Easy Cookie Bars

This easy recipe for Easy Cookie Bars is the perfect mix between brownie, blondie and cookie. These cookie bars are the perfect mix of chewy, soft and crunchy (depending on where you fall in the edge vs. middle war!)  

When baking for a crowd or for my family (which is a crowd) I often go for these cookie bars because they are so simple and make a LOT! 

HERE’S A QUICK VIDEO OF WENDI MAKING COOKIE BARS

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: 

1.  This recipe uses cake mix and instant pudding and that gives the cookies both a chewy texture AND crisp edges.
2. You can add in your own favorite chocolates or candies to make these cookies your own! 

Cookie Bars

WHAT ARE EASY COOKIE BARS? 

Easy cookie bars are an all in one bowl, dump it, mix it and bake it recipe for chewy, light, soft chocolate chip cookies with a crispy edge like a brownie. According to Wikipedia, cookie bars would be classified as a dessert bar!  How cool is that? 

In fact, you could try my Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars too, they are no bake!

HOW CAN I CHANGE UP THIS RECIPE?

One of the many beauties of this recipe is that you can change it up to suit your tastes! Instead of or in addition to chocolate chips try adding some of the following:

• marshmallows
• pecans
• walnuts
• peanuts
• M&M’s
• Kit Kat pieces
• Snickers
• Coconut
• oreos
• butterscotch chips

MAKE EASY COOKIE BARS WORK FOR THE HOLIDAY!

Cookie bars for Easter!

Add malted milk eggs instead of chocolate chips or add pastel M&M’s. 

Cookie bars for July 4, Memorial Day or Labor Day

Add red, white and blue M&M’s. 

Cookie bars for Fall, Halloween or Thanksgiving

Use orange and brown M&M’s or candy corn in the mix. 

Cookie bars for  Christmas

Use red/green M&M’s

So much fun!!

Aren’t they cute?

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR COOKIE BARS (FAQ).

CAN I FREEZE COOKIE BARS?

Yes, you can freeze your easy cookie bars! Wrap in plastic wrap first and then again in aluminum foil. Make sure to mark your packet with the date and contents. They will be good for about 3 months. You might notice that they are more crumbly after being frozen.

HOW DO I CUT MY COOKIE BARS?

This is a matter of personal preference. We usually cut ours in squares but then bars will also work! Use a kitchen dinner knife and don’t cut them until they are completely cooled.

LET’S SEE HOW THIS IS DONE:

First, mix pour the cake mix into a large mixing bowl: 

Add the cake mix

Then add the oil, water and eggs.

Add the oil, water and eggs

then add the instant pudding mix.

Instant pudding goes in

Then stir and the consistency will look like this

Give it all a stir

Add the chocolate chips into the mix (or whatever you want to add to make these just right for you!)

Add the chocolate

Set the mixing bowl aside and prepare the 9×13 pan as follows: 

Prepare the pan

Pour the cookie mix into the baking dish

spread it around

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes:

bake at 350 for 25 minutes

 WHAT TO SERVE COOKIE BARS WITH:

Of course, you’ll want a big glass of cold Milk! 

You might want to prepare an easy dinner to serve with these cookie bars and in that case, I would suggest some Party Chili which you can whip up in a few minutes and put in the crockpot, some Southern Scalloped Corn which is perfect and some Creamy Ranch Pasta Salad! Lovely meal!

YA’LL HELP ME OUT NOW, YA HEAR?

Please leave me a 5 star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟  comment below in the comment section, all right? I would LOVE to know if you made this recipe or even if you are planning to! Of course, head on over to Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram and tag me with some photos of your creation!

I can’t wait!

Ya’ll know I love your comments!! ❤

Easy Cookie Bars

Simple sheet pan cookies. Kids and adults love them! They are chewy in the middle like a brownie and crisp on the edges like the best cookie ever!

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy cookie bars, cake mix cookie bars

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 cookies

Calories: 240kcal

Author: Wendi Spraker

Ingredients

• 1 package of yellow cake mix
• 1 small box of vanilla instant pudding
• ¼ Cup water
• ¾ Cup Vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cup chocolate chip vanilla or peanut butter chips good too!

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 9x13 oven proof pan with cooking spray or grease with vegetable oil
• Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
• Spread into the prepared dish.
• Bake at 350 for 20-35 minutes. Cookie bars! Are done when they start to turn slightly golden.

Notes

• If you aren't a fan of chocolate chip cookies, you can change these up by adding your favorite candy treat like M&M's, candy bar pieces or even nuts! 
• Allow these to cool completely before removing from the pan or they will fall apart. 
• For a crispier edge piece, allow to bake an extra 5 minutes
• If you want super easy clean up, line your pan with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray.  The cookies will lift right out and the pan will stay clean. 

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Easy Cookie Bars

Amount Per Serving

Calories 240

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tried this recipe?Mention @loavesanddishes or tag #loavesanddishes!

**This recipe was originally posted on Loaves and Dishes on February 8, 2015 and has been updated with new information, photos, video or something else that will assist the reader to make these the best ever!***

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Just some words to consider…

Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. ~ Psalm 37:37