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Salty-sweet Brown Butter Christmas M&M Cookie Bars for your Christmas week cookie baking. Homemade chocolate chip cookies, made with browned butter, vanilla, and plenty of milk chocolate Christmas M&M’s. The cookie dough is pressed into a baking dish and baked until just golden on top. There’s nothing not to love about these sweet and festive Christmas cookie bars. Each bite is slightly crisp on the edges, but soft and gooey in the center…with a few milk chocolate kisses and a pinch of sea salt on top. Christmas cookie perfection and super easy too!
We’re just three days away from Christmas and I’m cramming in some of the very best last-minute recipes. And when I say very best, I really mean it. While these cookies are not overly creative or different, they’re a cookie bar I’ve been wanting to share with you guys for years…and years. These cookies really are the BEST, so I saved them for last. And just in time for the mad rush of Christmas baking that’s about to take place over the next few days.
I’ve shared the story of my mom’s cookie bars before, but growing up her cookies were always everyone’s favorite. Many times she’d make classic chocolate chip cookies. But more times than not she’d be short on time (surprise surprise). So instead of rolling out the dough, she’d press the dough into a baking dish to make cookie bars.
Bars certainly aren’t anything we haven’t all seen before, but something about Mom’s cookies bars made them better than all others. And the honest truth? With a cookie bar, you get more cookie per “serving”, plus a doughy center that’s, yup…roll your eyes back delicious.
It’s pretty simple. I make these every single year on the days leading up to Christmas. Most everyone in my family loves a cookie bar more than any other kind of dessert. They’re simple yet, kind of fancy…in our own hillbilly sort of way. We all just love a good cookie, especially ones made with double the chocolate.
Seeing as Christmas is only days away, I obviously needed to make these bars festive. I’m not usually someone who loves to bake with candies, but I’ll make an exception for the holidays.
Enter these milk chocolate Christmas M&M Cookie Bars. These bars have that extra special Christmas touch that makes them delicious and oh so festive too.
With time so tight during the final days before Christmas, these are the perfect super easy Christmas cookie to bake.
There is one thing that MAKES these cookies…a bit of golden browned butter.
You’ll brown both sticks of butter. It’s a small extra step, but the browned butter really does add so much depth of flavor to these cookies. It’s worth the extra time, which is really quite minimal anyway.
…semi-sweet chocolate chips. Nothing special here, pretty classic but you need them.
…Holiday M&M’s, the most important “special touch”. These are what make these true Christmas cookies.
…sweet milk chocolate kisses on top. Are these needed? Not really, but they sure are delicious. And since it’s Christmas, the more chocolate the better!
…a little pinch of flaky sea salt, for a little salty-sweet touch.
What I love about these cookies is that they’re easy to make, require no chilling, and take less than an hour…so simple.
But my favorite part? These bars are perfectly crisp on the edges, yet soft, gooey, and almost underdone in the center…which in my option make for the BEST cookie bars. A real deal, roll your eyes back, deliciously GOOD cookie. Tip? Try a bite…or two while these are still warm. You might need to use a fork to eat them, but there’s nothing better. DELICIOUS!
I’m not normally such a decadent cookie person, but I really like to do it up for the holidays. They only come once a year, and there’s only a few days left. So let’s just have fun, enjoy every minute of the season, and do these bars up right!
And with that, here is my Christmas week suggestion. Let’s bake cookies on Tuesday night and enjoy them while watching our favorite holiday movies. BUT, be sure to make a double batch. Then package that second batch up in a cute cookie box to gift to someone in need of a little Christmas cheer. I know it may be cheesy and I’ve said this way too much lately, but…
‘Tis the season for giving!
Looking for other Christmas cookies? Here are my favorites:
Easy Hot Chocolate Lace Cookies
Lastly, if you make these Brown Butter Christmas M&M Cookie Bars, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
These are SO good. Very festive and easy to make. Perfect to bring to the hospital for an Xmas eve treat for those working!!
Hey Stephanie,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
I had a hard time with these being too doughy at 350 for like 27 minutes. Should I do a higher temp?
Hey Kailey,
I would just add 1 minute or two to your baking time. I hope this helps! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Is this supposed to use unsalted butter? I felt like mine turned out REALLY salty?? Thanks
Hey Jules,
I always use salted butter. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Just made these and they are so perfectly yummy! Love the combo of brown butter, chocolate chips, M&M’s and flaky salt. Thanks for another wonderful recipe, Tieghan!
Hey Ann Marie,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These were easy to make (my 11 yr old did most of the work) and came out perfect!
Hey Kate,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These are so good!! But they rose almost too much and seemed more like brown butter m&m cake bars rather than thinner, chewy cookie bars. They were obviously still delicious but any idea why this happened? Thanks for the great recipe!
Hey Jessica,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! They really aren’t meant to be thin:) Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Just made this tonight and it was wonderful!
Hey Marnie,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe! I am so glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Just made them! I used mini Christmas m &m’s because that was what I had and I’m not brave enough to hit the store this close to Christmas. They are fabulous and we’re so easy to whip up! Thank you and Merry Christmas from Canada! ???
Hey Barbara,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These were so much easier to make than I thought and oh so festive! Will definitely make again.
Hey Maria,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Would gluten free flour substitute well in this recipe?
Hey Gray,
Yes, you can use an equal amount of GF flour. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
I made these last night on a whim and I am so glad I did!!! The entire pan is gone …there are only two of us…..
One of my favorite things I’ve ever made , I usually don’t leave comments but felt like I had to so everyone would know how good this is!!! I only had m&ms on hand, so I didn’t use chocolate chips or the Hershey’s kisses and it still came out delicious !!!!!!!! Thanks so much for the recipe !!!!
Hey Jane,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
I’m having trouble finding red and green m&ms, any suggestion for a substitute to give an equally festive look?
Hey Alex,
You could add some sprinkles! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
I know it’s not about these bars, but thank you for all your recipes! I just made chex mix for the few days leading up to Christmas, and the Hot Chocolate Lace cookies. Both are delicious- thank you!
Thank you so much Bethany!! xTieghan
Amazing! My family really loved these bars
Hey Clare,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These look so yummy! Would they work as individual cookies as well? Merry Christmas!
Hey Megan,
Yes, that would work well, follow the rolling instructions for these:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/salted-caramel-pretzel-snickerdoodles/
I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan