Reese's Pieces Cookie Bars

You'd think I'd learn.

To read the whole recipe before I start baking.

I don't do that very well. Following directions. And I'm a teacher.

In case you didn't know (where were you), Jessica over at How Sweet It Is made these fabulous giant rainbow cookies a few weeks back.

The minute I saw them I wanted them. Instant childhood memories of Keebler M&M cookies.  Do you remember those? I was in loooove with them. I used to eat all round the edges of the M&M's and save those three bites of chocolatey goodness for last. Sigh. The joys of being a kid.

But wait. Let's look at my picture again. And the title of this post.

No M&M's. Not shaped in the forms of cookies.

Well, my friends, that's why I started off this post acknowledging the fact that I don't read directions. First of all, let me explain the lack of M&M's. That was done on purpose, not because I failed to recognize that the recipe called for M&M's. No no no. I wanted to use reese's pieces. And I had a full bag. What I failed to do was produce perfect, fluffy, puffy, golden cookies. Because I didn't read the directions.

You see, as my cookie dough was coming together I noticed there was something wrong. Something veryyyy wrong. It was too liquidy. I thought maybe I measured the flour wrong and added more. And more. Nada. Wasn't working! Eventually the dough did start to come together and I realized what went wrong. The butter. I poured it straight into the bowl without waiting for it to cool. It had been boiling hot. Whoops.

Anywho, if you'd like to make these cookies bars, then don't let your butter cool. :) I think I added around 1/2 cup more flour to get my dough to stick. The consistency wasn't going to hold the form of a cookie, so instead of this dough go to waste, I thought I'd give cookie bars a shot. It worked! They were fantastic straight out of the oven- not so good after a few days. If you're going to make them, they'd be best for a party or an event where you know they will be gone in one day.

I'm giving you Jessica's original recipe with comments on how I made my cookie bars. I hope you try her version too!

Source: adapted from How Sweet It Is

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (1/2 more for cookie bars)
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 sticks of salted butter, melted and cooled (skip this step if you want cookie bars)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mini m&m’s (I used M&M's)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the butter and sugars until they are combined (and look like the first picture above). Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Gradually add flour and mix until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. I even used my hands to help at one point. Fold in the m&m’s. For the cookie bars, gradually add about 1/2 flour until dough comes together.

Divide the dough how you choose (1/4 cup portions for 18 large cookies or 2 tablespoon portions for 36 smaller cookies). Shape each portion into a ball with your hands then pull each ball into two equal pieces. If making cookie bars, pour batter into an 8X8 pan.
 
Turn each half so that the rough side of the half (what used to be the inside of the ball) faces upwards and then squish both halves together. Place the dough rough-side up on a baking sheets. If you’re doing large cookies, I’d leave about 2 inches in between each. Bake for 12-15 minutes (large cookies) or 8-12 minutes (small cookies) or until the edges are slightly brown. Bake at 15-20 minutes for cookie bars, checking after 15 minutes. 


How do you deal with mess-ups in the kitchen?