An easy, gluten-free bar cookie recipe for a fun, yummy, and crowd-pleasing dessert! Soft and chewy, just the right amount of peanut butter (substitute your favorite nut or seed butter) gluten-free oats, and lots of chocolate chips and M&Ms!
An easy, fun, and crowd-pleasing gluten-free dessert!
So excited for you to try these Gluten-Free Monster Cookie Bars!
They are festive, fun, and soooooo yummy! A total crowd-pleaser!
The texture is perfectly soft and chewy!
And they are EASY to make!
And you can make them with all different colors and brands of chocolate gems so that they fit any occasion — holidays, birthdays, any get-together!
Back story:
One of you in the Healthy Gluten-Free Community reached out and asked if they could be made into bar cookies.
Just like us, this person loves a good bar cookie because they are so quick and easy to whip up!
I said it was worth a try and gave a recommendation for the size of the pan, oven temperature,, and baking time. I also decided to try for myself.
They turned out fine. My taste testers and I all thought they tasted really good but personally, I thought they were a little more cakey than I wanted in a bar cookie.
SO… I reworked the recipe a bit and the New Monster Cookie Bars are perfect!
How to Make Gluten-Free Monster Cookie Bars
All you need is ….
butter or dairy-free butter
brown sugar
cane sugar
vanilla extract
eggs
peanut butter
gluten-free flour (we used GF Jules )
baking soda
gluten-free baking powder
salt
gluten-free oats
chocolate chips
M&Ms (or a similar brand of chocolate candies– we love to use Unreal Milk Chocolate Gems as well)
As an aside, you may have noticed that we are an affiliate of GFJules. To learn more about why we love GF Jules flour
And importantly, purchasing through an affiliate link does not change your cost at all. It generates a small percentage of the sale for me, and purchasing through an affiliate link helps me fund this website and all the recipes I share, so thank you!
A note about Oats: Oats are naturally gluten-free BUT they are prone to cross-contamination in the growing process which is of concern for people who are gluten-free for medical reasons such as celiac disease.
The safest gluten-free oats are grown via a process known as purity protocol to eliminate cross-contamination.
As the demand for gluten-free products has grown, many manufacturers use gluten-free oats that are sorted and there are questions surrounding this practice.
Gluten-Free Watchdog has done lots of research and writing about this topic which I’ve linked to if you want to read more.
Step by Step How to Make Gluten-Free Monster Cookie Bars
They are super easy to whip up!
The batter comes together in 4 simple steps:
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer (we love our Kitchen Aid-amazon affiliate link, as you know!) or even mixing by hand, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla.
- Then beat in the eggs and peanut butter.
- Add in the flour.
- Then the oats. Then stir in the chips and M&Ms or chocolate candies of choice.
Spoon them into a 9×13 baking pan, top with extra M&M's and they are ready to bake!
The entire process takes 15 minutes or less!
Bake for just 25 minutes and enjoy!
The bars are soft & chewy, decadent tasting,, and soooo yummy!
They’ve been a huge hit with all our taste testers!
Hope you love them as much as we do!
- GET YOUR COOKBOOK
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Monster Cookie Bars
Equipment
- 1 9x13 inch pan
Ingredients-US Customary
- ¾ cup butter or dairy-free butter softened (1 ½ sticks )
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- ⅓ cup cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup peanut butter or nut/ seed butter of choice I used Natural Creamy Peanut Butter (not the bottom of the jar if possible)
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour with xantham gum* (We used GF Jules flour,)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free oats
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chips of choice
- ¾ cup M&Ms or chocolate candy of choice (we love Unreal Milk Chocolate Gems too!) plus 1/2 cup more for topping
Ingredients- Metric
- 170.25 g butter or dairy-free butter, softened (1 ½ sticks )
- 220 g brown sugar packed
- 66.67 g cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 193.5 g peanut butter or nut/ seed butter of choice I used Natural Creamy Peanut Butter (not the bottom of the jar if possible)
- 187.5 g gluten-free all-purpose flour with xantham gum* (We used GF Jules flour,)
- 1.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 0.5 teaspoon salt
- 121.5 g gluten-free oats
- 135 g semi-sweet chocolate chips or chips of choice
- 131.25 g M&Ms or chocolate candy of choice (we love Unreal Milk Chocolate Gems too!) plus 1/2 cup more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 9 x 13 baking with parchment paper, or grease the pan. Set aside.
- Using a stand-up mixer or hand mixer, mix butter, sugars, and vanilla until well combined and creamy.
- Add eggs and beat thoroughly.
- Beat in peanut butter.
- In a separate small bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powder,, and salt. Mix with a fork or pastry cutter. Then add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until combined.
- Add in oats and mix till combined.
- Add in chocolate chips and m&M's and gently mix till combined.
- Spoon batter into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Top with additional M&M's, pressing gently into the batter.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. You do not want to over-bake.
- Let cool in the pan for 45 minutes or longer. Lift the entire parchment paper out and transfer it to a cutting board. Cut into 24 squares.
- Store in an airtight container. Store well at room temp for 5 days. Freeze well.
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