It’s December which means it’s Christmas cookie season! In the past, every Christmas vacation at home meant spending countless hours in the kitchen with my mom, sister and friends baking dozens of different kinds of cookies to send out as gifts. I have so many fun memories from doing this that baking cookies has become one of my favorite things about this time of year. Even though I will be spending Christmas in Oki again this year, baking cookies makes me feel a little closer to home and always puts me in the Christmas spirit. It must be the magical combination of mouth watering smells coming from the oven and Christmas music playing in the background. Since I’m already starting to feel nostalgic about Christmases at home (the sunny, 70 degree weather sure isn’t helping), Christmas cookie baking has begun in our house, which means I get to start sharing some of my favorite recipes, both old and new, with all of you!
Fortunately for my waistline, as well as Colin’s, our base holds a cookie drive every year for all of the single men and women stationed here. I love volunteering for this event because it gives me an excuse to make dozens of cookies, while knowing they are going to people who could really use some holiday cheer around this time of year (from past experience, I know how hard it is to be alone and very far away from those you love on Christmas.) This year, they needed over 2,500 dozen cookies. That’s a lot of cookies! I decided to make a couple different kinds, the first being these M&M Cookie Bars. I realize the recipe is neither a cookie per-say, nor is it specific to Christmas, but it is my favorite, large batch “cookie” recipe.
As I’ve mentioned before, bar cookies are a great option when you need a large amount of cookies because they bake all at once, rather than only a dozen at a time, like drop cookies. These bars are particularly fast because the dough is very simple (think chocolate chip cookie dough) and isn’t difficult to scale up, if needed, which I always do. Much like chocolate chip cookies, these bars are soft and chewy on the inside, while the outside still has a nice crunch, even on the bars from the middle of the pan. These bars are loaded with chocolate, just the way I like it, but not overly sweet, since I use a combination of m&m’s and bittersweet chocolate chips. They are sturdy, easy to package and look very festive too, thanks to the red and green m&m’s (although the normal or other seasonal m&m’s always look great too!)
Whether you need cookies for an event or just want to get your baking all out of the way at once, these are a great option. I hope you love them just as much as we do. Stay tuned for a new cookie recipe, that’s sure to become a classic in our house, in a few days!
M&M Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (10 2/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (optional, but you can't taste it, I promise!)
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups m&m candies, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine flour, baking powder and espresso powder in a medium size bowl and set aside.
- Add melted butter and brown sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on medium speed until well combined.
- If the mixture is hot to the touch, allow it to cool slightly. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla and salt, mixing on low after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, as needed.
- With the mixer still on low, add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined and, again, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the chocolate chips and 1 cup of m&m's, either gently mixing on low or stirring in by hand.
- Pour batter into greased 9x13 inch non-stick pan.
- Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup m&m's evenly over the top, pressing in slightly, if needed.
- Bake bars for 28-32 minutes, until the top is golden and puffy. A toothpick inserted in the center may not come out clean (although one towards the outer edges should), but will solidify as the bars cool.
- Let the bars cool completely on a wire rack before cutting, overnight is best.
- Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Notes
1. I have scaled this recipe up many times by multiplying all ingredients by 1.5 and baking in an 11x17 inch sheet pan. This will yield 48 bars. When doing this, use 4 eggs plus one egg yolk. The baking time remains the same.
Recipe slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour
Nutrition Panel: Serving Size: 1 bar Calories: 250kcal Carbohydrate: 38g Fat: 11g Protein: 3g