When it comes to Valentine’s Day I like simple. A special breakfast or a unique dessert is the perfect plan in my book. So when I thought about what I wanted to make for my boys this year, cookie bars came to mind. And not just any cookie bar, these are Valentine’s Day Cookie bars that not only have chocolate chips, but white chocolate and peanut butter M&Ms. Oh, my. So good.
These cookies are one of the best because they are moist and delicious. They also hold well so you can make them ahead. In fact I made these two days before I was entertaining and the comment I received was that they were so moist! The key with cookie bars is that they will last longer in the moist delicious factor because they are thicker than a normal cookie. They also stick together until cut helping to keep them like they were fresh out of the oven.
Are you ready to give these a try? To make these Valentine’s Day cookie bars you will need plenty of typical cookie ingredients. The one key unique ingredient is the peanut butter M&Ms. They are large and peanut buttery – and oh, so good with the white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate and cookie batter. Trust me on this.
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, large
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups of peanut butter M&Ms, Valentine’s Day Colors
1 cup of mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
Beat together the butter and sugars until smooth. Add your eggs and vanilla extract until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to your batter until well mixed.
Add all the M&Ms, chocolate chips – both white and semi-sweet. Mix together until the batter looks so good you wonder if you’ll ever bake it – because you just might eat it as it is.
Add the batter to a parchment paper lined 9×13 pan. This is the tricky part. The batter is pretty thick. I found the easiest way to make it behave was to use a spatula to get it onto the parchment paper – and then I dipped my hands in water to give it the smack down, quite literally.
Top the batter with more M&Ms and chocolate chips. You can pat them down a bit. Bake in a 350° degree oven for around 40 minutes. You will want to put foil on top of the cookies about 2/3 of the way through the baking time to make sure the top doesn’t get too brown.
The M&Ms bake right into the top making such a pretty display of Valentine’s Day colors!
Once fully cooled, you can remove the cookie bars from the pan by lifting the parchment paper. Cut into single servings and enjoy! Oh, yes enjoy!
Valentine's Day Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 16 Tablespoons butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs large
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter M&Ms
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Beat together butter and the sugar until smooth and well mixed. Add eggs and vanilla extract, mix well.
- In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to butter mixture mixing well. Add the M&Ms and chocolate chips and mix well, again.
- Place the batter into the 9x13 pan that is lined with parchment paper. Pat down until smooth and even. Top with extra M&Ms and chocolate chips.
- Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until cooked through. You will want to put foil on top of the cookies 2/3 of the way through the baking process to avoid the cookie bars from getting too brown. Enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
I understand the point of using colored peanut butter M&Ms to make a recipe. But, they’re made by Hershey’s, a company that gets its chocolate from sources that use child slave labor to harvest cocoa beans. (See the Facebook story detailing this.) They’ve pledged to be conflict free by 2020. If they keep their promise, that’s when I plan to buy Hershey’s products again. I,wish you’d do the same. In the mean time, you can get peanut butter chips from a number of sources. If there isn’t a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s in the nearest town, you can always order them online from Amazon.