after being baked. My family’s eyes lit up when they saw these and they sure didn’t last long.
M&M’S Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Bars are my favorite kitchen shortcut because they’re so fast and easy to make. No dough to chill or individual cookies to form. For these very soft, slightly chewy, buttery bars that are loaded with M&M’S and chocolate chips, I called upon my trusty blondie base. When I want an easy, fuss-free, one-bowl, no-mixer recipe that I know everyone will love, it’s my go-to . With 25+ versions and counting, it never lets me down. It’s an easy recipe to memorize because everything is ‘one’. In the 1 bowl used, melt 1 stick of butter, stir in 1 egg, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and 1 cup flour. I stirred in 1 cup of the new Crispy M&M’S, but use your favorites. I loved the texture contrast of the soft bars, gooey chocolate chips, and the crispy M&M’S.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 cup Crispy M&M’S (or your favorite M&M’S like Dark, Pretzel, Peanut Butter, etc.), plus more for sprinkling
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling
Directions:
- 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 on high power.
- Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don’t scramble it. Add the egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour, salt, and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
- Stir in the M&M’S and chocolate chips.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
- If desired, evenly sprinkle about 1 tablespoon each of M&M’S and chocolate chips for an extra visual pop, tapping them down lightly with your fingertip.
- Bake for about 25 to 28 minutes (I baked 26 minutes), or until done. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Bars firm up as they cool. Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
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Post is brought to you by M&M’S. The recipe, images, text, and opinions expressed are my own.
Just made these bars and they were pretty chocolatey so it tasted okay, but mine burnt. :(
I baked it for 26 minutes and 350 degrees, because first when I checked at 24 mins it didn’t look done. I didn’t melt the butter so that it was completely liquify/clear-ish color, I’d say I melted it for about 30 seconds. Could this be why? Also, it tasted a little too bready-like/like dough or flour? Do you know why this happened? I followed the recipe as is..maybe I over mixed the flour? I’d like to try this again and hopefully it will go better next time!
All ovens, pan, climates, etc. vary and so you have to really watch your item in your oven and conditions.
Next, you didn’t melt the butter fully and YES that will absolutely impact results in this recipe! It will cause the batter to be drier in general, and cook quicker, and likely this is why it tasted a bit flour-ey. I have made this blondie base recipe hundreds (not exaggerating) of times over the years with a million different adaptations and it’s a keeper and easy, but you just need to follow the recipe fully next time and you’ll be all set.
Also don’t hard-pack and use a heavy hand with flour; most people over-measure their flour. Just something to keep in mind for the future.
I had a problem getting these to bake, I had to cook them for 45 minutes at 350. They were not light but very dense and greasy. Maybe the foil was a problem with the spray? I have never used that combination baking anything before.
Are you sure your oven is working totally normally and is calibrated? Baking times do vary but 45 minutes is a long time for this recipe. I’ve made this blondie base hundreds of times over the years https://www.averiecooks.com/tag/blondies-2 and know it’s a very solid base. Probably the most well-tested base I have on my site. So….maybe for you, don’t line with foil? I do it b/c it saves tons of time with cleanup and you can just lift the whole thing out using the foil so for me it’s great. I have a feeling though that something is going on with your oven or possibly you under measured the flour? They are a dense bar and buttery, but not greasy. Thanks for trying the recipe and I wish I could pinpoint where the trouble came in for you.
These look delicious but I need to make them for a crowd. Do you think I could double the recipe to an 8×13 pan?
Thank you
Probably will be fine but haven’t personally tried so can’t guarantee, but probably ok.
I doubled the recipe and put them in a 13×9 pan and they came out great. In fact I made 3 pans!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and that doubling it worked great!
The guys I work with love cookie days and with summer being busy I love the shortcut of bars over cookies. I was in the mood for something “M&M-ish” and having such success with your snickerdoodle bars that put this recipe on the top of the list for me. Needing to make enough for 20 guys I often have to make 2 batches, so I was really happy to read through the comments to find success with doubling the batch.
While I rarely comment, I had to tell you what a huge hit these were! I doubled the batch, used a 9×13″ pan and baked for 28 min and ended up with 32 squares. Complete perfection! Thank you so much. You’ve made baking fun for me (and for my taste testers)!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you with doubling the recipe and glad the guys at work loved them! Thanks for the wonderful compliments – I appreciate that!
Hi, im waiting to see how mine turn out!! i used pumpkin spice latte m&ms and just kinda stirred anything together and made sure all the lumps were out :)
The bars are so versatile with almost any kind of add-in being able to be accommodated. I’m sure the PSL M&Ms will be great in them!
I went to the grocery store to get some mini MnM’s just the regular ones because Im boring like that ;) and they were $5.99! HOLY, so instead I bought mini reeces pieces ($3.99) and Im pretty excited about it! They are in the oven as I type!
I would like to make these bars for Christmas but due to a nut allergy do you think Christmas coloured smarties would work? I’ve never baked with smarties before and I’m not sure if they melt or not.
I haven’t ever baked with Smarties so not sure how they change when heated. If you use M&M’s that aren’t the peanut, almond, etc versions and just stick to the plain ones…if that works for your allergy then I’d do that.
Hi Averie, I made these last night. They were so good. Best blondie base-period!! :D
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! And I agree…best blondie base of all time :)
Can these be made into cookies instead of bars? If so, how would I do that differently?
I have many recipes for M&M cookies. Google ‘averie cooks M&M cookies’ and about 6 different versions will pop up. Enjoy!
This recipe is not intended to be made as cookies.
I made these for the 4th of July with red, white and blue M & M’s and they were great. The recipe was exactly what I was looking for ! Thank you.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Sounds like a great 4th of July recipe with the R/W/B M&Ms!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Have a church bake sale coming up and my son has a work picnic. I see that someone else successfully doubled the recipe in a 9×13 pan and baked for a little longer. Does it matter if it’s glass or metal? Also, if you bake two pans in the oven at the same time, do you need to increase baking time? Thank you so much!
Does it matter if it’s glass or metal? = yes, I bake in metal and recipe is written based on that with regard to baking time.
if you bake two pans in the oven at the same time, do you need to increase baking time? = possibly slightly but I’m not sure because I haven’t tried it that way.
I made this yesterday and it turned out amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad you loved it!
M & M just came out with a caramel version! Yummy & they would be great I’m these bars. Thanks for the recipe!
I do have a bar version and glad you loved the cookies! https://www.averiecooks.com/mms-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars/
These were delicious! Made them this afternoon and they were gone within the hour! I didn’t have any m&m’s so just used a mixture of white and milk chocolate chips and holy they’re good
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they were a big hit!
I just made these using pumpkin spice M&Ms and mini chocolate chips with some fall colored sprinkles on top. So good! They were a huge hit and so easy. I prefer bars over cookies because they are so much easier. This base will be my new go-to!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m sure the pumpkin spiced M&Ms were so good this time of year! Glad this will be your new go-to base!
I love making these bars. I wanted to make some tonight but just realized I’m out of light brown sugar! Can they be made with dark brown sugar instead?
Probably will be fine but they will be darker in color and the dough may be a little thicker/denser.
I found this the morning of a baby shower I hosted this weekend! I just needed one more baked item on my trays and this square didn’t disappoint!! I followed the recipe exactly, no substitutions, and it turned out great!! I did leave it in the pan until cool before slicing it. It’s a keeper!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this is a keeper for you!
Double the recipe for a 9×12 pan and only had dark brown sugar. I used red white and blue M&Ms for the Fourth of July. Forgot to double them and the chocolate chips until after they were already in the pan so I just stirred in some more. I’ll let you know how they came out 😊
Came out great, I probably did not need to totally double the M&Ms or chocolate chips. Dark brown sugar worked fine.
Glad to hear they came out great!
Delicous! They do not need nearly as many chocolate chips as the recipe calls for in my opinion though. I made these once for my class, and ever since I have been known as the class baker! I am now expected to bring them to every class party. These bars are worth your time!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these are always requested!
And yes feel free to cut back on the choc chips quantity if you prefer a bit less.
I just made these with Red, White and Blue Carmel M&Ms. My children gave them 10 thumbs up! I doubled the recipe and followed the instructions exactly except I only used 1 cup of chocolate chips. Doubling would have required 1 1/2 cups. I also pressed additional M&Ms in the batter once the batter was in the pan. The recipe base is definitely a keeper and I love that I don’t have to wait for butter to soften! Also, I baked the bars 28 minutes. Love!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad your kids loved the bars!
These are now my family’s favorite!!! I did not put as much chocolate in them – only a cup of M&Ms or a cup of semi sweet chocolate chips because my son is not a huge chocolate fan but the result was the same – AMAZING!!!. I love that it only makes a small batch and cooks evenly. Thank you!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these are your family’s favorite!