Christmas Cookie Bars
Christmas cookie bars are an easy, irresistible dessert bar with a soft, chewy texture and bright festive colors. Cookies are the best way to celebrate the holidays!
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup red and green M&M’s
- ¼ cup Christmas jimmies
- Christmas sprinkles for sprinkling over the baked cookie bars if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush an 8×8-inch square baking pan with a bit of the melted butter and line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides.
- In a large bowl, whisk the remaining butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in egg and vanilla until fully incorporated.
- Add flour and salt and mix just until moistened (do not over-mix).
- Fold in ½ cup chocolate chips, ⅓ cup of the M&Ms, and jimmies.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the top with the remaining M&M’s.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a wire rack and sprinkle with additional sprinkles, as desired. Cool completely. Using the parchment overhang, lift the blondies from the pan and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into squares.
Notes
These cookie bars freeze well. Make a double batch and keep them in the freezer for a homemade holiday gift during the festive season.
Adding the overhanging parchment paper will allow you to lift the bars out of the pan for easy transfer to a cutting board so you can slice the bars.
Stir the batter together gently to keep the cookies soft and chewy; overmixing can cause the bars to be crumbly and tough.
You can adjust the chocolate chips, M&M’s, and sprinkles amounts however you’d like. The quantities given here produce a chewy blondie with lots of chocolate and sprinkle flavor.
Oven temperatures vary and may need to be recalibrated periodically to ensure they are accurate. Make sure to keep a close eye on your cookie bars as the suggested baking time approaches.