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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.
Hi can I make these ahead a time and freeze them?
Hi Martha,
Sure, that should be okay to do! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
5 stars!! I’d give more if I could. The brown butter, the sea salt – SO GOOD. I made these yesterday and my kitchen smelled incredible for hours. Definitely adding these to my yearly holiday baking!
Hey Autumn,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!❄️ xTieghan
Hi Tieghan,
I’ve tried several of your recipes and this one is (again) a winner. They just came out of the oven and smell amazing.
Happy Holidays from the Netherlands!
Anne
Hey Anne,
Wonderful! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! Happy Holidays!?? xTieghan
Hi Tieghan! These Christmas bars are the perfect combination of easy & delicious. That’s my kind of recipe. I’m currently eating one and it is oh so good. You’re my go to girl for recipes. Thank you so much.
Hey Cyndi,
Seriously amazing! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
Are these freezer friendly? Would like to make them ahead of time, freeze, thaw, and then give them to coworkers, but I’ve never frozen cookies or cookie bars before!
Hey Abigail,
Yes, that would be just fine for you to do! I hope you enjoy this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Great! Would you recommend freezing/thawing the dough, or making the bars completely and then freezing/thawing?
I would freeze and thaw the dough:)
The BEST thing I’ve ever baked!!! I subbed King Arthur gluten free all-purpose flour and left out the M&Ms (added extra chocolate chips). These were AMAZING!! Followed the recipe to a T and didn’t need to adjust baking time, ingredient quantities, etc. at all. Thanks so much!
Hi Claire! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! 🙂 xTieghan
I have made these 3 times already and they have been a hit with friends and coworkers. Just made a double batch for a church function. These are so yummy and easy!
Hey Sayre,
Fantastic!! I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xTieghan
I made them yesterday and they are really delicious, thank you very much for the receipt 🙂 .
I added a little bit of cinnamon to the dough (I know it’s May, but I love cinnamon throuout the year :)) and I needed to bake the bars a few minutes longer (but my oven is old and sometimes crazy).
Kindest regards from Germany (I am quite jealous of all the snow in Colorado :))
Madeline
Hey Madeline,
Awesome! I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed and I really appreciate you giving it a try! Have the best week:) xTieghan
These are incredible! The browned butter really adds a nice touch. Just came out of the oven and half the pan is gone. Thanks so much for this!
Hey Jaime,
I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Have a great week! xTieghan
Made these for the neighbors for Christmas and they were a hit!! My fiancé was sad we had to give them away!
Hey Kirstin,
I am so thrilled that you have enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for making it:) xTieghan
I love browned butter everything so I was so excited to try these. They looked beautiful coming out of the oven but ended up being really cakey…. I thought they would be more chewy? Did I do something wrong or is that how they are supposed to turn out?
Hey Kiran,
These are a cookie bar so they definitely have a different texture than a chewy cookie. I hope this helps, thanks for trying the recipe! xTieghan
Never got around to making these before Christmas but ant to try them now! I’m just going to use all chocolate chips instead since I don’t need it to be festive, just wanted to check then that there is no real reason to separate the dough into two layers right?
Hey Kristin,
Yes, that is correct! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi Teagan,
I also live at altitude, so was wondering if I should follow your baking directions exactly, or make modifications for altitude still?
Thanks!
Hey Nina,
You can follow the recipe as is! I hope you love them:) xTieghan
These were out of this world AMAZING! One of the best cookie bar recipes I have every tried. Loved them! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Alexandria,
I am so glad the recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for trying it out! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
I’d seen a friend make these and just HAD to make them for myself. They are so incredible that I had to make them the week after Christmas to have more for myself! I don’t know what gives these cookies such a unique flavor but they might be the best cookie ever!
Hey Paige,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe. I am so glad you enjoyed! xTieghan
So delicious! There’s a few too many steps to truly categorize it as “easy” IMO, but if you do not care for the aesthetics of having an M&M-only top layer, you can omit the step of removing one cup of dough for later use. Taste-wise, these were too good to even give away for my Christmas cookie handouts!
Hey there,
Thank you so much for giving the cookies a try, I am so glad they were enjoyed! Happy New Year! xTieghan