Funfetti Bars

Gooey, sweet, and loaded funfetti bars. A chocolate chip cookie base with a delicious candy packed top — marshmallows, chocolate-covered pretzels, miniature M&Ms, and sprinkles!

How to make Funfetti Bars

• The photo collage above and below this text show the general process of making these funfetti bars.
• Make the cookie base: take your time to really cream the butter and sugars — this will create a great foundation for the cookie bars.
• Top baked bars with marshmallows and bake again.
• Meanwhile, chop up chocolate covered pretzels (Flipz).
• Add chocolate covered pretzels, miniature M&Ms, and sprinkles (I totally left these out in pictures, but we always have them on the bars!) to the bars.
• Let cool and then cut into bars.
• Variation ideas
• Pretty much any chocolate candy works on top of these funfetti bars! If you have some leftover candy, chop it into small pieces and add it on top.
• The chocolate covered pretzels and miniature M&Ms can be substituted with equal amounts of any other chopped candy. Some ideas: chocolate covered almonds, chopped up candy bar (Snickers, Hershey’s bar, etc), white chocolate covered pretzels, peanut butter M&Ms etc.
• Make these bars festive by using holiday (or event) colored M&Ms and sprinkles. I shared these Spring Confetti Bars a few years ago and they’ve been a huge hit on this site!

Ingredients

Cookie Bars

• 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter room temperature
• 1/2 cup (110g) brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/4 cup (55g) white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (142g) white flour
• 1 cup (165g) milk chocolate chips (can also use semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Toppings

• 1 and 1/2 cups (60g) white miniature marshmallows
• 1/4 cup (50g) miniature M&Ms Note 1
• 3/4 cup (66g) chocolate-covered pretzels, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons sprinkles

Instructions

1. PREP: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper (do not skip, these bars are sticky!) and set aside.
2. COOKIE BASE: In a large bowl, using hand mixers, cream the room temperature butter (do not melt at all) with the brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Then add the baking soda, salt, flour, and chocolate chips. Beat until the dough is combined and smooth. It is a bit wet.
3. BAKE: Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 19-23 minutes or until lightly golden brown at the edges and firm in the center (shouldn't be glossy)
4. MARSHMALLOWS: Remove from the oven and top with the marshmallows. Bake for 1 and 1/2 more minutes and remove.
5. CANDY: Top with the miniature M&M's, coarsely chopped chocolate pretzels, and sprinkles.
6. COOL: Let funfetti bars cool at room temperature for at least an hour, then cut into bars (with a hot sharp knife -- run under hot water, dry, cut, repeat), and enjoy! Best enjoyed within the same day these are made because of the marshmallows on top.
7. STORAGE: If you have some leftover, you can keep these bars, tightly covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days. They can also be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, but the marshmallow does lose flavor and texture.

Recipe Notes

• Note 1: Miniature M&Ms can be found on the baking aisle of most grocery stores; they're labeled as M&M milk chocolate baking bits.