The Best No Flour Monster Cookie Bars + A Cookie Bar Mix Gift Idea

We’ve whipped up these deliciously satisfying No-Flour Monster Cookie Bars and are sharing how you can create your own Monster Cookie Bar Mix to gift to friends this holiday season. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Mars Wrigley Confectionery US, LLC. All opinions are mine alone. #SimplySweetness #CollectiveBias

Holiday baking season has arrived! And you know what that means? Lots and lots and LOTS of dishes in our home. Because when we bake, we bake. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before but the kids LOVE to help out in the kitchen. And when Christmas rolls around, we stock up on all of our baking necessities (like the big Red & Green Holiday 52 oz. Bag of M&M’S® from Sam’s Club). We wouldn’t want to run out mid-holiday baking. 

One thing I love about baking during the holidays is that it’s an inexpensive way to share our love with others. We don’t necessarily have the budget to purchase a gift for everyone we know so we can make fun little platters filled with goodies for others to enjoy. And one of my new favorite gifts to make are these fun cookie bar mixes so others can make our favorite recipes at home. That way we can whip up a batch to share with them now and provide them with a mix to make them later. Hey, who knows? Maybe they’ll even use the kit to make some holiday goodies for their loved ones! 

Red & Green Holiday 52oz. Bag of M&M’S® are a festive and colorful treat to bring into your baking, decorating and every aspect of your holiday celebrations. The Stand-Up Pack will keep your M&M’S® fresh and ready-to-go in an easy resealable package. Heck, if I wasn’t baking with them, I’d probably give these bags as gifts! What says, “I love you,” better than a big bag of M&M’S®, right? 

But for now we’ll stick with gifting some delicious cookie bars and mixes.

No Flour Monster Cookie Bars

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups Old Fashioned oats
  • 1 cup M&M'S®
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Line a 13×9-inch metal baking pan with foil.

  2. Add all of the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,

  3. Cover bowl with dish towel and mix on lowest setting. Once mixed up a bit, increase speed and mix until all of the ingredients are combined. 

  4. Spread mixture onto prepared baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. 

  5. Take out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes then transfer foil and bars to a cooling rack. Cut into squares and enjoy! 

Remember how I said you could GIFT these bad boys to your friends and family in a fun mix? Well here’s how! 

Monster Cookie Bars Mix

What you’ll need: 

  • 4 cups old fashioned oats
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup M&M’S®
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 32 oz jar with lid
  • ribbon
  • hole punch

What you do: 

Layer each ingredient in the order it’s shown above into a 32oz plastic or glass jar with lid

Place lid on jar and close tight. 

Print out Monster Cookie Bar Mix printable and cut out and attach to jar with ribbon.

Gift to the ones you love! 

Click on image to download printable

You can find the big Red & Green Holiday 52 oz. Bag of M&M’S® in the candy aisle of your local Sam’s Club. And while you’re there, stock up on the rest of your holiday baking items! That’ll save you a few trips in the long run. 

And right now you can sign up for a free Ibotta account and earn $2 off with the purchase of a 52 oz bag of Red and Green M&M’S®. Offer valid from 11/1/17 until 12/25/17. 

Don’t forget to check out more awesome ideas you can make with M&M’S® by checking them out on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter

Love this recipe? Check out these delicious bites: 

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Click the Pin button on the image below to save for later. 

10 Reasons Why You Should Send Cookies for Valentines Day + A Printable Cookies and Milk Valentine

This post featuring a free milk and cookies valentine printable plus 10 reasons why you should send cookies for Valentine’s Day is sponsored by Cookie’s by Design. 

When my husband and I were first dating, I started to send him a Cookie’s by Design cookie bouquet for Valentine’s Day. It was a special way for me to show him my love and a little less embarrassing than a flower bouquet for a man. At the beginning of our relationship, it was just a cute mug cookie bouquet (we still have some of those mugs!). But as the years went by the bouquets increased in size as our relationship grew. 

With 3 kids at home, that mug bouquet just won’t cut it. Because when my husband brings his gift home from work, 3 eager eyes watch him as he puts down the bouquet. He can’t help himself from sharing with them! And I don’t blame them for wanting in on some of that goodness! 

Even though there are flowers and chocolates and so many other ways to show your loved ones you care on Valentine’s Day, the one way we show each other how we care is through cookies! Here are a few reasons why you should send cookies for Valentine’s Day too! 

10 Reasons Why You Should Send Cookies for Valentines Day

1. Cookies are delicious. We all know this. But Cookie’s By Design cookies are baked fresh AND hand decorated. 

2. You can share with friends (or your kids)!

3. Each basket is made to order and can be personalized with messages or images printed right on the cookies.

4. You can’t eat flowers. But you can eat cookies. 

5. Cookie’s by Design cookie bouquets come in so many different varieties and designs. They even launched handcrafted cookie gift baskets featuring Build-A-Bear Workshop teddy bears. Perfect for the kids! 

6. They deliver right to your door. Cookie’s By Design creations are always hand delivered and handled with care.

7. You can even get them delivered as early as the same day. Cookie’s By Design offers same-day gift delivery on most of their hand decorated cookie bouquets. 

8. You can also pick them up locally at your closest Cookie’s By Design location (for those who procrastinated).

9. These cookie bouquets don’t wilt.  

10. Once the cookies are gone, the Build-A-Bear Workshop teddy bears last for years to come. 

Did you order your Cookie’s By Design Valentine’s Day cookie bouquet? Pair it with this cute printable valentine that you can print out on a 5×7 card to make your gift complete!

Cookie’s By Design is the original cookie bouquet company and they offer custom-designed, hand-decorated cookie arrangements, gift baskets, cookie cakes and cookie trays for every occasion.

Last-minute gift givers can still wow their sweetie with ready-made Build-A- Bear Workshop baskets available at most Cookie’s By Design locations. The new baskets are available to order now at all Cookies by Design locations and online at cookiesbydesign.com and baskets can be hand-delivered the same day or customized and delivered within a day.

You can connect with Cookie’s By Design online, on Facebook, and Instagram @cookiesbydesign

Do you have any Valentine’s Day traditions? 

Pfeffernüsse Cookies To Share The Holiday Spirit

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This time of year is magical, isn’t it? The holiday cheer, the smiles on everyones faces, and the loads of treats and goodies around every corner. We continue the holiday season even after Christmas is over by celebrating our own Christmas with my husband’s extended family. And that celebration has been dubbed Cookie Christmas. 

Why? You ask? Because we get together the day before the event and bake up 10+ different kinds of cookies to serve the next day. My husband’s aunt spends countless hours the week before the event making all of these doughs to bake up together. And then we all come together on Cookie Christmas to enjoy them all (and bring them home in tubs and bags to enjoy for weeks after). 

Each year there’s one or two recipes we try out to see if it can earn it’s place in the Cookie Christmas line up. We have our classic chocolate chip, our snickerdoodle, yummy sugar cookies decorated by the kids with frosting and sprinkles, etc. This year I thought I’d try out a new recipe or two to see if I could put it on the list of maybes to introduce to Cookie Christmas. And this recipe? It’s a winner! 

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Pfeffernüsse Cookies

  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Stir the molasses, honey, shortening, and butter together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until creamy, stirring consistently. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Add the eggs and combine.

Mix the flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Add the molasses mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Roll the dough into quarter-sized balls. Arrange on baking sheets, spacing at least 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Move to a rack to cool. Dust cooled cookies with confectioners’ sugar. Or get the kids involved and dump 1/2 a cup of confectioners’ sugar into a bag, then add a few cookies, seal the bag and shake shake shake! 

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Interested in trying out some more new cookie recipes? You need to check out the #HousefulofCookies recipes being shared all month! YUM! 

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