Easy Christmas Cookie Bar Recipes

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
We have been so busy the last couple months we have had barely any time to spend in the kitchen. I am seriously behind on my holiday baking. This weekend will be my first weekend at home in the last two months and I am hoping to get a lot of accomplished in the kitchen. I have a lot of people expecting baked treats for gifts and I want to try out a few new holiday recipes for myself.

I have rounded up a few of my favorite easy cookie bar recipes that would be great for Christmas treats.

Gingerbread Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Sugar Cookie Bars with Buttercream Frosting

Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Monster Cookie Bars
A few more great recipes to try:
No Bake Oatmeal Scotchies
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Frosting
Triple Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Monster Cookies
Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches

On The Menu: Oatmeal Cookie Bars

I love cookies but I am usually too impatient to scoop out the dough into individual servings and bake pan after pan of cookies. It just seems to take forever before baking the recipe is finished and I can sit down with with a glass of cold milk to enjoy warm, freshly baked cookies. For these reasons I tend to bake a lot of cookie bars. The recipes are usually very easy to make and everything gets finished with one batch in the oven.

A couple weeks ago we had a few days of very cool weather and I thought that there would be no better way to celebrate than with a recipe that makes me think of fall. All of the spices in this recipe will have your entire house smelling amazing. Plus, with these Oatmeal Cook Bars being chock-full of of oats, raisins, walnuts it is almost easy to pretend they are healthy.

P.S. Another must bake cookie bar is Monster Cookie Bars.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup all-vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
Garnish with chopped walnuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9 inch baking pan with foil, letting excess extend over the sides of the pan; spray foil with baking spray with flour.
2. For batter: In a large bowl, beat butter, shortening, and brown sugar with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla.
3. In another large bowl, sift together flour and next 8 ingredients. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in oats, walnuts, and raisins. Spread batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, for glaze. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until butter is golden brown. Remove from heat, and whisk in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Whisk in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture can be drizzled.
6. Using excess foil as handles, remove from pan, and cut into bars. Drizzle warm glaze onto warm bars, and garnish with walnuts. Let cool completely. Store in airtight containers for up to 2 days.

On the Menu: Triple Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Who here does not love peanut butter? What about cookies and chocolate? When you combine these three things you end up with something utterly delicious. These Triple Peanut Butter Cookie Bars are so easy to make and use 3- count them 3- types of peanut butter! You have regular ole peanut butter, Reese's peanut butter chips, and peanut butter M&Ms! Seriously delicious is all I have to say to describe the way this recipe tastes. And did I already mention how easy they are to make? It takes like 5 minutes to whip them together - no mixer required- and then you throw them in the oven, cool, and then enjoy. How much easier could it get?

When it comes to peanut butter, I am a fanatic. Honestly, I am. It has always been one of my favorite foods. As a little kid my favorite thing to eat was peanut butter sandwiches. Whenever I refused to eat whatever the rest of the family was having for dinner, mom and dad knew that I would always accept a peanut butter sandwich. So whenever I see a cookie or dessert that requires peanut butter I am immediately drawn towards it.




Ingredients
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (melted)
1 Large Egg
1 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
Heaping 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Peanut Butter Chips
1 cup Peanut Butter M&Ms
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips


Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X9 pan with nonstick spray.
2. Melt the butter and cool slightly. While cooling combine the egg, brown sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. Then add the melted butter to it. Stir until smooth.
3. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. It will smell very peanut buttery at this point. Yum!
4. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined.
5. Fold in the M&Ms and chips. Reserve a few M&Ms to sprinkle on top.
6. Pour into the prepared pan and then sprinkle the reserve M&Ms on top.
7. Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool before slicing and store in an air tight container.

Sugar Cookie Bars with Buttercream Frosting

To be completely honest I only bake sugar cookies every Christmas Eve when my entire family gets together to bake our traditional Christmas cookies. While sugar cookies are beautiful and can be fun to make they are also a lot of work which means baking a batch doesn't really fit into my schedule most of the time. That is why I love this sugar cookie bar recipe. It is quick and easy to make. Plus with all of the sprinkles this recipe calls for and a thick layer of vanilla buttercream (that I of course make pink) this bars are adorable. I made these bars a couple weekends ago when I was having visitors for the weekend and they were a huge hit.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sprinkles (you should use jimmies)

Ingredients for Buttercream Frosting:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 and 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
salt, a pinch
optional: food color and sprinkles to decorate

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, making sure to leave enough overhang on the sides. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl using a mixer, cream the softened butter for about 1 minute on medium speed. Once the butter is smooth add the sugar on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Scrape down the sides as needed.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 different parts. The dough will be thick. Once combined, gently fold in 1/2 cup sprinkles using a rubber spatula.
4. Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 25-26 minutes or until very lightly browned on top. You want the cookie bars to be extra soft, so careful not to overbake. Allow the bars to cool completely on a wire rack at room temperature before frosting. The center will slightly sink.
5. Make the frosting: With a mixer fitted, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add confectioners' sugar, cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add more confectioners' sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if frosting is too thick. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. Beat in food coloring.
6. Remove cooled bars from the baking pan using the aluminum foil overhang on the sides. Frost the bars with a thick layer of frosting and decorate with extra sprinkles if desired. Cut into squares. Store bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days and in the refrigerator up to 5.

On the Menu: Magic Cookie Bars

Magic Cookie Bars are problem one of the things that I make the most often. Why? Well, there's three excellent reasons for this. Honestly, (reason one) they are probably the easiest thing that you could ever make. (Two) Everyone loves them and I do mean everyone, so whenever I make them they disappear fast and I receive numerous compliments and requests for the recipe. (Three) Clean up is a breeze. I hate making a time consuming item and then turning around and having to take forever to clean up because all of the dishes in the house are now dirty. With this recipe you have what you melted the butter in, a spoon, and the pan you baked the bar in to clean and that's it. These are simply one of the easiest and most delicious things you can make. Oh and (reason four) you already have most of the ingredients on hand. Usually the only thing I need to swing by the grocery store for is the can of sweetened condensed milk.

I make these bars all of the time. Company coming? Want to surprise the coworkers with treat? Family get-together? Church gathering? Making a snack for a party? I'm making Magic Cookie Bars. They take less than 10 minutes to put together and then pop them in the oven and let them finish. EVERYONE always raves about how delicious these are. They are usually one of the first things to disappear and I'm always requested to make them for events.





Ingredients
2 Sleeves of Graham Crackers Crushed (roughly 2 cups)
1 Stick of Butter (melted)
1-1.5 cups Coconut
1-1.5 cups Butterscotch Chips
1-1.5 cups Chocolate Chips
1-1.5 cups White Chocolate Chips
14 ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9X13 pan with nonstick spray.
2. Crush the graham crackers and toss in the pan. Melt the butter and then pour in the pan with the graham crackers. Mix right in the pan and then press the crumbs into the pan.
3. Sprinkle your coconut on. Now you can pretty much go wild and add any toppings your heart desires. The measurements for the chips above are just estimates. I pretty much raid the kitchen cabinets for partial bags of stuff and use whatever I have on hand. To me the butterscotch chips should be the star of this recipe, I always use more of them than anything else, usually a whole bag. Then I add whatever partial bags of white chocolate and chocolate chips that I have on hand. Sometimes if I have some almonds or pecans on hand I throw those in too, but usually I don't have any. You can add anything and as much as you want.
4. Now drizzle your can of sweetened condensed milk over everything. I try to cover most of the pan with it.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack and then cut into bars.