Soft and gooey Patriotic Red White and Blue M&M Cookie Bars are an easy and festive dessert to make in under an hours time! Perfect dessert for any barbecue you might be hosting or attending.
Place the room temperature butter in the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Then pour in the granulated and brown sugar. Cream on low for 1 minute until incorporated. Then, slowly add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix on medium for 1 minute.
Turn off the mixer. Add in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low and then gradually increase speed to medium for 1 minute.
Reduce the speed to low and add in the M&M's. Mix until just incorporated.
Spray a 9x13 glass pan with cooking spray. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the cookie dough contents into the glass pan. Smooth out until even. Add ½ cup M&M's to the top of the pan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden in color. Remove from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes before cutting.
Notes
Leftovers - Always store leftover cookie bars in an air tight container for up to 3 days for ultimate freshness.
Line the pan with parchment paper - if you would like to easily lift the bars out after they are done baking and cooling you can easily remove the bars out of the pan to stack on a platter.
Sheet Pan vs 9 x 13 Pan - I have used both. For this recipe, I write to use a 9 x 13 pan. This will yield a thick cookie bar. If you want a thinner bar and maybe want to stretch it to get a few more servings you can use a small sheet pan around 10x14.
Spread batter in pan - The batter does not have to hit all the edges and corners. The goal is to at least get the batter as even as possible. As the dough begins to bake the dough will smooth out.