Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2024)

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50 minutes mins

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By: Rachel GurkPosted: 02/28/2022

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Irresistible peanut butter cookie bars with only 5 ingredients! Kid-friendly, easy to make and so delicious, this bar recipe is dangerous!

Recipe Overview

Why you’ll love it: This super easy bar recipe is addictively good!

How long it takes: 10 minutes to whip up, 40 minutes in the oven
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, measuring utensils, 8-inch square baking pan, oven
Servings: 16 small bars

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (1)

Table of Contents close

  • 1 Recipe Overview
  • 2 Easy to make Peanut Butter Bars
  • 3 Kid-Friendly Beginner Recipe
  • 4 Ingredient List
  • 5 How To Make Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
  • 6 FAQs
  • 7 Make These Bars Your Own
  • 8 Storage Tips
  • 9 For Peanut Lovers

Easy to make Peanut Butter Bars

Only 5 ingredients! I’m not even kidding. There are FIVE ingredients in these M&M peanut butter bars! Here’s an easy math lesson:

1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + oven = Delicious!

Peanut Butter + M&Ms = Happy!

(5 x 1) + Hungry Kids = Zero!

Soft, chewy, and sweet!These M&M peanut butter bars are not only insanely easy to make but they are so delicious. I recommend a big glass of milk or a cup of coffee. And small bites that savor each morsel.

Lots of possible variations. You’ll love that you can make easy changes to this recipe, too. M&Ms aren’t the only candies that taste great in bars.

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2)

Kid-Friendly Beginner Recipe

Since there are only five ingredients, this recipe is perfect for beginners. Let your kids help you make peanut butter cookie bars. They’ll love measuring the baking mix and brown sugar. Teach them how to crack eggs into a small bowl before they add them to the peanut butter. They’ll get good practice stirring and blending and they’ll love using their hands to mix the dough and press the M&Ms in.

I’ll give you a quick preview of the recipe here but as always, look for the printable recipe card near the end of the post. It has complete instructions and nutrition information.

Ingredient List

What are the five magic ingredients? I bet you’ve already figured it out!

  • Peanut Butter: Creamy or chunky, doesn’t matter. Avoid the natural peanut butters that have to be stirred; choose a brand like Jif or Skippy.
  • Eggs: A couple of eggs hold this business all together.
  • Brown Sugar: The molasses flavor adds to the profile of these cookies. Dark brown sugar works as well as light brown sugar.
  • All-Purpose Baking Mix: An example of this is Jiffy or Bisquick. The mix comes in a large box and is a shortcut product used to make pancakes, waffles, or biscuits. If you’d like, you can use homemade Bisquick.
  • M&Ms: Who doesn’t love these chocolate candies? Use the regular assorted colors or buy a color that’s coordinated with an occasion.
Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (3)

How To Make Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Turn your oven on, wash your hands, and let’s get started! You’ll need an 8 x 8 inch baking pan, or an equivalent of that. Spray it lightly with cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, blend together the peanut butter and eggs until the two ingredients are nice and smooth.

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (4)

Add the brown sugar and stir again. The mixture should be well-blended.

Measure out the baking mix and add that to the bowl. Mix it in as well as possible. The dough is very thick. You may have to use your hands to combine it. I usually do.

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (5)

Add the M&Ms and stir some more. Again, hands are totally permissible. If all of the M&Ms don’t stay in the dough, don’t worry.

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (6)

Turn the dough out into the prepared pan and press it into an even layer. Press any stray or remaining M&Ms right into the dough.

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (7)

Pop those babies right into the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Be sure to notice the sweet aroma emanating from your kitchen.

Cool the bars before cutting into 16 squares or whatever size you like. Maybe 4 big squares!

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (8)

FAQs

What is Bisquick?

Bisquick is an all-purpose baking mix used for a variety of products such as pancakes, waffles, cake, biscuits, shortcakes, etc. Bisquick is a brand name that’s been around since 1931. I guess you could almost call it old-fashioned. Jiffy is another popular brand. Look for the words “baking mix” on the box.

How is Bisquick different from flour?

Bisquick is a mixture that contains flour, oil, leavening, salt, sugar and other ingredients. It’s meant to be a shortcut, eliminating the need for several different ingredients. If you’re interested in making your own, try Homemade Bisquick Mix.

Make These Bars Your Own

  • Different mix-ins. Try mini M&Ms, peanut butter M&Ms, or Reese’s Pieces. Chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or mini chocolate chips are great too.
  • Gluten-free. Use a gluten-free baking mix, such as King Arthur Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix.
  • Turn the bars into dessert. Top each square with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of homemade hot fudge or homemade caramel sauce, and sprinkle on a few more M&Ms for garnish. This is really, really good when the bars are still slightly warm.
  • Love M&Ms? Try my modestly named — they really are pretty perfect!
  • No-bake bars: If you don’t want to turn your oven on, try no-bake peanut butter bars. They taste just like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (9)

Storage Tips

Refrigerate/Freeze: Peanut butter cookie bars will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the counter. If you need to store them longer than that, refrigerate or freeze them.

For Peanut Lovers

  • Peanut Butter Popcorn
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie (no bake!)
  • Buckeyes
  • No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
  • Peanut Butter Trail Mix Recipe
  • Oh Henry Bars

More Bars & Cookies

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Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (14)

Recipe

Get the Recipe: 5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Bars with M&Ms

4.38 from 32 votes

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 50 minutes mins

16 servings

Print Rate Recipe

Irresistible M&M peanut butter cookie bars with only 5 ingredients! Easy to make and so delicious!

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose baking mix (such as Bisquick or Jiffy)
  • 1 bag (12 oz.) M&Ms, about 1 ⅔ cups (use regular, mini, peanut butter, Reese's Pieces, or even chocolate chips)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325F°. Spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.

  • In a large bowl, combine peanut butter and eggs until well mixed and smooth.

  • Add brown sugar and stir until well-combined.

  • Stir in baking mix until moistened (I use my hands – it is a very thick batter).

  • Fold in M&Ms. Again, using your hands works best for this step. Don't worry if some of the M&Ms don't stick in the dough.

  • Spread mixture evenly in greased pan, pressing any remaining M&Ms into the dough.

  • Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and cut into 16 squares.

Notes

  • Bars will keep in a covered container on the counter for up to three days. If you want to store them longer, store in the refrigerator or freezer.
  • Possible substitutions for plain M&Ms: Reese’s Pieces, peanut butter M&Ms, dark chocolate M&Ms, etc. Chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips are good, too.
  • Turn the bars into dessert. Top a bar with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge or caramel sauce, and a sprinkle of M&Ms. Especially good when the bars are still warm!

Nutrition Information

Calories: 196kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 21mg, Sodium: 259mg, Potassium: 129mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 30IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 47mg, Iron: 1mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Author: Rachel Gurk

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Reader Interactions

Leave a Review

  1. Stacey Austin says

    Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (22)
    I absolutely love this recipe. Instead of m&M’s I used chocolate chips and mini Reese’s pieces. It was a quick and easy recipe.

    Reply

    • Rachel Gurk says

      So glad you like it! Thank you for leaving a review!

      Reply

  2. Tialyn John says

    Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (23)
    These were excellent! We always love every recipe we try of yours!

    Reply

    • Rachel Gurk says

      That makes me so happy!

      Reply

  3. Pam says

    THis recipe is marked as gluten free, but it’s not. Biscuit mix is made with whiteflour which has gluten.

    Reply

    • Rachel Gurk says

      Hi Pam, you can purchase GF biscuit mix if you’d prefer to make this recipe GF. Enjoy!

      Reply

Older Comments

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (5 Ingredients!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2024)

FAQs

Why do they put fork marks in peanut butter cookies? ›

So it looks like that there are utilitarian reasons for the cross-hatching—to allow for even cooking—but it might have been passed along for nearly a hundred years for primarily aesthetic reasons, where the cross-hatching is more to identify the cookies as peanut butter ones, rather than to cook them well.

What are the basic ingredients for peanut butter cookies? ›

Why are peanut butter cookies always dry? ›

Why are my cookies dry and crumbly? This is most likely a classic case of using too much flour. It's crucial to properly measure the flour in this recipe, as even 1 extra tablespoon of flour can completely change the structure of the cookies. You also might have over baked them!

Why are my peanut butter cookies crumbling and falling apart? ›

This often occurs when you add too much of a dry ingredient, like flour, or overmix the dough. But there is a fix: To remedy a dough that's too crumbly, try adding a tablespoon or two of a liquid ingredient. This could mean milk, melted butter, or even just water.

What happens if you don't flatten peanut butter cookies? ›

Certain cookies — Sugar Cookies, Snickerdoodles, Classic Peanut Butter Cookies — need to be flattened a bit before they bake, lest they end up emerging from the oven looking like ping-pong balls rather than typical flat, round cookies.

What is the best peanut butter for cookies? ›

Conventional creamy peanut butter works best for peanut butter cookie recipes because it has a smooth and even texture. My favorite creamy peanut butter brands are Skippy or Jif. Natural peanut butter, made up of just peanuts and salt, is typically very oily and hard to get even.

How to make peanut butter cookie mix taste homemade? ›

I added a couple tablespoons of brown sugar to a store-bought peanut butter cookie mix and everyone at the event said it tasted home made. I also rolled them in granulated sugar before baking (I would have used colored sugar, but didn't have any).

Why are my peanut butter cookies runny? ›

To prevent your peanut butter cookies from becoming too soft and spreading excessively, make sure the dough is adequately chilled before baking. Soft cookies that spread too much are often a result of the butter being at room temperature.

What happens if you add too much peanut butter to peanut butter cookies? ›

Too much peanut butter leads to dry cookies

If you want to nail the perfect ratio of ingredients for maximum peanut flavor but a soft cookie texture, try using no more than 1 cup of peanut butter for every 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1/4 cup of butter.

Should you refrigerate peanut butter cookie dough before baking? ›

Refrigerating the dough will give it more structure so the cookies spread less and hold their fork marks through baking. Cooling the dough also ensures that all of the ingredients are the same temperature: they'll bake more evenly and the flavors will meld beautifully. Heat oven to 375°F.

How do I make my peanut butter cookies less crumbly? ›

Use creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy.

Just like when making peanut butter snickerdoodles or white chocolate peanut butter cookies, creamy peanut butter is ideal because crunchy peanut butter creates an overly crumbly cookie.

Why is my fork sticking to my peanut butter cookies? ›

Chilling the dough for a few hours will help the peanut butter cookies maintain their shape, and not overly spread when cooked. Dip the fork in sugar. To help keep the fork from sticking when you make a cross-hatch pattern on the cookies, dip the tines in a little granulated sugar between cookies.

Does the fork trick work for cookies? ›

My trusted method for getting ripply, jagged-topped cookies has been simple–scoop the cookie dough with two forks, or as I like to call it, forking your dough. Take two forks and rough up the dough a little bit. Use the tines of both forks to gather up as much dough as you want in a bundle.

Why are there criss crosses on peanut butter cookies? ›

Basic reason..the dough is more dense than most cookie doughs, and the pressing with the fork tines helps the dough bake evenly. Secondarily, its pattern makes it easier to tell them apart from other cookies with similar appearance.

Why are there lines on peanut butter cookies? ›

Why Do You Put Fork Lines in Peanut Butter Cookies? Our Test Kitchen experts say the fork lines are there to help peanut butter cookies cook more evenly.

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