Halloween Candy Cookie Bars
Halloween candy cookie bars are my favorite way to use up leftover Halloween candy. The base cookie recipe is perfectly crisp and chewy and loaded with all my favorites. Swap in your favorite chopped-up candy bars for a treat that will make you want to go out and buy candy!
How to Make Halloween Candy Cookie Bars
This recipe couldn’t be easier! The base is a simple cookie dough recipe that only requires a handful of ingredients. Customize it with your favorite candies!
Tools Needed
Ingredients you’ll need
- Butter. Unsalted room temperature butter.
- Sugar. These cookie bars use both white and brown sugar for optimal texture.
- Eggs. Eggs help these cookies stay nice and chewy.
- Baking soda. The best chewy cookies, IMO, use only baking soda.
- Flour. Good old AP flour for the win, here.
- Candy. I mix M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, and chopped Hershey bars into the cookie dough and after baking, I press a bunch more chopped candies into the top of the bars. Use some cute sugar eye candies for extra Halloween vibes.
Tips for perfect cookie bars
- Room temperature ingredients. This is so important! Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature–the butter and eggs emulsify so much better. You want nice, fluffy butter so these cookie bars end up nice and chewy.
- Beat your butter and sugar long enough. For the best texture, you really need to beat the butter and sugars together for 4-5 minutes. The butter mixture should be really light, fluffy, and almost doubled in size.
- 2 sugars are better than 1. There’s a reason why these cookie bars call for both brown and white sugar, so please don’t make any substitutions. Brown sugar gives these cookie bars a chewy texture and reacts with the baking soda for leavening. The white sugar gives them their crispy edges.
- Weigh your ingredients. I do give cup measurements, but when I bake, I use weight and metric measurements for precise results. Weighing your ingredients ensures consistent baking every time!
- Chilling your cookie dough. This recipe calls for a brief chilling period of your cookie dough–I swear it makes a difference!
Size Adjustments
If you don’t want to make a 9×13 batch, you can cut this recipe in half and bake in an 8×8 baking pan or an 8-10″ skillet for a Halloween candy cookie skillet.
Why press the candy pieces into the top of the bars?
I mix the M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, and chopped Hersey bars into the cookie dough, but I find that baking does weird things to candy bars. I press the chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups, Snickers, Twix, and cookies n’ cream Hersey Bars into the top of the bars after baking. Trust me, it’s better this way!
Which candies are best?
Use your favorite chocolate Halloween candies! I’m partial to M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces and peanut butter cups, Hersey bars, Snickers, and Twix. You could also add some chopped-up Kit Kats, 100 Grand bars, 3 Musketeers, and more!
More Cookie Recipes to Try
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Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies
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Cranberry White Chocolate Cookie Bars
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Gingerbread Cookie Sandwiches
-
Slice and Bake Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
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Halloween Candy Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 4 oz Hershey milk chocolate bar chopped
- 3/4 cup M&Ms
- 1/2 cup Reese's Pieces
- Assorted chocolate candies chopped
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for 2 more minutes on medium-high speed, until the eggs are well incorporated and the mixture is fluffy.
- Add the dry ingredients as well as the M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, and chopped Hershey bar and mix on low speed until the flour has been totally mixed in and no longer. Don't overmix!
- Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan and using lightly greased hands, press the cookie dough in an even layer into the baking pan. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the bars for 25-27 minutes, until golden brown and puffy. Cool for 15 minutes and then press the remaining chopped candy into the top of the bars. Top with sugar-candy eyes for extra Halloween vibes!
- Cool to room temperature before slicing into bars.
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