Cake Mix Bar Cookies
Bar Cookies are the PERFECT way to whip up a dessert when you want to impress but don’t feel like taking out the mixer or waiting for your Cookie Dough to chill or portioning out individual cookies or using a cooling rack or any of those other really difficult cookie-related-tasks! In addition to being one of the easiest treats that you can make, these Bar Cookies are easily adaptable and so ridiculously tasty!
Some people turn their noses up at box mixes. Yes, I do agree that from scratch eliminates all preservatives and is a more genuine way to bake – BUT if you take a little bit of effort and add something of your own to a Box Mix, it can really become your own!
The base of these bar cookies is a box mix (and a box of pudding) – most of us have those in our pantry at all times which makes it the perfect treat to whip up at any time. Add in whatever mix-ins you would like and you have a perfectly customizeable recipe! By using seasonal M&Ms you can easily switch up the color-profile, or add tons of sprinkles as I did here to make them dressed up for any party. Use any variety of those delicious flavored chips which are now on the market or even switch up the pudding flavor used in the mix for a hint of something different (switching out the pudding for chocolate pudding is a delicious alternative, as shown here)
- 1 Box Yellow/Vanilla cake mix
- 1 Small box Instant Vanilla (OR Chocolate) Pudding (just the powder)
- 1/4 Cup water
- 3/4 Cup vegetable oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Cup chocolate chips (this was about 3/4 cup M&Ms, 1/4 cup chocolate chips & 1/4 cup sprinkles)
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.
- Combine cake mix, pudding, water, vegetable oil, eggs in a large bowl. Once mixed – add and mix in your M&M’s and/or Chips.
- Pour the very thick batter into your greased baking dish. Bake your bars for about 25 minutes – you may want to set the timer for 22 minutes and it could take up to 30 minutes. It may look sort of softish in the middle but if the edges are golden and just starting to get crispy, it’s probably perfect.
- Allow to cool fully before cutting
As also seen on Parent Pretty
And I leave you with this, Today’s Question of the Day… What pantry staples do you make sure to always have in your house to whip up last-minute treats?