The easiest and most festive Christmas M&M Cookie Bars — perfect for cookie exchanges, parties, or a simple holiday treat. These gooey, chocolatey bars are studded with red and green M&M’s, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips for a colorful, crowd-pleasing dessert.
I love practical Christmas baking that doesn’t require complicated decorating. These cookie bars are wonderfully simple: mix the ingredients in one bowl, spread the dough in a pan, top with M&M’s and white chocolate chips, and bake. They’re ideal when you want a festive-looking dessert with minimal effort.
Cookies in a Pan
Pan-style cookie bars are a favorite for busy holidays. They’re easy to scale and make transportable portions for gifting or exchanges. This version is adapted from a classic chocolate chip cookie bars base and works well on a large jelly roll or sheet pan so you can serve many people. Pressing colorful M&M’s on top instead of folding them into the dough helps the candies remain bold and visible after baking.
Christmas M&M Cookie Bars Ingredients
These bars use common pantry staples, plus a few holiday-specific items if you want the full festive look. The main ingredients are:
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar and granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Large eggs
- Pure vanilla extract
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- White chocolate chips (optional but festive)
- Red and green M&M’s
Tips for Making Christmas M&M Cookie Bars
- Line your pan with foil or parchment and spray with nonstick spray for easy removal and cleaner edges.
- If you use a smaller 9×13-inch pan, the bars will be thicker and may need an extra 5–10 minutes of baking time—watch until the center is set and the edges are lightly browned.
- Press the M&M’s and remaining white chocolate chips onto the surface after spreading the dough so the colors stay vibrant on top.
- These bars travel well for cookie exchanges, classroom parties, or holiday potlucks. For year-round treats, swap the M&M colors to match other seasons and celebrations.
Other Christmas Cookie Exchange Ideas
These Christmas M&M Cookie Bars pair well with a selection of classic holiday cookies. Consider offering them alongside gingerbread, cut-out sugar cookies, snickerdoodles or peanut butter blossoms to give guests a variety of flavors and textures. I keep a stash of seasonal M&M’s on hand so I can add festive color to multiple recipes throughout the season.
What are your go-to holiday cookies each year? There are so many great recipes to try and swap at cookie exchanges, and these bars are always an easy crowd-pleaser.
Recipe Card
Christmas M&M Cookie Bars
10 mins
20 mins
30 mins
30 bars, depending on size of pan used
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12-oz. bag)
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup red and green M&M’s
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet or line it with foil/parchment and spray with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the vanilla and eggs.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips and half of the white chocolate chips.
- Using a large rubber spatula or wooden spoon, spread the dough evenly on the prepared pan. The dough may appear thin on a very large sheet pan but will puff and fill gaps during baking.
- Sprinkle the M&M’s and remaining white chocolate chips evenly over the top and gently press them into the dough.
- Bake 20–25 minutes, until the center is set and the edges are lightly browned. If using a smaller pan the bars will be thicker and may need up to 30 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool, then cut into squares with a plastic knife for cleaner slices.
Notes
Nutrition
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