The best bar cookies you’ll love this Christmas are here. Welcome to week #2 in my Holiday Cookie Series where I will give you five different cookie recipes a week for five weeks to enjoy this Holiday Season! While week #1 focused on The Best DROP Cookies You’ll Love This Christmas, this week I worked on Brownies and Bars.
Why Do I Love A Brownie Or Bar Cookie For Christmas?
Why would I post the best bar cookies you’ll love this Christmas? Well because it’s a one and done!! The ingredients usually come together quickly, you pour it all into a baking dish and in 20-25 minutes you have an entire batch of something wonderful. Not going to sugar coat it (except that’s all I do, coat things in sugar, and butter, and more sugar) but I think we have some winners here. A couple of these recipes I have been making for years, one recipe I got from a dear friend who has almost as many cookies in her freezer as I do in mine! We stumbled on and tweeked a couple of new recipes as well. I am really excited to share these with you, let’s go!
First up, Junior Mint Brownie
This is a recipe of mine that I used to make with a mint chocolate chip because you used to be able to get those. I guess you still can if you want to pay $13 on Amazon for a 12 ounce bag of Guittard brand. So I have been forced to update this recipe and now I use an 8oz bag of mini Junior Mints and honestly I think this recipe is better! It’s so easy to make a brownie from scratch and it’s quick too. One of my favorite recipes for sure.
Junior Mint Brownie
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (188g) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 8 oz bag of mini junior mints
Instructions
- preheat oven to 350° lightly spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray and set aside
- sift together flour, baking soda and salt and set aside
- combine sugar, butter and water in a microwave safe bowl and microwave 1½ min on high, stir until smooth
- add 1 cup chocolate chips, microwave again for 1½ min, stir until smooth
- add vanilla and eggs 1 at a time, combining well after each addition
- stir in flour, remaining chocolate chips and the junior mints
- bake 25 minutes, until center is set
Nutrition
Maple Butter Blondie
This is a recipe that I have addapted from a Delish Recipe and they are so good. The combination of white chocolate, maple syrup and an occassional walnut is spectacular. I am not a huge walnut fan (even though they are so good for you, so these blondies are basically health food) but in this recipe they totally work. These totally will make the annual appearance going forward!
Maple Butter Blondie
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup (165g) brown sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (80g) white chocolate chips
- ½ cup roughly chopped walnuts
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp water
Instructions
- preheat oven to 350°, lightly spray a 9×9 baking pan with cooking spray and set aside
- beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
- add maple syrup and vanilla until combined then add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition
- sift together flour, baking soda and salt, add to batter until just combined
- fold in white chocolate chips and walnuts, spread in pan and bake 30 min until center is set
- cool completely before cutting into squares
- combine powdered sugar, 3 tbsp maple syrup and 1-2 tsp of water as needed to get to glaze consistency
- drizzle glaze over blondies and let set
Nutrition
Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
This a new recipe for me this year and again one I have tweeked some. The original recipe called for a cranberry layer which was so pretty but honestly I couldn’t add enough sugar to stop the bitterness of the cranberry from coming through so I switched it to a raspberry layer and my taste testers said “ding, ding, ding”! I’ll be making these every year going forward.
Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups (300g) all purpose flour
- 1½ cups oats
- ¾ cup (167g) brown sugar
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup lemon juice from concentrate
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 (18 oz) jar raspberry seedless jam
Instructions
- preheat oven 350°, spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside
- combine flour, oats, brown sugar in a mixing bowl and cut in butter with pastry blender, fork or with a mixer until crumbly
- reserve 1½ cups of crust for top, press the rest of the crust into bottom of baking dish and bake for 15 min
- while crust is baking, beat cream cheese until it is smooth and creamy
- add sweetened condensed milk to cream cheese and combine until smooth and creamy
- mix in ¼ cup lemon juice from concentrate
- in another small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch with the raspberry jam
- remove crust from oven and assemble, smooth cheesecake batter over crust, then add jam on top of cheese cake layer, then sprinkle evenly the reserved 1½ cups of crust over the top
- bake for an additional 40 min, until crust is golden brown
- cool completely, chill and store covered in refrigerator
Nutrition
No Bake Peanut Butter Genie Bar
I don’t know exactly where this recipe comes from. Well, I know where I got it, from my good friend Camille I am just not sure where SHE got it! She had made them one year for a cookie exchange and I LOVED them so I asked for the recipe. I have been making them ever since. This is an elevated rice krispy treat which means it’s a no-bake recipe, one that you just assemble and BOOM you have an entire batch of yumness ( which isn’t a real word but should be).
No Bake Peanut Butter Genie Bars
Ingredients
- 6 cups Special K cereal
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1 cup light corn syryp
- 1½ cups smooth peanut butter
- 12 oz chocolate chips
- 12 oz butterscotch chips
Instructions
- lightly spray a large mixing bowl with cooking spray and pour in 6 cups of Special K cereal
- in a pot on the stove over med heat bring to a boil sugar and light corn syrup
- remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth
- pour over cereal and working quickly stir to coat evenly
- spread into a 10 x 15 bar pan while still warm, you can spray your hands with cooking spray to help spread evenly
- in a double boiler melt together chocolate chips and butterscotch chips
- pour over peanut butter base and score with a knife (this will make it easier to cut when the chocolate has set
- place in the refrigerator for at least 4-6 hours, ideally overnight
Nutrition
Last But NOT Least, Vicki’s Super Special Fudge-Filled Oat Bars
This recipe I got from another dear friend of mine. Vicki probably is the only other person I know who has as many cookies in her freezer as I do! She has always done a ton of baking and I consider her a mentor in this arena. She has shared so many recipes with me over the years and has taught me so much. This one in particular is both my daugters Morgan’s and Bridey’s favorite holiday cookie. I only make them this time of year but I’m not sure why, it is occurring to me that they really could be a year round treat!
Vicki’s Super Special Fudge-Filled Oat Bars
Ingredients
- 3 cups oats
- 2½ cups (375g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (440g) brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 4 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- preheat oven 350°, lightly spray 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray
- sift together flour, baking soda and salt, set aside
- cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- add eggs and 2 tsp of vanilla, beat well
- mix in oats, until just combined
- in a sauce pan melt together chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, 2 tbsp butter and ½ tsp salt until smooth and creamy, remove from heat and stir in 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- pat ⅔ of oat mixture into prepared baking pan, spread chocolate mixture over top and dot with remaining oat mixture
- bake for 25-30 min until golden brown
- let cool completely and cut into squares
Nutrition
I hope you enjoyed this post for The Best Bar Cookies You’ll Love This Christmas! Check in next week for Week #3 in my cookie series. Cookies that “Scream Christmas”! They will smell like Christmas, look like Christmas, taste like Christmas, you’ll love those too.
Awwww now I’m teary! Thanks for the shout-out, friend. I’m excited to try YOUR recipes.
All of these look so good. Can’t wait to make them. Thank you for sharing all your beautiful recipes. ❤️🎄
Thank you so much Stacey!
Love your videos! ❤️
Thank you !!