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8/18/12

M&M Bars - Except for the 1/4 of the pan I put Walnuts in!




This side is for my family... with M&M's


Sometimes you feel like a nut..... sometimes you don't. 

Yes, I have that old Almond Joy/Mounds Bar jingle going through my head as I upload these two pictures I quick ran into the kitchen to take a picture of.

Yeah, I know a lot of food bloggers spend an hour getting 'just the right photo' for their foods.  Eh, I'm busy.  If I remember to take a picture with my cheap little Sony CyberShot, we're doing good... and to upload it and resize it?  Even better!  I spend about 11 seconds taking my food photos... and sometimes they even turn out looking pretty good!  Ha.



This side is for me... no chocolate for this 'nut' (pun intended)

For this recipe most people will probably use a 9X9" pan - which is perfect.  But I didn't want to.

Yesterday when I thought about what I wanted to bake, I realized I was pulling a memory out of my brain from when I was about 9 years old.  Our small, Catholic elementary school would hold "juice and cookie" time after all our school concerts in the gym.  Everyone would bring cookies or bars to share and it was the highlight of my week.  My month. This is where I tasted most of the cookies and bars I ever had in my childhood and where I came to love things like spice bars, pumpkin bars and more.

A cookie bar from my childhood memory:  A chocolate chip bar that was soft and chewy and sweet like a chocolate chip cookie but... yet, not.  It was very thin and while the outside had a thin crust, the inside was a darker shade of chewy goodness.

So that's what I set out to make.  And since my family loves chocolate and I love nuts...  3/4 of the pan was M&M's and the other part was mine... all mine... and full of walnut pieces.  You make them how YOU like them.  Heck, go crazy and put raisins in them if that's what your heart desires.


M&M COOKIE BARS  (or chocolate chips, toffee chips, raisins, nuts or even candy bars...)

1 1/4 sticks of butter (about 1/2 cup plus 2 T)
1 1/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 - 1 1/2 c M&M's, walnuts, chocolate chunks, chopped candy, raisins, etc.

Grease or butter a 9X9" pan or for thin bars like I made, use a large sized pan.  Cream butter and sugar smooth.  Add eggs, beat, add vanilla and beat.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until blended.  Fold in the candy or nuts.  Spread in your pan evenly.  Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes for the 9" pan and less for a larger, thinner bar - until dark, golden brown.  Let cool.  Cut.










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