What do you make when it’s freezing, windy and rainy outside and you have two sick little boys on your hands? You make m&m cookie bars that’s what! I mean seriously, wouldn’t these just cheer you right up?
I use to LOVE it when my mom or grandmother made cookie bars growing up. Cookies are cool and all but there is just something about the cookie BAR. Thick, chewy, and chocked full of chocolate chips or whatever you choose to add in them.
I will go on record and say these are the BEST m&m cookie bars EVERRR!!! I’ve had plenty of cookie bars in my day and these lovelies bake up thick, chewy and soft in all the right places. They are full of m&m’s which makes me so happy!
I don’t know too many kids that wouldn’t love to come home from school to a plate of these babies and a tall glass of milk waiting on them.
Isaac said these m&m cookie bars were the “best things he’s ever tasted in his whole life” lol So I’m thinking I’ll be making these more often now. It’s really just a good blondie recipe with m&m’s added in. It has a delicious buttery taste that is pretty darn addictive. I’m not even going to tell you how many I had.
Watch me make these chewy m&m cookie bars from start to finish!
Chewy M&M Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 12 Tbsp butter melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups M&M's divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Line a 9 x13 baking pan with greased parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.
- Stir in large egg and egg yolk until combined.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, stirring just until flour is incorporated. Don't over stir.
- Add in 1 cup of m&m's.
- Press dough into an even layer in prepared pan.
- Press remaining m&m's lightly on the top.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from pan and let cool completely
- Cut into squares.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe adapted from cooksillustrated.com
My go to recipe. When I go to friends the tell me to make the “M & M blondies.” I seriously love them. I mix it up and do different candy sometimes. I’ve mastered one instead of m & ms I use dark brown sugar, put caramel drizzle, a little course salt and BAMN salted caramel blondies. Thank you so much for this recipe!!!
We LOVED these cookies! So delicious. Thanks for the recipe! We’ve made them 5 or 6 times already in just a few months.
Mine would not cook all the way at all. We cooked them for 30 minutes, then another 10 and then another 7. Still seem doughy and undercooked on the bottom. Really unsure what happened.
Does it really call for 12 tbsp of butter??
I’ve made these at least 20 times since you posted the recipe on your YouTube channel. They turn out amazing every time and always receive rave reviews from my friends and family! Thank you so much. This is my go-to recipe whenever I have a cookie craving that needs to be satisfied.
I made these for a bake sale and they were a big hit. Since it was fall, I used the fall colored m&m’s.
Wonderful recipe! Made a bunch of high school kids really happy!
Yayyy! So happy they enjoyed!!
This recipe is the most amazing I’ve found for M&M cookies! They are so good they’re addictive!!! The recipe is even great when you substitute chocolate chips for the M&M’s!!!
I absolutely loved these cookie bars. This is my favorite blog of all time because its so quick and easy! The m&m were an amazing touch, my family devoured them so fast. Keep up the amazing work!!!
I absolutely loved these cookie bars. This is my favorite blog of all time because its so quick and easy! Keep up the amazing work!!!
I just love your recipes. I have made three of ur cookie bars for my sister’s daycare and they loved them. I Actually made ice cream sandwiches with your M&M cookie bars, they were a big hit. Thanks for the wonderful recipes.
This was so yummy! Thanks for the great recipe!
I’ve made this recipe quite a few times and it’s perfect! They always come out delicious with no changes needed, and having them be bars instead of drop cookies saves so much time. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
I ADORE these! Always such a crowd-pleaser. I’ve made them more times than I can count, and with such consistent, delicious results! My go-to, favorite dessert recipe. Thank you, Monique!
Thanks for an easy and delicious recipe. Its always a big hit in parties.
I love your style and joy. This looks like such a great recipe. I can’t wait to try it!
Hi there! How do you store these so they keep soft and chewy?
I had some fall M&Ms that I wanted to use before we got into the Christmas season. I used them with a cup of chocolate chips, but followed the rest of the recipe exactly. They turned out great!!! Can’t wait to try Christmas M&Ms with other goodies mixed in. Thank you for a great recipe!!
I just made these and I added a1/2 cup peanut butter!! So very good and thanks!!
Made these last night for a family gathering and they turned out great. After 27mins in the oven, they came out slightly darkened and almost crispy (but not burnt by any means) on the outside, while chewy and gooey toward the center (solidified perfectly upon cooling). Followed the recipe exactly except I ran out of M&M’s so I supplemented with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Beautiful dessert to put out at a party and easy to transport once cooled and cut. Mine made about 30 beautiful 3-bite bars that were approximately 1″ thick. Thanks for a great go-to, kid-friendly, crowd-pleasing recipe!
Amazing recipe–so buttery and delicious! A definite keeper!
These came out great, thank you!
About how many squares does this yield?
I just baked these. Except, I used dark brown sugar and omitted the m&m’s. I would’ve used chocolate chips, but I didn’t have any. But this was bomb! Loooved it! Thank you for this..
Made this dessert and it was delicious! I will definitely make this yummy dish again, thanks!
This is awesome!!!!! I love these bars nice and chewy too. Thank you ssssooo much B-) who ever made this is amazing!!!! U ROCK! 😀
This was super good! Chewy and moist!! I used 1.5 cups of flour and still turned out great…thanks!
I made this and OMGG it came out amazinggggg
I loved this recipe!! i didnt have any brown sugar so i substituted with 1 cup white sugar and 2 tbsp molasses and they tasted awesome! also used easter colored m&ms so it was pastel& pretty!! im only 14 and this recipe was SO easy to make
I don’t think this recipe is right. I followed it exactly and it was extremely dry and crumbly. I think 2.25 cups of flour is too much, maybe it should be 1.25 cups.
No, you just over mixed it or maybe you overcooked it. I tried this many times before and it was PERFECT. Plus I’m just 11 😛
I made this yesterday, yummeh! I will bake more of these for snacks’ supply.. Thank you for the recipes, Monique. I have been searching for chewy cookies recipe for the past 10 years.
This look amazing… My hubby loves M&M’s and loves cookies.. will be making this for Christmas this yr..
I made this for Christmas last year and will be making it again along with my peanut butter cookies#
I made these bars and were not hard to make and were very good.
My kids just ate them up.
I made these for a potluck . . . my daughter’s teacher ate 4 of them! They are seriously yummy. I can’t wait to make them again.
These are awesome! I thought for sure they would be hard and crunchy the second day, but they are still perfectly soft and delicious!
the first time i made this, wow! my colleagues at work love it. easy to prepare.this is my favorite recipe! x-o-x-0!
These bars are VERY dry!! The chocolate chip cookie recipe I usually use has the same amount of flour as in the above recipe, but it uses 1 cup of butter (2 sticks) and 2 whole eggs. That 4 tbsp. of butter and that extra egg white makes a difference!! I should have gone with my gut when I realized it was the same amount of flour. Unless you folks have way bigger eggs in your neck of the woods, but I should have added another egg, then it might have been allright. Wasted 2 good bags of Valentine M & M’s!! Well, my husband and sons still ate them, but not as fast as my baking usually goes around here!!!
Well you’ve been doing it wrong.It uses 3/4 cup of butter! I made these 5x and they are super duper super good! But no offense.
As per my daughter’s recommendation, I used peanut butter m and m’s. She had made them that way too and they were amazing.
Hi! I just made these with peanut butter m&ms instead and plan on using this base for all future blondies. The texture is amazing! So fluffy and chewy and perfect! It is hard to not eat them all at once.
Well I don’t know where I went wrong with my recipe but the mixture was far too runny. I’ve checked and double checked that I followed the recipe correctly. I ended up with m&m cake!
Do you think if I used flour that has baking powder already combined that it would ruin this recipe or would it turn out all right?
My kids love these cookies!! Love this website!! Pls if you have a recipe for strawberry cupcakes can you please share. Thank you!
My oven timer just went off with these! This recipe is basically identical to the one I use! I substituted chocolate chips for the m&m’s! Blondie’s are my all time favorite! Thanks Monique, for all that you do!! They look delish!
Good morning – I made these bars for my son’s birthday and 12 TBSP is the correct amount of butter. That is less than 2 sticks of butter which is a relatively standard amount for cookies, especially to fit a 13×9 pan. They turned out amazing!!
WOW!!! These are the BEST cookie bars!! Followed the recipe exactly, but had to substitute chocolate chips for M&M’s as I didn’t have any. Came out exactly like the original post. Thanks for a GREAT recipe. My 3 young daughters and I enjoyed baking this on a Saturday night :). It is definitely a keeper!
These were absolutely amazing! The texture was incredibly soft and chewy, and my whole family loved them! Thank you so much for this incredible recipe!
Im sooo going to try this… cant wait they, look delicious! 🙂
Its about 180ml
Made these and they were BOMB! I NEVER cook anything right…lol. My som thought his grandma cooked thdmbc they were so good!! I will be trying more of your recipes!! Thank Monique girl!
How much butter? The recipe says 12 Tablespoons, but that just doesn’t sound right! Help…I want to make these ASAP!
Yes please let us know if it is infact 12 tbsp of butter, thank you so much
I just made this and I am so happy with it. I made no changes to the recipe. 12 Tbsp of butter is what I used and it worked out great. I used Valentine’s Day M&Ms. Very pretty.
12 TBSP is correct. Just finished baking this and used the amount called for and it turned out perfect!
I just made them and yes the recipe is correct, 12 tablespoons of butter 🙂
It means one stick of butter plus four more table spoons, so it means to cut in thoes lines each one means a table spoon
It’s 12 tablespoons! If you half it I would use 5 tablespoons and 1 full egg though! 😀
Kera 12 T would be a stick and a half of butter, perfect for this recipe 🙂
It’s a stick and a half. 🙂
Can I turn these into cookies and remove the m&m’s? How would that work out?
I was looking for a recipe that would use up all the Christmas M&M’s I had hidden from myself in the pantry. Hands down, these are the BEST cookie bars I’ve ever eaten! Perfectly chewy but still crisp on the edges. Now, I’ve just gotta resist eating the whole pan myself. “I will share, I will share, I will share…” Hehe 🙂
Girrrrllllll did u say Blondie. I have been wanting one for years and AppleBee no longer makes them. I can’t wait to make these. Mayb I’ll let my kids taste it. Lol Just kidding. They’ll love these for snack. Thanks for sharing your awesome recipes.