Christmas bar cookies are the best way to celebrate the holidays! Warm, gooey, and delicious, they feature a soft, brownie-like texture and are bursting with chocolate chips, bright and festive holiday sprinkles, and chocolatey candy.
Christmas Cookie Bars Ingredients
Substitutions And Additions
SPRINKLES: Jimmies are the best choice for adding to the batter as the dye will not bleed.
Other sprinkles should only be added to the top of the cookies; if stirred in, they will turn the batter a greenish-brown color.
CHOCOLATE CHIPS: Swap the chocolate chips for butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, milk chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips in this great recipe.
NUTS: Add chopped walnuts or other chopped nuts to these sweet treats for a bit of extra crunch.
TOPPING: Add a drizzle of caramel sauce to make these classic cookie bars extra sweet.
Key Tips for Perfect Christmas Cookie Bars
1. Use Melted Butter — But Let It Cool Slightly
The butter should be melted, not hot. If it’s too warm, it can partially cook the egg or make the batter greasy. Let it sit for a minute before whisking with the sugars.
2. Whisk Until Smooth, Not Fluffy
This isn’t a creaming recipe. Whisking until smooth fully dissolves the sugars into the butter, which is what gives these bars their dense, chewy texture instead of a cakey crumb.
3. Mix the Flour Just Until Moist
Once the flour goes in, stop mixing as soon as there are no dry streaks. Over-mixing develops gluten and leads to tougher bars.
4. Hold Back Some M&M’s for the Top
Folding some into the batter gives color throughout, but sprinkling the rest on top keeps the bars looking festive after baking — especially helpful if you’re serving or gifting them.
5. Don’t Overbake
These bars should be golden on top, not deeply browned. A toothpick should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs — not wet batter, but not bone-dry either. Overbaking is the fastest way to lose softness.
STEP SIX: Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is a golden brown color and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
PRO TIP:
Oven temperatures vary and may need to be recalibrated periodically to ensure they are accurate. Make sure to keep a close eye on your cookie bars as the suggested baking time approaches.
How To Serve
Christmas bar cookies are a holiday classic that can easily be dressed up to take your Christmas feast to the next level.
To provide an additional layer of flavor, try serving with freshly whipped cream subtly sweetened with vanilla extract; tea or coffee brewed with mulling spices; sweetened condensed milk drizzled over each bar; or a scoop of gingerbread or vanilla ice cream for those feeling extra festive.
These delicious treats will also be a big hit at a cookie exchange or on a cookie plate at your Christmas celebrations.
Our Snickerdoodle cheesecake bars and coconut cream bars are two more easy recipes for irresistible dessert bars.
MORE COOKIE BAR RECIPES
Storage
ON THE COUNTER: Store the holiday cookie bars in an airtight container on the counter for up to five days.
IN THE FRIDGE: If you want to keep them for longer, this easy cookie bars recipe can be stored in the fridge for a week.
Wrap the bars tightly with plastic wrap to keep the air from getting in and drying them out.
IN THE FREEZER: Store these chewy bars in the freezer for up to three months in a labeled container with the date, so that you can enjoy them while they are the freshest.
Christmas Bar Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup red and green M&M’s
- ¼ cup Christmas jimmies
- Christmas sprinkles, for sprinkling over the baked cookie bars if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush an 8×8-inch square baking pan with a bit of the melted butter and line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides.
- In a large bowl, whisk the remaining butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in egg and vanilla until fully incorporated.
- Add flour and salt and mix just until moistened (do not over-mix).
- Fold in ½ cup chocolate chips, ⅓ cup of the M&Ms, and jimmies.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the top with the remaining M&M’s.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a wire rack and sprinkle with additional sprinkles, as desired. Cool completely. Using the parchment overhang, lift the blondies from the pan and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into squares.
Video
Notes
- These cookie bars freeze well. Make a double batch and keep them in the freezer for a homemade holiday gift during the festive season.
- Adding the overhanging parchment paper will allow you to lift the bars out of the pan for easy transfer to a cutting board so you can slice the bars.
- Stir the batter together gently to keep the cookies soft and chewy; overmixing can cause the bars to be crumbly and tough.
- You can adjust the chocolate chips, M&M’s, and sprinkles amounts however you’d like. The quantities given here produce a chewy blondie with lots of chocolate and sprinkle flavor.
- Oven temperatures vary and may need to be recalibrated periodically to ensure they are accurate. Make sure to keep a close eye on your cookie bars as the suggested baking time approaches.
Nutrition
Comments
Eileen E says
These look wonderful. I’m imagining these with a mint chocolate chip ad drizzled with Chocolate glaze, yumm..
Shaunda Snider says
These look amazing!
No I wouldn’t use any other kind of chips in the bars, only chocolate!
Angie Winn says
These bars are fantastic! I made a batch to see if they should go in my Christmas cookie gifts and Yes! They should! Next time I might leave out the chocolate chips and double up on M&Ms.
Joanne says
These look delicious!
Sew Crafty Crochet says
This looks like such a yummy treat! Pinning to make later! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Grace says
I noticed you used a metal or aluminum pan. Do these bake well in a glass baking pan? I only have glass baking pans. Thank you.
Layne Kangas says
Hi, Grace – a glass baking pan will work too, enjoy!
Grace says
Followed the recipe exactly and they came out great! The family loved them! I used a steel baking pan to make this. Curious if anyone has had luck baking this in a glass baking dish as I have heard they don’t cook well in glass.
Winnie says
What are Christmas Jimmies?
Layne Kangas says
Hi, Winnie – they’re a type of sprinkle, you’ll find them in the baking aisle, enjoy!
LuAnn says
These bars look amazing delicious. Can this recipe be doubled for a 13×9 baking pan?? Adjusting the baking time of course.
Layne Kangas says
Hi, Luann – yes, enjoy!