Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
I love peanut butter, and my son adores chocolate. I tried for a long time to find the perfect recipe to make both of us happy. This recipe is perfection! The cookie bars are soft, chewy and thick with a chocolate layer on top covered with a sprinkling of M & M's. You will just have to check out these peanut butter cookie bars for yourself!
Servings: 24
Calories: 217kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter melted and cooled slightly *see note (226 g)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups brown sugar packed (440g)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter not all natural (240g)
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour 350 g
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¼ cups mini peanut butter M&M’s
Chocolate Topping
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon butter
Decoration
- ½ cup mini peanut butter M&M’s
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 Fahrenheit and spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray. *see note
- Add the flour, baking powder, and mini peanut butter M&M’s together in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk the slightly cooled butter and eggs together till smooth.
- Add the brown sugar, and vanilla and whisk again till smooth.
- Add the peanut butter and whisk till smooth.
- Add the flour mixture and M&Ms and mix with a spoon till just combined.
- Turn the batter out into the prepared baking dish, smoothing the top slightly so it’s even.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is set and golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool in baking dish till nearly completely cool before making the topping.
- In the microwave in 20 second increments at 50% power, melt the chocolate chips and butter together.
- Once melted, spread the chocolate on top of the bars and sprinkle with the peanut butter M&M’s
Notes
- If you use unsalted butter in the batter, add ¼ teaspoon salt to your flour mixture.
- If you use a glass baking dish your cook time will likely be a few minutes less than if you use a metal dish.
- I prefer using a baking dish that has more defined corners than rounded edges because it makes more bars squared.
- If you can’t find mini peanut butter M&M’s you can use regular M&M’s. I found mini peanut butter M&M’s at my local Walmart.
- If you don’t want to make as many bars, you can half this recipe and bake in a 8x8 inch baking dish.
Nutrition
Calories: 217kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 131mg | Potassium: 140mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 273IU | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg