Triple Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Bars – Soft, gooey bars loaded with M&Ms, chocolate and made for serious peanut butter lovers! So good!
I make my fair share of treats, and have the hodgepodge of random add-ins in my pantry to show for it.
Half-used bags of chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and a random assortment of candy were taking over the cupboard so I found a home for them.
In these bars.
They’re the perfect bar to toss in everything but the kitchen sink.
Use this flexible and forgiving dough base as your opportunity to stir almost anything that’s plaguing your pantry into it.
What else are you going to do with 1/3 cup chocolate-covered sunflower seeds from your last Trader Joe’s impulse buy or that small handful of butterscotch chips from your last batch of cookies, or a few stray marshmallows.
Use up last year’s Halloween candy or Easter candy. Those Fun-Size Twix bars are begging to be diced and tossed in. Don’t pretend you don’t discover random candy from months ago. Well, I do. Life of a food blogger.
The bars come together in 5 minutes in one bowl, no mixer needed. Unlike making cookies, there’s no dough to chill, and they’re ready in under 30 minutes from start to finish.
I used my go-to blondie base, with a half-cup peanut butter stirred in, before stirring in the kitchen sink.
I had partially used bags of Peanut Butter M&M’s, peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, toffee bits, and included them all.
Because peanut butter is used three times – peanut butter that’s stirred into the dough, Peanut Butter M&Ms, and peanut butter chips – they pack a bold, peanut buttery punch.
They’re very moist and soft. The edges turn slightly chewy, while the interior remains a squishy, soft heaven.
The crunchy candy coating of the M&Ms and their firmness, coupled with Heath toffee bits, are the perfect texture contrast to the buttery, peanut buttery, dense, melt-in-your mouth dough.
There’s plenty of chocolate, too. Chocolate and peanut butter just go together. The abundance of melted chocolate chips is practically mandatory with all that peanut butter.
Soft, chewy, fast, easy, peanut butter used three times, and you can clean out your cupboards. That’s success.
And let’s face it, any time you can bake candy into a dessert, you won’t hear too many complaints.
Cleaning out your pantry never tasted so good.
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Triple Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Bars
Peanut butter is used three times in these dense, rich, moist, fast, and easy bars. There’s peanut butter stirred into the dough, Peanut Butter M&Ms, and peanut butter chips, so the bars pack a bold, peanut buttery punch. There’s plenty of chocolate, the perfect compliment to all that peanut butter. Use the dough base as a blank canvas and start cleaning out your pantry – butterscotch or white chocolate chips, nuts and seeds, dice old holiday candy and toss it in. Mix and match with the add-ins you have on hand rather than buying new. Cleaning out your pantry never tasted so good.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- heaping 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (use Jif, Skippy, etc.; don’t use homemade or natural – too runny)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Peanut Butter M&Ms
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks, or a combination
- 1/2 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips
- 1/3 cup Heath Bar Toffee Bits
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 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 peanut butter and whisk or stir until smooth and incorporated.
- Add the flour and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
- Add all remaining add-ins and fold to incorporate.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. I like to strategically place a few M&Ms on the top of the batter for a nice visual effect.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until top is set. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes 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.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 522Total Fat: 39gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 245mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 2gSugar: 26gProtein: 7g
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What’s the last pantry cleanout recipe you’ve made? What do you put in your Monster Bars?
I just made these bars wow! Yummy and super sweet! I used M& M’s and mini chocolate chips, I think I might have put too many M& M’s on the top, very rich and peanut buttery! Great recipe I will definitely make these again!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they turned out great for you! Yes, they are very rich indeed.
It’s definitely a good way to get rid of left over candy, and personally I would cut the candy in half so it tasted more like a cookie bar. But all in all very tasty!
These. Are. The. Best. Thank you!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad that they get The.Best. vote!
Sounds delicious! I often keep leftover candy in the freezer and will just chop up whatever I have left to add to cookie or brownie recipes. Pinned.
Thanks for pinning!
Hi,
Do you think these could be made with double the peanut butter chips and no M&M’s? Â I love them, but a jaw problem make it impossible to indulge.
Thank you.
Hope
Yes I think that would be fine. Enjoy!
Can you make ahead and freeze?
I think you’d be safe yes.
I made these this weekend! They turned out great (although I think I overbaked them a little).
Can’t wait to try more recipes from this site!
Hi there! Thanks for the delicious looking recipe! I’m going to try baking it this weekend, however, I notice there is no baking soda OR baking powder called for. I’ve never baked a bar cookie without using one or the other. I’ve always been under the impression that using non baking powder/soda will cause them to turn out flat and tough, no?
I do not like cakey bars cookies at all and when I put leaveners in them, even 1/2 teaspoon, they turn out cakier than I like. If I wanted cake, I’d make cake :)
The bars, if you make them according to the recipe, should look like the photos. They’re definitely not tough and I wouldn’t say flat either but it’s personal preference.
Thank you for making my coworkers think I’m the best baker ever! This is such a wonderful recipe (and base blondies recipe) that I get requests all the time.Â
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! And glad you love this blondie base too and that your coworkers think you’re a superstar!
These bars are now requested every time my friends get together. Â They are delicious. Â I love your blog. :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and that they’re on request from your friends!
I have these in the oven right now :)
Hi there — I just have to tell you, I made these for Easter AND THEY ARE SOOO GOOD!! Â I made a slight variation, and posted them on my blog today… Â http://mydarlingdays.blogspot.com/
Thank you SO much for sharing this goodness, can’t wait to make more from your blog soon :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Your bars look great!
I followed the recipe exactly, and these were AMAZING (and easy!). I made them for Easter with the pastel M&Ms and my family went crazy. My dad said he loved that every single bite had a fun surprise. I would definitely make these again, but I might not bother with the toffee bits, unless of course I had them hanging around anyway!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you and that you’d make it again!
So I was scrolling through your cookie recipes, looking for a way to use up the ridiculous amount of Valentine’s candy my kids have been given, when lo and behold, I found this recipe–great for using up add-ins AND in bar form–my fave. SO good! I don’t think I’ve tried your PB bar cookies before. These turned out thick so I made them into 18 triangle cookies and still feel like it’s a generous amount.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came in handy so you could use up the V-Day candy! I generally do variations on this theme right after Halloween :) I am impressed you got 18 triangle cookies out of the batch and still feel like it’s a generous amount! That’s great to hear!
Can I use this recipe but make balls and cook into cookies instead of bars?
Possibly but I have not tested it that way to know for sure!
HI!
I’m wondering if I can make these Triple Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Bars in a 13×9 pan?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried but I’m sure it will be fine. Just double the recipe.
HELP! I was planning to make this recipe for a bake sale, but I accidentally mixed the flour and the brown sugar together instead of mixing the brown sugar with the melted butter! They’re mixed really well together, there’s no going back. I really don’t want to throw out and waste the ingredients (especially since I used pricey organic brown sugar). Can I still proceed with the recipe? If not, are there any other recipes I can use the flour/brown sugar mixture for?
So you mixed a cup of brown sugar with a cup of flour? At this point if you haven’t already carried on with the rest of the recipe, I would toss it and start over. I wouldn’t continue on, knowing you’re going to put more $$ ingredients in, knowing full well you’ve already screwed up…that would guarantee then everything is going to be a mess in the final analysis. You should cut your losses now.
Generally flour and sugar don’t go together unless you’re making a streusel topping at which point you’d cut in butter. You could make these or something along these lines… https://www.averiecooks.com/fudgy-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars/
Do you have any suggestions for high altitude baking??
I’m not an expert at all on it but the King Arthur flour website has a great section on it (google for details).
Thank you very much!
Can your recipes be doubled and baked in a 9×13 pan instead of 8×8 or 9×9? Our family is getting together and the 25 of us looooove sweets! I have literally spent the past 3 days looking at recipes on your site and am having the hardest time deciding on just one!
Most recipes yes can be doubled to bake as a 9×13 rather than an 8×8. Most of them I don’t personally test that way because I bake 5-7 days a week for a very small family and don’t need the excess but in theory, it should work; and many readers do double and write in to say it works fine. LMK what you end up making and how it goes!
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Awesome as always! Loved these so much. I used a full bag of peanut butter egg shape m&m’s from Easter as the mix in and left out the peanut butter chips and toffee bits since I didn’t want to create more partial bags of things. I also needed to use up the m&m’s. The peanut butter ones are my favorite and any left unused would be eaten – not that a few weren’t used for quality control while baking. Super soft, dense, delicious. Would make again exactly the same, but yet I want to try other combinations and exactly as written. I’m sitting here now trying to think if I make another batch today who can I take them to so I don’t eat them all. I know I’ve commented before, but it is worth repeating that you make winner recipes.
Deb thanks for taking the time to comment again and so glad you loved these bars and want to make them again (and again!) and use up your candy stash. They’re a great pantry clean-out bar :) Glad you’re happy & thanks for the praise about my winner recipes!
Woah, woah, woah, these look amazing. Everything looks so melty and moist. Pinned, and now I have to try ASAP!
These are DANGEROUS. So easy, so yummy, and so addictive! Your recipes are so tempting to make because they come together so well and are scrumptious but I have to get them out of the house the next day or I’d eat the whole batch!
Thanks Erica for trying these and for the sweet compliments about my recipes and being easy and user-friendly. I try really hard with that and glad it’s working for you! And yes, I have to re-home and donate most of what I make, too – or I wouldn’t be able to fit thru the door. LOL
Yumm! The fourth recipe I’ve tried of yours, and just like the other three, it turned out excellent! I loved how easy it was, and it was a great way to get rid of leftover old candy. I did have to leave it in the oven for an extra ten minutes or so before it was done, but other than that this turned out great. Thank you for another great recipe!!
So glad you were able to clear out some random candy and that you’re batting 4 for 4 with my recipes – love that! And yes, baking time is variable based on candies used and just how loaded up they were, oven variances, etc. So glad you’re enjoying them!
I made a version of these to give as a birthday gift – they were fab! Have just written about them here – http://hungryhinny.com/2013/09/08/peanut-butter-mm-blondies/
Thanks for the recipe! :)
So glad you enjoyed them and just commented on your post!
These were packed full of peanut buttery goodness.. Thanks for this.. I made this one weekend with my God-Child and we had a blast making as well as eating..
That is so sweet that you made them together. Lucky kiddo and glad you loved the recipe! Thanks for LMK!
I have these in the oven as we speak! They look awesome and the dough was delicious! ;-) I agree that they were very greesy. I added 1.5 cups flour instead of just one. Hope they turn out! They look like they will!
Thanks for trying them and I’m sure you’re going to love them!
Hi there…I made these bars yesterday and they are DELICIOUS! I had one problem though…they were very greasy/buttery on the bottom. I put them back in the oven thinking they weren’t quite done. Do you think they’d come out the same if I used less butter next time? Or maybe margarine? I served them with a paper towel on the platter and that helped to soak up some of the butter. Any suggestions will be appreciated. I’m definitely going to make these again! : )
Greasy..hmm, could have been the type/brand of PB used. I used Jif in mine. Or could have been the butter. You could reduce either the Pb or the butter, slightly, maybe 2 tbsp or so if you wanted. Or you could add maybe 2 to 4 tbsp more flour. Or you could bake them slightly longer. However, they’re not exactly a ‘light’ treat so some grease is normal :) But sounds like you would benefit most from slightly more flour. Lmk what you do when you remake them and how it pans out!
I would like to contribute the recipe for the cookie bars to our newest church cookbook. I made them for our homeschool back to school bash. I put them in my Longaberger bread basket and renamed them: “Schoolbox Brownies” – the colors reminded me of a child’s crayon box!
The bars were devoured, of course!
I would like permission to submit this great recipe! I would not be using any images.
Thanks,
Sarah Carroll
I think these sound and look incredibly delicious- but I have to say, I’m not sure how anyone has peanut butter M&M’s just left over without eating them. That never happens around here! :)
Lol – after writing a 100+ recipe PB cookbook, I have SO MUCH pb-related products in my house – you cannot even imagine :) I am always finding odds and ends! lol
I made these once and they were delicious!! …but I’m a fan of the orignal monster cookie so do you think you could substitute old fashioned oats for the flour? If so, would it be a 1:1 ratio of flour to oats?
If you’re talking cookies vs. bar cookies, it’s not that easy to just ‘swap’. This recipe was written to make these to be pressed into a pan, not baked as actual cookies and b/c there is no baking soda or baking powder, they would likely spread thin and flat and not work. If you wanted to use some oats in these bars, feel free to add a cup or so, and reduce the flour by maybe 3/4 cup.
If you’re looking for oatmeal cookies, I have at least a half dozen really solid oatmeal cookie recipes. Browse and then add your favorite add-ins to whichever base you choose. https://www.averiecooks.com/category/dessert/cookies
Sorry I wasn’t clear. I still want to make bars but i wasnt sure if it would work to use oats instead of flour. I will try adding 1 cup of oats and taking out 3/4 cup of flour. Thank you so much for your quick response! Very impressive
Oh WOW! These bars look intense :) I can’t wait to taste this
Wow!! These were amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe!!
Thanks for trying these, Amelia, and so glad they turned out amazing!
Outdoing yourself every time–I feel like I might be tempted to lick the kitchen sink after this, yick! :) thanks for sharing, Averie!
So sweet!
Pinning…these look FABULOUS!! Thanks for sharing! =)
Thanks for pinning!
I, too, am the Queen of The Freezer Full of Mismatched Quarter-full Bags of Candy, Nuts, and Other Miscellany! I do this all the time with cookies – just throw in everything. But from the looks of it, I am missing out by not using your bar base here, though. It looks divine.
Hi,
I just wanted to say that every recipe I’ve made of yours is wonderful! And these are possibly the best! I used your base, then added chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, sliced almonds, peanut butter cups, and marshmallows! So much for eating healthy for cross country, haha! But you are a very good baker and I plan to make most if not all of your recipes!
Thanks for LMK you’ve tried other recipes and these are your new fave! All your add-ins sound great! If I would have had any PB cups, I would have used those, too! Mmm, marshmallows – I bet they were a little bit like PB smores! If you try other recipes, please come back and LMK how it went!
You must know how much I love these cookies, they are fabulous! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
I am trying to eat healthy during the weeks leading up to my wedding, but looking at this is making that a whole lot more difficult haha. They sound DELICIOUS! And I’m so glad you liked the Saint Paul post, I had an amazing time there and was just awestruck by the beauty while I was flying over the state. I definitely want to get back there to do some hiking!
I adored the post. Such a trip down memory lane – college, my family, my childhood. Thank for posting it and glad that MN was better than you thought it was going to be. If it wasn’t for the winters, it really is a wonderful place!
And congrats on your upcoming wedding!
These look perfect! Loaded and perfect!
I love just throwing in a whole bunch of leftover goodies into bars and cookies – they always taste great! Pinned and shared on FB this morning :)
Thanks for pinning and sharing! :)
So funny that you and Sally posted super peanut butter recipes on the exact same day! ;) Love it! I like my cookie bars dense and chewy and these look like they fit the bill. The outrageous pb flavor makes them even better!
She and I frequently post eerily similar recipes on the same day. Like yeast bread – rolls. One day I posted strawberry rolls and she posted another yeast roll, the same day. One day we’ll each post banana bread. We do it all the time!
These were a big hit with my pb loving hubby and me too of course!
Wow that was fast – the next day after I posted them you made them! Love it! And so glad they were a big hit with you guys. Yay!
I need to do this! My pantry is horrible right now. Thanks for the idea!
Girl I bet between the two of us, we could open a full on retail candy store with all we have going on :)
I saw “triple peanut butter” in the subject of your blog post email and started drooling.
Lol – we must be twins. That happens to me all the time too :)
Oh Averie! These bars look incredible! You had me at peanut butter. And M&Ms. And cookies. Welcome to my brain. XO
I love the texture of these bars! They look so happy and colourful – like a birthday party that never ends. :D
I looove how simple and chock full of goodness these bars are!!
My mouth won’t stop watering! These look so delicious (just like everything else you have)! Thanks so much for sharing. Enjoy your day!
Thanks for such a sweet comment & have a great day, too!
I’ve been waiting for you to post these!!! YUM!!! I’m totally going to buy M & M’s Just. For. These. That blondie base looks chewy and moist and peanut butter dreamy for REAL. Love love love this recipe Averie!!
Girl you really do not have to buy anything to make them. I dunno, maybe with your crew, you don’t have candy coming out of the woodwork and as many odds and ends as I seem to have b/c they eat it rather than stare at it. But if you are going to buy candy, cannot go wrong with PB M&Ms :)
I second that.
Oh my. It’s like eating a spoonful of peanut butter and shoving a handful M&Ms into my mouth. Love it!
EXACTLY! :)
It’s like going to the second hand store and finding cool bits and pieces and then getting them home to combine them into one killer outfit! Super score! We definitely have leftovers of things laying around that we could utilize to make these delicious treats. Gonna have to scour my pantry and fridge tomorrow! I love the colorful m&m’s and the doughy looking dough! Soooo yummy! :-)
Your boys will love you even more :)
Time to go check out what I’ve got hanging out in the pantry. These bars are exactly what I need right now!
I know with all your baking, you’ve probably got plenty of odds and ends too!
Wow! Talk about rich and indulgent! These bars look insanely delicious and almost resemble fudge – candy fudge! Haha
Wow, Averie these look amazing! I love all the flavors. And the colors in these photos are so fun! You are a kitchen superstar. :)
You’re so sweet – thank you!
Add all the peanut butter!!!! You’re are the complete PB Queen Averie! I’m so excited to try these soon!
Oh these look like PB perfection, I just want to sink my teeth into one! Love your combination of mix-ins too!
Averie, this is definitely the best cookie bar base, ever! I have a ton of left over candy ‘n chocolate chips at home. Maybe I should make this tonight…my waistline says no but my taste buds win out every time!
Enjoy your panty cleanout. Tastebuds always win :)
Oh my gooooosh I think I hate you right now! Cookies and bars are my two favorite things (obvi) and I think this combination is madness. Kind of mind blowing, actually!
Knowing you, I KNOW you would love these little numbers :)
There is nothing about the title of this post that I dislike. I read it and saved reading this post for last. It’s like the dessert of my blog reading. :D
See the whole random bags of this and that isn’t really a problem for me because….well, because when I buy a bag of candy, I eat the whole thing. I’ve made myself sick on pb m&ms (my absolute favorite candy of ALL TIME) more times than I can count or should admit to. I never would have thought to combine toffee and peanut butter.
I think I blogged the same line today about chocolate and peanut butter pairing.
I seriously have a baking cabinet that you would die if you saw. I have seen your pantry in your recent pics. Mine looks…more like a professional restaurant, minus the organization – i.e. hoddgepodge
I have so much stuff and I do use it all, but I wind up with random leftovers until said usage comes along. So these were perfect :) Not surprising you like PB M&Ms, me too!
Look at all this deliciousness! I just used 3 huge peanut butter jars up in 10 days for random recipes, and like you – I will never get sick of using it in my baked goods!! These bars are amazing. So perfectly soft and bursting with a bunch of good stuff. I adore the combination of Heath toffee and PB, Averie! They are gorgeous; so colorful and festive! I’d happily make these with peanut butter M&Ms, butterfingers, and honey roasted peanuts. Oh man! So good.
Using all that PB in 10 days reminds me when I wrote PBC. It was INSANE the amt I would buy. I chuckle now just thinking back to checking out at the groc store with literally gallons in my cart at once. And the combo of flavors you just listed – mmmm, so good!
Dude! Pass me the pan and leave me alone with it. PLEASE!
These look soo amazing! My only problem is I don’t have half-used bags in my pantry right now- so disappointing!
Ok then it’s your excuse to go to the groc store and buy new!
haha oh man I have a number of remnants from Trader Joe’s impulse buys that could go in these bars! I really don’t make bars enough – and they’re so simple!
Ahhh, the TJs impulse buys. Glad you can relate :)
Made me smile: “I used my go-to blondie base, with a half-cup peanut butter stirred in, before stirring in the kitchen sink.” My sink is waaaay too big to fit into cookies!
These bars look divine and they are perfect to make for this weekend, with my family coming to visit. I’ll make some tonight and freeze a bunch for Saturday. You’re making me wish I had leftover candy, but I do have sunflower seeds, chocolate chips, peanut butter, a little bit of shredded coconut (‘coconut dust’, Andy calls it), dried cranberries, and Nutella. Ha! All of that might be a strange combo- we’ll see what makes the cut!
Not a strange combo at all – I bet it would all be good in the bars! If you do use coconut, it will dry out your batter more than the other add-ins, so don’t use tons – or else cut back on the flour a bit. Enjoy!
I did end up making these bars last night and they’re delicious! I used everything that I listed above, minus the dried cranberries and plus 1/4 cup chopped milk chocolate and 1 Tbsp cocoa powder (I like chocolate-y bars!). The Nutella did make them a bit too moist, so they never seemed totally done. But I’ve just kept them in the fridge and they’re fine- better than fine, the flavor is amazing! Nutella + peanut butter + chocolate was such a good idea.
Thanks for the inspiration :)
They sound wonderful! Nutella is thinner/drippier/runnier than PB so it takes longer to dry out in the oven so you can extend baking time in the future and tent pan with a sheet of foil if necessary to protect top surface from over-browning; or just keep them gooey and embrace it, which is what I would do :) Or add a little more flour. But I love the way they sound now. Thanks for LMK what you did & used!
These look insanely good! I have so much leftover stuff I need to get rid of, too. Perfect!
Have fun de-cluttering!
Cookie bars are my favourite fair treat. I am way to impatient to form cookies sometimes, so bars are so easy and portable. Triple peanut? Heaven!
My boyfriend brought me a 3 lb jar of peanut butter beause he knows how much I love it, so now I’ve been trying to find recipes to use it up in. These would be perfect for that… especially with all the candy leftovers I have sitting around from various recipes!
At the end of the post there are links to my 35+ and 75+ PB recipes posts – I bet you’ll find a few ideas there, too :)
Wow, these are a thing of beauty! I will be making these soon for my little monsters!
LMK what the lil monsters think about them, too!
This recipe is perfect for me!! I have so many half used bags in my cupboard it is not even funny. What a great idea for a cookie! Plus, these look delicious!
With all you bake, I am not surprised. It’s just the way it goes!
When the name of a recipe starts out with “triple peanut butter,” how could it not be amazing?! I love everything-but-the-kitchen-sink recipes like this one!
Thanks, Colleen and yes – I love decluttering!
My pantry looks the same way. I too mix something up with all the left overs, expect I make cookies… this is a good alternative, thanks!
So much faster than cookies – love pans of bars for that reason!
I just love all the fun colors. And even if I never made 1/8 of your recipes, I can’t stop staring at the pictures!! I haven’t done a pantry sweep dinner in a while. But it usually ends up having to involve canned and/or frozen veggies and some sort of sauce that I throw together to try to tie it together.
I wish my pantry sweeps were as healthy sounding as yours – but I do that same thing w/ frozen fruit in bags for smoothies. And thanks for the compliments re my pics :)
I love how versatile these bars are. I always have a few tablespoons or a fraction of a cup of chips and other random pantry items. This is such a great way to use them all up! (Raisins, I’m looking at you)
Enjoy! :)
Oh yes, the never ending 1/4 bags of baking chips! All that melty chocolate in a gooey bar soy day perfect. You weren’t kidding about cleaning out your pantry never tasted so good! MnMs make for fun pics, too (like sprinkles!)
Yes they do make for fun pics – vibrant and cheery! :)
Absolutely love these! Everything but the kitchen sink treats are awesome — I just had a compost cookies post on Monday! When everything you’re adding is delicious, how can you go wrong?!
And I bet your compost cookies were so good!
Well call me a monster because I am going to gobble these up! NOM NOM!
This is one, rich and delicious looking cookie bar!! Looks awesome Averie!!
Thanks Aimee – I know you make some delish bars, too!
Now these are my kind of Monster Cookies…in bar form, with TRIPLE peanut butter! What a great way to “compost” your kitchen pantry staples, hahaha! You are so very clever, Averie. Thanks for sharing more ooey-gooey goodness! xo
These look so rich and dense and gooey. Love all the pb in them! I think all my Halloween candy is gone, but there’s a little Christmas candy left and quite a bit of Easter candy. But for the most part candy has a very long shelf life so I always stock up for the long term.
I agree with you and sometimes I see something that I know I dont need at the time but know that one day it will come in handy – and it always gets used, even if it’s 6-12 mos later!
Love the dense bake on these! Fab!
These monster bars are after my heart! Love all the fun colours in there – a sure hit!
What a fabulous idea! They look so cute too :)
You mentioned that natural peanut butter wouldn’t work, does that mean that almond butter is a no-no as well?
It’s not that it ‘won’t work’ – it will probably ‘work- either natural PB or AB. The issue is that the bars won’t hold together as well b/c there’s not as much of a binder. Will they work and will they be moderately successful? Yes, probably. But not as successful in a solid, well-held together shape as what you see here. So I say use AB at your own risk…personally, I am a PB girl all the way and ALWAYS use PB over AB :) PB has way more flavor to me!
Those look so delicious. Especially now that I have a peanut butter obsession. Must put those on the ‘to make’ list.
Wonderful photos!
I bought some chocolate covered ginger candy out of the bulk bin and couldn’t eat it straight up, so I chopped it and put it in cookie dough with the remains of a PB jar scraped clean and a little bag of crunchy noodle things from a salad kit. That weird creation of about 6 cookies was very loosely based on a gingersnap–but not a hard crunchy one. I used your method for soft, thick cookies–brown sugar, cornstarch and dough chilling!
I just had a salad kit last night with those noodle things. I know exactly what you mean. I know the dough base you’re talking about with the brown sugar and cornstarch, and I bet your cookies were great!
Yes, I love this! You are dead on. Always bags of bits leftover in my pantry that I need to use up! Or if there isn’t it means my husband has eaten the leftover parts in the bag. We may or may not have a sweets “problem” in our house. :-)
I can’t even tell you how much stuff I have as a dessert blogger!
Those sound amazing. I would love to make some but we never ever have leftover candies. Or I do but then my husband hunts and snacks. He knows where I keep everything and loves to go nibble.
These look so soft and fudgy! Am exactly the same, I alwats find random packets of choc chips with just a few in them (from food photos I think! :-))
I’m the queen of 1/4 cup leftover.
I love that you could use up all the leftover random add-ins siting in the pantry. I think half of my stuff is expired though. But Jason won’t let me throw it away. He says if the bag is sealed, it’s fine!
By and large, with chocolate chips, baking chips, or any sort of sweet that’s sealed in a bag, I’d pretty much use it and agree with Jason. It would have to be fuzzy for me to throw out some Snickers or random butterscotch chips, etc. :)
Haha I love a recipe that also clears out the cupboard. I get so happy when I use up 4 half opened bags at once. And then when it turns out into something like this? Score!! The bars look absolutely perfect :) I go though phases with peanut butter and right now I am in a “I like” phase so these bars look extra good!!
I wish I went through ‘phases’ with PB – but they range from mild cravings to half jars in a sitting if I let myself! And there is nothing better than clearing out 4 partially used bags of randomness, for sure!