Description
These Best Monster Cookie Bars are a delightful blend of chewy oats, rich peanut butter, and sweet chocolate chips and M&Ms, baked into a deliciously soft bar. Perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth with a nostalgic twist, these bars are easy to make and versatile with options to customize the mix-ins for your preference.
Ingredients
Scale
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
- 1 cup peanut butter or nut butter alternative (creamy, not crunchy)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix-Ins
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup M&M candies
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Pan: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray to prevent sticking and set it aside.
- Cream Butter, Peanut Butter, and Sugars: In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the softened butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until the mixture is smooth and creamy. This should take about two minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure even mixing.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla: Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed mixture and continue mixing until everything is fully blended.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Add the all-purpose flour, old fashioned oats, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. Mix on a low speed just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated and there are no flour streaks.
- Fold in Chocolate Chips and M&Ms: Gently fold the chocolate chips and M&M candies into the dough using a spatula, ensuring even distribution without overmixing.
- Press Dough into Pan: Transfer the dough to your prepared baking dish and use a spatula to press and smooth the dough evenly across the bottom.
- Bake: Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the bars are golden brown and set. Be careful not to overbake to maintain a soft texture.
- Cool and Serve: Allow the bars to cool slightly in the pan before cutting into squares and serving to enjoy the perfect chewy texture.
Notes
- You can customize the fillings by substituting the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, dark chocolate chips, or nuts like walnuts or pecans. Similarly, swap M&Ms with other candies or mini M&Ms for variety.
- For a peanut-free version, use creamy nut butter alternatives such as almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, or soy-based options like Wow Butter which mimics peanut butter flavor and texture.
- This dough is versatile and can be used to make cookies instead of bars—just scoop dough balls onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Store fully baked and cooled cookie bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days for best freshness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar (1/24 of recipe)
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 130mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 26g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
