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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.
This is the third recipe of yours that I have made in two days! So happy I found you. Will be making this gain. So easy and delicious!
Hey Chris,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe, I am thrilled that it worked out for you! Happy New Year! xTieghan
Delicious! Love the brown butter and salt.
Thanks so much Cassandra! Happy New Year! xTieghan
THESE WERE A HUGE HIT, GONE IN JUST 1 1/2 DAYS! ALREADY BUGGING ME TO MAKE ANOTHER PAN. MY ONLY ADVICE IS DON’T OVERBAKE. I WAS EXPECTING A DARKER LOOKING BAR BECAUSE OF ALL THE BUTTER IN IT, NOT THINKING DUH, YOU ALREADY BROWNED THE BUTTER. SO, I KEPT ADDING A FEW MINUTES TO THE BAKE TIME AND THE OUTSIDE BARS WERE OVERDONE. THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR RECIPE, THIS IS NOW ON MY PERMANENT LIST FOR CHRISTMAS BAKING!
Hey Michelle,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These were delicious! My husband and I devoured them the past few days! Thank you!
Hey Marie,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
my family and i ate these in a day. SO DIVINE. (couldnt find the christmas M&Ms though so we had to pick the red and green ones out of a 1lb multicolor bag!!)
Hey Elizabeth,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These were so good and super easy to make!
Thanks so much Lindsay! xTieghan
Made it and it was delicious! Tips for cuttign the hershey kisses in half without the tip crumbling off? I found mine were often crushed (though tasty nonetheless…just not very aesthetic).
Hey Elizabeth,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! I use a super sharp knife to cut the kisses:) Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Just made these and they’re fantastic! I’m obsessed with your recipes and blog everything is perfect!!! Happy holidays!
Hey Sara,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Can I sub for a flax egg? Pregnant and don’t want underdone egg ?
Hey Tatiana,
I have not tried this recipe with a flax egg, but if you bake these until cooked the egg should be fine:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Am I the only one who can’t get the salted butter to brown? I’ve had no problem browning unsalted butter in the past but am just getting melted yellow salted butter
Hey Dana,
So sorry you are having issues with browning the salted butter, I only use salted butter. Let me know how I can help! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
My daughter made this today. We did not have the “kisses” – they are light and crunchy with the m n’ m’s- unlike some bar cookies that are heavy and dense- super yummy! This is a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Cheri,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Hi there! Excited to make these! I don’t know if I missed it, but what temperature do I bake these at? Thanks!
Hey Mimi,
You will bake these at 350, as stated in step 2:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
wow!! these are amazing! I made them last night, but waited till this morning to taste them. now the hard part will be where to hide them from my 19 year old son so they’ll be some later today lol! thanks Tieghan for another awesome recipe!
Hey Karen,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Just made these, and the addition of the browned butter is genius.. I have been baking for many years and never thought of adding browned butter, but the flavor is well… drool worthy.. The hardest part of the recipe is cutting the kisses in half :)..Thanks again for the great recipe..
Hey Gail,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
My all time favorite cookie is the nestle chocolate chip cookie pan variation so I was hesitant to try a new version. These are delicious! I had to cook much longer than the allotted time.
Hey Megan,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan