Candy Cane Cookie Bars
Candy Cane Cookie Bars – a handful of ingredients mixed together & the dough spread onto a cookie sheet, then sliced into bars. So easy yet so delicious!
When I was about 12, I got a new mountain bike for Christmas. The bike was great, but the story of how I got it is even greater.
You see, when you gift a kid a bike for Christmas – you really have no way to wrap it. Unless you’re some kind of uber talented individual when it comes to wrapping large & unusually shaped presents. Usually parents just stick a big bow on it & put it under the tree. Well, not my mama.
This year, my Grandma Millie was visiting. We were all in the living room unwrapping presents – and all of a sudden, Mama turns to me and says, ‘Crystal, go brush your teeth!’
Wait, what? Brush my teeth? But we’re in the middle of opening presents! I don’t wanna go brush my teeth!
But Mama insisted. ‘Go brush your teeth, now! And brush them good!’.
I thought she was so unfair. So, I grumbled & muttered all the way to the bathroom. I made sure I took enough time to properly brush my teeth. I finally emerged from the bathroom, where I had properly cleaned my teeth in the middle of present opening, & walked back in the living room. There – right in the middle of the living room stood a beautiful new mountain bike!
In that one instant – my mom went from being the unfair go-brush-your-teeth-right-now mom into the best mother EVER! And in case you’re wondering, she’s still the very best mother ever.
Now, by sharing one of my favorite Christmas memories – I’m now instantly in the mood for some Christmas cookies. Good thing I just made up a batch of these delicious Candy Cane Cookie Bars.
I actually created these from my White Chocolate Cookie Bars which are already on the blog. I just knew that a Christmas version of them would be delicious, and boy was I right. They’re SO delicious, & pretty darn easy too. I’m actually eating one right now – and enjoying it quite a bit. Be jealous, be very jealous…. or just make up your own batch.
Here’s what you need:
Cream 1 cup of softened butter together with 1 cup of brown sugar.
Beat in one egg.
Mix in 2 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, & 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir in 4 crushed candy canes.
Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Spread the cookie dough over the baking sheet. I like to use my hands for this to make the whole thing easier & faster.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with 2 cups of white chocolate chips. Place back into the oven for 60-90 seconds.
Spread the warm chocolate chips across the entire cookie.
Sprinkle on the 4 remaining crushed candy canes – along with some holiday sprinkles if you desire.
Let the cookie cool until the white chocolate has cooled enough to set. Slice with a knife or a pizza slicer. I’m a huge fan of the pizza slicer 🙂
Let me tell you – these cookie bars are so good! Good luck eating just one! 😉
Candy Cane Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter 1 cup, softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 candy canes crushed - divided
- 1 bag of white chocolate chips about 2 cups(or even more if you're feeling adventurous!)
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter & brown sugar. Mix in 1 egg. Add in the flour, salt, & vanilla extract; mix until just combined. Stir in 4 of the crushed candy canes.
- Spread your cookie dough on a large baking sheet until the thickness reaches ¼-1/2 of an inch. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges of your dough begin to brown slightly. Remove from the oven, & dump your white chocolate chips on top. Place it back into the oven for 60-90 seconds to melt the chocolate chips slightly. Be careful to not leave it in there for too long as you don't want your chocolate to seize up.
- Using a spatula, spread the melty white chocolate all over your cookie until covered. Sprinkle on the remaining 4 crushed candy canes & the sprinkles (if using). Let the cookie cool for a few minutes so that the chocolate sets. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, slice the cookie into cookie squares.
oops — a typo, Crystal, below the pic of the white chips — should read 60-90 seconds not minutes
Thank you for alerting me to that – I guess that’s what I get for eating cookies while writing a recipe up, huh? lol 😉
What size pan? Or did I just miss it? Seems like a great recipe!
Just a regular 9×13 cookie sheet will work – I use a half sheet pan. You just want the cookie to be between 1/2″ to 1/4″ on an inch thick.
I double-checked, too! 60 to 90 minutes would probably result in disaster!
OMG … these look sssooooo GOOD & YUMMY … I can’t wait to make these .. I’m going make them with Andes peppermint baking chips, instead of candy canes ….. as I want to be able to freeze them .. thanks for the awesome recipe & Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays 🙂 <3
YUM!!! So festive and fun. I’m featuring your cookie bars in my Friday Features tomorrow. Thanks for linking up to Inspire Me Monday.
Wonderful holiday treat. I invite you to share at Katherines Corner too. Hugs!
Mmmm…these cookies look delish! And so festive! 🙂 And I love it–My mom did almost the exact same thing when I got my first bike on Christmas too!
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