Gooey M&M cookie bars with marshmallows roasted right in.
The other day, Judah wanted to bake cookies. I told him to pick out what he wanted included in the cookies. He opened the door to our kitchen cabinet that holds my baking ingredients and grabbed marshmallows and mini M&M's. "I want these, Mom!"
The M&M's I was cool with, but the marshmallows for cookies?? This would prove more difficult. They were the regular (or jumbo) marshmallows, not the mini ones that I could easily throw on top of each, like these Hot Chocolate Cookies.
After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided to try making cookie bars instead. Judah was a little disappointed that we weren't making round cookies after all, and I was a little hesitant that they would even turn out as I'd hoped.
You better believe that once I removed these from the oven, let them cool a little and then took a bite...I was thrilled! Over beyond thrilled! I couldn't wait for Ben to get home to try them, and he loved them just as much.
These look a little fancy, but they are very simple. Mix up a cookie base with M&M's stirred in, then press about ¾ of the dough into a 9x13-inch pan. Next, layer 24 marshmallows evenly into the pan in a grid-like pattern, and then scoop the rest of the dough in between each marshmallow (20 dough balls). Bake for 25 minutes and voila! Done!
I took the rest of the cookie bars to my friend's house for play-date and left them there for her family to devour (she has FOUR boys)! She texted me later that afternoon:
🙂
Recipe Card
Gooey Roasted Marshmallow M&M Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup miniature M&M's
- 24 jumbo (regular size) marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with nonstick spray (I recommend Baker's Joy).
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined. Gently mix in the M&M's until evenly distributed.
- Press just less than ¾ of the cookie dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Layer the 24 marshmallows into the pan, spacing evenly into a 4x6 grid. Use a medium cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to spoon dough balls in between each marshmallow in the 6-count rows, creating 20 dough balls (5 in each row).
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until the marshmallows and cookie dough are dark golden brown. Let cool before slicing into 24 squares.
