Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Cookie Bars

Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Cookie Bars

A little chocolate, a little peanut butter, and enough Christmas magic to make waiting for them to cool nearly impossible.

There are some things that simply belong together: Christmas lights and cold evenings, Santa and his sleigh, Mrs. Claus and a warm kitchen—and, naturally, cookies.

These Christmas Cookie Bars are everything we love about a homemade Christmas cookie without having to scoop and bake tray after tray. They're soft, buttery, loaded with chocolate chips and peanut butter M&M's, and ridiculously easy to make.

Better yet, you can swap in holiday-colored M&M's, and suddenly they look like Mrs. Claus spent all afternoon carefully preparing them.

We won't tell anyone how easy they actually are.

Mrs. Claus' Christmas Cookie Bars

Prep: About 15 minutes Bake: 20–35 minutes Oven: 325°FPan: 9×13-inch for thick bars or 15×10-inch for thinner bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed

• ¾ cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ¾ teaspoon salt (or 1 teaspoon kosher salt)

• 1 cup chocolate chips, plus additional chips for topping

• 1 cup peanut butter, M&M's—or whichever M&M's happen to be your favorite

Holiday-colored M&M's are especially fun around Christmas, but there's certainly no North Pole regulation requiring them.

Let's Make Some Christmas Magic

1. Preheat the Oven

Preheat your oven to 325°F.

Line your baking pan with parchment paper or foil. Use a 9×13-inch pan for thicker cookie bars or a 15×10-inch pan for thinner bars.

2. Cream the Butter and Sugars

Add the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar to a large mixing bowl.

Cream them together for approximately 1 minute, until everything is well combined.

3. Add the Eggs and Vanilla

Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract until incorporated.

And yes, your kitchen should already be smelling suspiciously like Christmas.

4. Add the Dry Ingredients

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Stir until everything is just combined and a soft cookie dough forms. Avoid overmixing.

5. Bring on the Chocolate

Fold in the chocolate chips and M&M's.

Reserve approximately ¼ cup of the M&M's , along with a few extra chocolate chips, for decorating the top.

Because we're making Christmas cookies. Subtlety left the building somewhere around Thanksgiving.

6. Fill the Pan

Press the cookie dough evenly into your prepared pan.

Scatter your reserved M&M's and additional chocolate chips across the top and gently press them into the dough.

7. Bake

For a 9×13-inch pan, bake for approximately 30–35 minutes.

For a 15×10-inch pan, bake for approximately 20 minutes.

The cookie bars are ready when the edges and surface are barely golden brown.

Don't wait for the entire thing to become deeply browned. Slightly underbaking these bars helps keep the centers soft and chewy as they cool.

The Hardest Part: Wait

Allow the cookie bars to cool completely before slicing.

Yes, completely.

Mrs. Claus apparently possesses considerably more patience than the rest of us.

Mrs. Claus' Cutting Trick

Once the cookie has completely cooled, place a large cutting board over the pan.

Hold the board and pan together securely and carefully flip them over.

The entire cookie should release from the pan in one large piece.

You can then cut the bars while they're upside down, which makes that enormous cookie considerably easier to manage. Once they're sliced, simply flip each bar right-side up.

Much cleaner. Much easier. Far fewer cookie casualties.

Make Them Your Own

One of the best things about these cookie bars is how easily you can change them.

Use traditional peanut butter M&M's, regular M&M's, red-and-green Christmas M&M's, or whatever variety your family loves.

You can even change the colors throughout the year.

Although Mrs. Claus would probably argue that Christmas colors are appropriate twelve months a year.

We aren't going to argue with her.

Storing Your Cookie Bars

Once completely cooled, store the bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

For longer storage, freeze them for up to 3 months.

Remove frozen cookie bars approximately 1 hour before serving and allow them to thaw.

And if you want that glorious just-out-of-the-oven experience again, warm an individual bar in the microwave for approximately 10–15 seconds.

Chocolate gets melty.

Cookie gets warm.

Civilization briefly reaches its peak.

From Mrs. Claus' Kitchen

Christmas isn't really about making everything perfect.

Sometimes it's simply gathering in the kitchen, making something sweet, sneaking a few M&M's when nobody is looking, and spending a little time together.

Those are the moments we remember.

So make a batch, pour something warm, turn on your favorite Christmas music, and share them with somebody you love.

Just remember to save one for Santa.

Actually...

Better make that two.

— Mrs. Claus