These easy one-bowl valentine’s day cookie bars are rich, fudgy, and festive. Not only are these bars made in one bowl but they do not require a mixer or chill time! Loaded with valentines M&M’s and decadent white chocolate chips. These cookie bars can be made with any type of M&M – add valentines sprinkles for more festive fun! Bake, slice, and share with your valentine!


Add festive valentines sprinkles for even more fun color!
Quick Steps for the easy blondies:
- Preheat oven
- Combine dry ingredients
- Mix butter and sugars
- Mix in eggs and vanilla
- Mix in dry ingredients
- Fold in chocolate chips and M&M’s
- Transfer to a greased baking pan
- Bake & Enjoy!


Highlight of these easy one-bowl valentines day cookie bars:
- Requires just a handful of ingredients
- One-bowl recipe
- Festive
- Fun to make with kids
- Great for treat giveaways
- Rich and decadent
- No mixer required, great for kids to help with
- Any color M&M’s can be used to match any holiday
- No chill time required
Tools I used for this easy recipe:
- KitchenAid 6 Qt. Stand Mixer – I always recommend a stand mixer as it saves time and helps to keep baked goods consistent.
- Rubber Spatula – a must for any home baker! Perfect for scrapping cookie dough out of the mixing bowl.
- USA Pan 8″ Square Pan – another USA Pan product I love! The corners of my bars and cakes never stick and I love the squared edges this pan creates.


Use a whisk or electric mixer to combine melted butter and sugars until smooth. One pro to melted butter, mixing can be done by hand.
If you like these easy valentines cookie bars, you’ll love these other easy dessert bars…
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Blondies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Blondies
The Best Chewy Peanut Butter Blondies


These bars are studded with rich white chocolate and crunchy M&M’s
Grocery List & Substitutions:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Large whole eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- White chocolate chips – could substitute milk or semi sweet chocolate chips
- Valentines M&M’s – or any color M&M to match the occasion




Fold in valentines M&M’s and white chocolate chips. You can use milk chocolate chips instead. The mixture will be fairly thick.
Why use room temperature eggs in cookies and blondies?
Room temperature eggs mix together a lot easier than cold eggs, resulting in lighter, fluffier baked goods! Room temperature eggs also whip up a lot better which makes them important to use when making meringue or items that call for a lot of eggs like, angel food cake. Don’t have room temperature eggs? Set a few cold eggs out 20-30 minutes before you need them.


Press into a greased and lined 8″x8″ baking dish. If desired top with extra M&M’s or chocolate chips.
Tips for successful cookie bars each time:
- Grease and line baking dish – greasing the bottom and corners well ensure none of the cookies break off when removing them from the pan. Lining with parchment paper adds an extra level of security it make it super easy to lift these out of the pan to slice.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing – this ensures clean edges when slicing the bars


Instructions for these easy cookie bars:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line an 8″ x 8″ baking pan, set aside. In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, stir to combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or by hand, mix the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time and the vanilla. Scrap down the sides of the bowl.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and M&M’s, transfer into the prepared baking pan. If desired, top with extra M&M’s before baking.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 33-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove form the oven and let cool on a wire rack, sprinkle with flaky salt and allow to cool before cutting.
Notes:
*Bars will be thick and fudgy, allow to cool completely, about an hour, before slicing for best results.


Easy One-Bowl Valentine’s Day Cookie Bars
Equipment:
- 8"x8" Pan
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup Light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup Granulated white sugar
- 2 Eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 8 oz. White chocolate chips
- 8 oz. Valentines M&M's
- Flaky sea salt, for garnish
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line an 8" x 8" baking pan, set aside. In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, stir to combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or by hand, mix the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time and the vanilla. Scrap down the sides of the bowl.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and M&M's, transfer into the prepared baking pan. If desired, top with extra M&M's before baking.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 33-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove form the oven and let cool on a wire rack, sprinkle with flaky salt and allow to cool before cutting.
Notes:
Nutrition:
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.


Looking for something else? Try these cookies instead!
Salted Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut & Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
One Bowl Soft Funfetti Cookies
Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Did you make this recipe?
I would love to see it! Take a picture and post to Instagram with the tag @theheartylife and the hashtag #theheartylife – You can also leave me a question or comment below! If you’ve tried this recipe, feel free to give it a star rating on the recipe above.
6 Comments
AJ
March 30, 2023 at 9:19 PMI made this recipe today and for me it didn’t work out. The proportions didn’t see right. It was overly buttery. Is it possible that the recipe was supposed to say 1 stick butter instead of one cup butter? Or was it simply user error? Thanks!
Rachel
March 31, 2023 at 11:58 AMI’m sorry to hear that! It should be 2 sticks of butter, 1 cup – the bars are thick/fudgy. I’m curious how your bars turned out?
AJ
April 1, 2023 at 12:25 AMThe batter was overly oily. So I was afraid how they would turn out after baking. I baked them much longer then the recipe instructed and the center still fell in and was quite undercooked. Probably just recipe user error. I may try again to see if I get better results. I did bake them in a glass 8×8. Not sure if that matters.
Rachel
April 2, 2023 at 3:46 PMHi, glass can conduct heat differently than metal. Glass heats slower and can get warmer around the edges/bottom. I made these again twice this weekend, once as the recipe calls for and once adding an extra 3/4 cup of flour. Both worked, the bars with extra flour were not as fudgy – more cookie like. I have adjusted the recipe slightly above.
AJ
April 3, 2023 at 3:15 PMYou’re awesome. I will try the recipe again and this time I’ll make more of an effort to find my 8×8 metal pan. I saw these on TikTok and was excited to try them. Try #2 here I come!
Rachel
April 4, 2023 at 10:49 AMThanks for sharing, hope they turn out better for you this time!