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Home » Recipes » Desserts

Easy Cake Mix Cookie Bars

Stacey – October 19, 2021 – 3 Comments

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slices of Cake Mix Cookie Bars

These gooey, chewy, decently delicious cookie bars only call for 6 ingredients and no one will know they started with a box of cake mix! And even better, you can fill them with just about anything you want – chocolate chips, M&M’s, or chopped Hershey bars. You can even use chopped up Snickers, Reeses, Twix, and more! Let your imagination run wild! I’m looking at you, leftover Halloween candy!

sliced Cake Mix Cookie Bars

Seriously though, these things are crazy delicious. And ridiculously easy. If you can dump ingredients in a bowl and stir, you can make these cookie bars! I’m serious!

stack of squares of Cake Mix Cookie Bars

I remember quite a few afternoons, coming home from school to find the house smelling of vanilla and chocolate and knowing these cookie bars were waiting on the stove for me. Mom has been making them for as long as I can remember.

Yeah, I guess the added benefit to this deliciousness is that they also do a pretty amazing job at making your house smell like a bakery!

Cake Mix Cookie Bars on a plate

As I mentioned before, the options are relatively endless when it comes to deciding what to add to these. Mom traditionally made them with chocolate chips, but you can be creative. Peanut butter chips, toffee bits, caramel chunks, etc. I’ve made them with M&M’s (Jack’s favorite), chopped up candy bars like Snickers, Reeses, Twix, etc. And they’re perfect for using up that leftover Halloween candy hanging around.

I made these pictured with the new classic M&M’s mix that includes regular, peanut, and peanut butter M&M’s. They were perfect!

You’ll just want to make sure you have about 1 cup of mix-ins and you’ll want them to be chopped up to about the size of a peanut M&M.

You can also experiment with different flavor cake mixes and pudding mixes if you’re feeling adventurous.

sliced Cake Mix Cookie Bars

As far as the process goes, it’s really as simple as mixing all the ingredients together, spreading it into a 9×13-inch baking dish, and baking at 350°F for about 25 minutes. I like to save about 1/4 of the mix-ins to sprinkle on the top of the batter before it goes into the oven to make it look nice, but it’s totally up to you.

When it comes to testing the doneness, it’s really more about sight than anything else. They should be just golden brown but still a little jiggly. The toothpick test won’t really work on these since they’re so gooey. Once you take them out of the oven, expect that they will fall some. It’s totally normal.

If you want your cookie bars a little more firm, you can cook them a little longer. But for me, the gooier, the better! Y’all enjoy!

sliced Cake Mix Cookie Bars
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Recipe Card

Easy Cake Mix Cookie Bars

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 24

Ingredients

  • 1 (15.25-ounce) yellow or butter flavored cake mix
  • 1 (3.4-ounce) box vanilla instant pudding mix
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 cup chocolate candy*

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, vegetable oil, and water until smooth. Add in the candy – reserving about 1/4 cup to sprinkle on the top. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared dish and sprinkle the reserved candy over the top.
  • Bake about 25 minutes to until just barely golden brown. The mixture may seem jiggly or not completely set, but it will firm up as it cools. Cool completely, then slice and serve.

Notes

You can use chocolate chips, any variety of M&Ms, or even other chopped chocolate candy like Hershey’s, Snickers, Twix, Reese’s, etc. 
sliced Cake Mix Cookie Bars
Did you make my Easy Cake Mix Cookie Bars?I’d love to see! Share on Instagram, tag @southernbite, and use the hashtag #southernbite!
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Cake Mix Cookie Bars - image for Pinterest

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Stacey Little of Southern Bite

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Feeding people makes me happy. Few things in this world delight me more than my family and friends gathered around my table enjoying a meal. Pull up a chair and join us! Read more…

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  1. meems bertrand

    October 22, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    has anyone used this for a pie crust? thinkin it would be incredible for the crust for an apple pie!? going to try! will bake toward the more done side.

    Reply
  2. Stacey English

    October 19, 2021 at 1:16 pm

    Oooh I can’t wait to try these with M&M’s!

    Reply
    • Stacey

      October 19, 2021 at 2:37 pm

      Hope you’ll enjoy them!!

      Reply

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Stacey Little of Southern Bite

Hey, y’all! I’m Stacey…

Feeding people makes me happy. Few things in this world delight me more than my family and friends gathered around my table enjoying a meal. Pull up a chair and join us! Read more…

Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter YouTube
About Cookbook Shop Contact
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