Soft, thick, and chewy Valentine's Day cookie bars packed with festive red, white, and pink M&Ms and loads of semi-sweet chocolate chips..
Ingredients
1cupunsalted butterroom temperature
1cuplight brown sugarpacked
½cupgranulated sugar
2large eggsroom temperature
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
3cupsall-purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonsalt
1cupValentine's Day M&Msplus extra for topping
1cupsemi-sweet chocolate chipsplus extra for topping
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick foil or parchment paper, leaving a bit of overhang for easy removal. Spray the lined pan with a light coat of non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer or hand mixer with a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
Stir in the M&Ms and chocolate chips.
Press the dough into the baking dish in an even layer. Press a few more M&Ms and chocolate chips into the top of the dough.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown. Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Notes
For perfectly soft and chewy bars be sure to remove them from the oven just as the edges begin to turn light brown. The pan is so hot that it will essentially continue to cook the bars even after they are removed from the oven.
Wait until your bars are fully cooled before removing them from the pan and slicing.
In a hurry to slice up your bars? Allow the pan to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes then pop it in the fridge to help cool them fully quicker.
Make sure to leave a bit of foiling overhanging the pan so that you can use it to lift your fully cooled cookie bars out and onto a cutting board.
To up the Valentine's Day vibe add some festive Valentine's Day sprinkles to your cookie dough and to the top of the dough before baking.