There is so much holiday cheer in these Christmas peanut butter cookie bars! Filled with creamy peanut butter, oats, peanut butter chips, m&m's and festive Christmas sprinkles.
Today is day 6 of the '12 days of Christmas Cookies' here on Modern Crumb!
We're switching gears a bit and making a really festive, fun holiday cookie today. These Christmas peanut butter bars are a really close recipe to my chewy oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip bars.
You know what a fan I am of cookie bars, because of just how easy they are to make. In the pan they go, bake, done.
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The peanut butter chips really add an extra peanut butter oomph. I eat way too many whenever I make these!
Since these are holiday cookies, these peanut butter bars get red and green m&m's and a generous amount of Christmas sprinkles. This is a definitely a kid approved recipe! What kid doesn't love sprinkles?!
Christmas Peanut Butter Cookie Bars Tips
Before you start baking, check out my tips for success! I can't be the only person who thinks peanut butter cookies can be tricky. Here's a few of my best suggestions.
Use close to room temperature ingredients. This will ensure a smooth, creamy batter and even baking.
Line the baking pan with parchment paper. Using parchment paper makes it easy to pull the cookie bars out of the pan. No sticking, easy clean up.
Press the cooking dough down in to the baking pan firmly. It should be a nice even layer to all sides.
For extra festive cheer, prior to baking you can sprinkle a few of the m&m's and sprinkles on top of the cookie dough, press them in slightly.
These cookie bars are slightly under baked, so that they can be extra chewy. If you like a bit more bite, add a few extra minutes. In general, a cookie bar will be chewier than a traditional cookie.
Ingredients
Here are a few ingredients that make these cookies just so special! Don't skip these.
- peanut butter - for this recipe, I use a creamy peanut butter
- oats - traditional oats, not the instant oats
- m&m's - the basic milk chocolate m&m's, just the green and red ones or you can buy an actual bag of holiday m&m's and those only have green and red
- peanut butter chips - I love the extra peanut butter taste from these, these are just like chocolate chips but instead of chocolate they are peanut butter
- Christmas sprinkles - any Christmas themed sprinkles will work, I use roughly two tablespoons
FAQ
Here are the answers to some of your most frequently asked questions.
I use an 8x8 square metal baking pan.
I haven't tested it with chunky peanut butter, I wouldn't be able to say what the outcome would be.
You may not have baked them long enough, oven temperatures and heat can vary, put them back in the oven for a few more minutes.
This recipe is for a more chewy cookie bar, but you can check the temperature if you want to be sure, the guideline is a cookie should have an internal temperature of 185 degrees.
12 Days of Christmas Cookies Recipes
- Christmas Peanut Butter Blossoms
- The Best Pecan Sandies Cookies
- Double Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies
- Brown Sugar Walnut Rugelach Cookies
- Christmas Butter Cookies (Tin Can Cookies)
- Raspberry Jam Thumbprints
- Christmas Monster Cookies
- Triple Chocolate Hot Cocoa Cookie Bars
- Cream Cheese Jam Pinwheel Cookies
- Christmas Snickerdoodles Cookies
- Cranberry Cheesecake White Chocolate Cookies
Christmas Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
There is so much holiday cheer in these Christmas peanut butter cookie bars! Filled with creamy peanut butter, oats, peanut butter chips, m&m's and festive Christmas sprinkles.
Ingredients
- ½ c butter, room temperature
- ½ c white sugar
- ½ c brown sugar
- ½ c creamy peanut butter
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 c flour
- 1 c oats
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ c m&m’s, red and green
- ½ c peanut butter chips
- 2 tbsp Christmas sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Cream together softened butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy
- Add in the vanilla and peanut butter, mix well
- Mix in the egg, until just combined
- In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt - to this add the oats
- Pour the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until almost combined but not totally
- Add in the m&m’s, peanut butter chips and Christmas sprinkles
- Line an 8x8 square baking pan with parchment paper
- Scoop the batter into the baking pan and pressing into all the corners so its even
- Bake for 18-20 minutes (this is for a chewier cookie)
- Remove from the oven, let it cool 30 minutes then transfer to a baking rack by lifting up on the parchment paper
- Cut in to squares or rectangles
- Serve
Notes
These cookies firm up as they cool
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 263Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 220mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 2gSugar: 19gProtein: 5g
This information comes from online calculators. Although moderncrumb.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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