Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!)
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Irresistible peanut butter cookie bars with only 5 ingredients! Kid-friendly, easy to make and so delicious, this bar recipe is dangerous!
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: This super easy bar recipe is addictively good!
How long it takes: 10 minutes to whip up, 40 minutes in the oven
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, measuring utensils, 8-inch square baking pan, oven
Servings: 16 small bars
- 1 Recipe Overview
- 2 Easy to make Peanut Butter Bars
- 3 Kid-Friendly Beginner Recipe
- 4 Ingredient List
- 5 How To Make Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
- 6 FAQs
- 7 Make These Bars Your Own
- 8 Storage Tips
- 9 For Peanut Lovers
- 10 More Bars & Cookies
- 11 Get the Recipe: 5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Bars with M&Ms
Easy to make Peanut Butter Bars
Only 5 ingredients! I’m not even kidding. There are FIVE ingredients in these M&M peanut butter bars! Here’s an easy math lesson:
1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + oven = Delicious!
Peanut Butter + M&Ms = Happy!
(5 x 1) + Hungry Kids = Zero!
Soft, chewy, and sweet!These M&M peanut butter bars are not only insanely easy to make but they are so delicious. I recommend a big glass of milk or a cup of coffee. And small bites that savor each morsel.
Lots of possible variations. You’ll love that you can make easy changes to this recipe, too. M&Ms aren’t the only candies that taste great in bars.
Kid-Friendly Beginner Recipe
Since there are only five ingredients, this recipe is perfect for beginners. Let your kids help you make peanut butter cookie bars. They’ll love measuring the baking mix and brown sugar. Teach them how to crack eggs into a small bowl before they add them to the peanut butter. They’ll get good practice stirring and blending and they’ll love using their hands to mix the dough and press the M&Ms in.
I’ll give you a quick preview of the recipe here but as always, look for the printable recipe card near the end of the post. It has complete instructions and nutrition information.
Ingredient List
What are the five magic ingredients? I bet you’ve already figured it out!
- Peanut Butter: Creamy or chunky, doesn’t matter. Avoid the natural peanut butters that have to be stirred; choose a brand like Jif or Skippy.
- Eggs: A couple of eggs hold this business all together.
- Brown Sugar: The molasses flavor adds to the profile of these cookies. Dark brown sugar works as well as light brown sugar.
- All-Purpose Baking Mix: An example of this is Jiffy or Bisquick. The mix comes in a large box and is a shortcut product used to make pancakes, waffles, or biscuits. If you’d like, you can use homemade Bisquick.
- M&Ms: Who doesn’t love these chocolate candies? Use the regular assorted colors or buy a color that’s coordinated with an occasion.
How To Make Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Turn your oven on, wash your hands, and let’s get started! You’ll need an 8 x 8 inch baking pan, or an equivalent of that. Spray it lightly with cooking spray.
In a mixing bowl, blend together the peanut butter and eggs until the two ingredients are nice and smooth.
Add the brown sugar and stir again. The mixture should be well-blended.
Measure out the baking mix and add that to the bowl. Mix it in as well as possible. The dough is very thick. You may have to use your hands to combine it. I usually do.
Add the M&Ms and stir some more. Again, hands are totally permissible. If all of the M&Ms don’t stay in the dough, don’t worry.
Turn the dough out into the prepared pan and press it into an even layer. Press any stray or remaining M&Ms right into the dough.
Pop those babies right into the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Be sure to notice the sweet aroma emanating from your kitchen.
Cool the bars before cutting into 16 squares or whatever size you like. Maybe 4 big squares!
FAQs
Bisquick is an all-purpose baking mix used for a variety of products such as pancakes, waffles, cake, biscuits, shortcakes, etc. Bisquick is a brand name that’s been around since 1931. I guess you could almost call it old-fashioned. Jiffy is another popular brand. Look for the words “baking mix” on the box.
Bisquick is a mixture that contains flour, oil, leavening, salt, sugar and other ingredients. It’s meant to be a shortcut, eliminating the need for several different ingredients. If you’re interested in making your own, try Homemade Bisquick Mix.
Make These Bars Your Own
- Different mix-ins. Try mini M&Ms, peanut butter M&Ms, or Reese’s Pieces. Chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or mini chocolate chips are great too.
- Gluten-free. Use a gluten-free baking mix, such as King Arthur Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix.
- Turn the bars into dessert. Top each square with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of homemade hot fudge or homemade caramel sauce, and sprinkle on a few more M&Ms for garnish. This is really, really good when the bars are still slightly warm.
- Love M&Ms? Try my modestly named perfect M&M cookies — they really are pretty perfect!
- No-bake bars: If you don’t want to turn your oven on, try no-bake peanut butter bars. They taste just like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Storage Tips
Refrigerate/Freeze: Peanut butter cookie bars will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the counter. If you need to store them longer than that, refrigerate or freeze them.
For Peanut Lovers
- Peanut Butter Popcorn
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie (no bake!)
- Buckeyes
- No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
- Peanut Butter Trail Mix Recipe
- Oh Henry Bars
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose baking mix (such as Bisquick or Jiffy)
- 1 bag (12 oz.) M&Ms, about 1 ⅔ cups (use regular, mini, peanut butter, Reese's Pieces, or even chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F°. Spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine peanut butter and eggs until well mixed and smooth.
- Add brown sugar and stir until well-combined.
- Stir in baking mix until moistened (I use my hands – it is a very thick batter).
- Fold in M&Ms. Again, using your hands works best for this step. Don't worry if some of the M&Ms don't stick in the dough.
- Spread mixture evenly in greased pan, pressing any remaining M&Ms into the dough.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and cut into 16 squares.
Notes
- Bars will keep in a covered container on the counter for up to three days. If you want to store them longer, store in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Possible substitutions for plain M&Ms: Reese’s Pieces, peanut butter M&Ms, dark chocolate M&Ms, etc. Chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips are good, too.
- Turn the bars into dessert. Top a bar with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge or caramel sauce, and a sprinkle of M&Ms. Especially good when the bars are still warm!
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Marina says
I don’t have Bisquick but I do I have Krusteaz pancake mix, could I use that? Can’t wait to try these!
Rachel says
Hmm, I’m really not sure! I don’t think they have quite the same ingredients so it might not work. Worth a shot though–let me know if you do end up trying it!
Marina says
I ended up getting Bisquick with a coupon :-) These were DELICIOUS! Mine were soft on the inside which I love!
Julie says
These are amazing!!! I made them with peanut butter m&m’s this time, soooo good! Next time I am going to try regular m&m’s and add some chopped peanuts as well :)
Thanks for the recipe!!
Rachel says
Mmmmm, peanut butter m&ms. Peanuts sound great too, or just chunky peanut butter. Glad you enjoyed!
Sharee says
I am at lost for words. I LOVE these. Right look, right texture, and *definitely right flavor. To say these are a keeper would be an understatement. Thanks for the share! :)
Rachel says
Thanks for the nice comment! They were delicious!
Kate says
Can the “all purpose baking mix” be the just-add-water kind? What do you recommend? These look fantastic!
Rachel says
Probably! Definitely worth a shot!
annette anderson says
These are wonderful! So easy to make. I just mixed up a batch for a Christmas dinner tonight. Finally a different, and easy recipe!
Rachel says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Merry Christmas! :)
Ally S says
I JUST made these and they are delish! I used the mini milk chocolate m&m’s and just about a cup of them. So yummy and easy to make! Thanks!
Rachel says
Hooray! Glad you liked them, thank you so much for coming back to tell me :)
Jody G says
What size bag of M&Ms did you use? :-) My mother gave me a color assortment plastic box thing full of M&Ms so trying to figure out about how many!
Rachel says
I used the medium sized bag–I believe it is in the vicinity of 12oz.
Lori says
What if you substituted the peanut butter for nutella?
Rachel says
Hmm–I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. I haven’t tried it, so no guarantees, but I definitely think it is worth a shot, sounds amazing! Let me know how it goes if you try it.
Rachel says
I made these with flour and peanut butter M&M!s and they are amazing!!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Rachel says
Glad you liked them! Thanks for commenting :)
katie says
My mouth is salivating just thinking about these. Stop posting such great recipes! I feel fat already! lol.
carly {carlyklock} says
These look unbelievable. I’m with you – just as excited about a 5 ingredient recipe! Wahoooooooo!
Rachel says
They ARE unbelievable! Let me know if you try them!
Emily @ Life on Food says
I am going to the kitchen now. I made cookies not to long ago like this but the M&Ms up the bounty big time. Love it!
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says
YUM indeed! Those look dangerously good.
Krista {Budget Gourmet Mom} says
How do I love thee…let me count the ways! Okay, no more math but I am going to have to make these!
Vicki Bensinger says
You had me with the title. It could have had 20 ingredients. That’s right 11+9=20 or 30-10=20. It wouldn’t have mattered. M&M’s AND Peanut Butter! YUM!