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Candy Bar Cookies loaded with candy like M&Ms, Snickers, and Kit Kats is a really fun way to use up candy! The soft and chewy cookies are easy to make and can be customized with any chocolate candy or other mix-ins. It’s such a fun recipe!
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Ultimate Candy Bar Cookies Recipe
I have to admit I don’t always have leftover candy in my house, but when I do, I use it to make super fun loaded candy bar cookies.
These are great all year, especially around Halloween when all the fun-size candy bars are everywhere. When Jordan was younger, I would “borrow” some of her candy and use it to make these cookies. We would keep some for us and give the rest away. It was a great way to get rid of all the excess!
- These cookies are soft and chewy like chocolate chip cookies but loaded with chopped-up candy bars instead.
- This is a cookie recipe using Snickers candy bars, Kit Kats, and M&Ms, but you can also use other kinds of candy.
- You can make the dough up to a day in advance or freeze it and then bake off the cookies as you want them. The dough freezes really well!
These mini candy bar cookies are the perfect excuse to raid your child’s candy bag or the candy aisle at the grocery store. Not that I ever need an excuse!
Ingredients in Cookies Filled with Candy Bars
Butter: Melted unsalted butter is how I start the cookies.
Sugar: I use both brown sugar granulated sugar to make the cookies nice and soft.
Large Eggs: A must for chewiness and softness.
Vanilla, Baking Soda: Typical for my cookie recipes.
Salt: Needed for flavor, but if you’re using salted butter reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
All-Purpose Flour: Be sure to measure it correctly.
Mix-Ins: Chocolate chips, M&Ms, Chopped Crunch Bars, Chopped Kit Kats, Chopped Snickers or up to 3 cups of your favorite chopped candy.
Best Candy for Cookies
As I mentioned, I’m a fan of the fun-size Snickers, Kit Kats, and M&Ms for these cookies, but any candy bar or chocolate candy you like will work. You can use up to two cups total of mix-ins. Here are some more ideas if you want to switch it up:
- Heath bars
- Peanut butter cups
- Any M&Ms (peanut, almond, etc.)
- Hershey bars
- Almond Joy
- Milky Way
- Twix
- Reese’s Pieces
- You can also do a combo of chopped candy and chocolate chips and/or nuts, too!
How to Make Cookies Stuffed with Candy Bars
- Stir: Combine the melted butter with both kinds of sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the eggs, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Mix in the flour.
- Mix-ins: Add the chopped candy bars (or other mix-ins) and stir until evenly distributed in the dough.
- Scoop: & Chill: Scoop two tablespoons of the dough to form each cookie ball. Place them on a cookie sheet and then chill them for at least one hour or overnight. If you plan to refrigerate them for more than four hours, cover the pan with plastic wrap.
- Bake: Line another baking sheet with parchment or baking mats and place the chilled cookie dough balls two inches apart. Bake them for 11 to 15 minutes or just until they lose the glossy sheen and are lightly golden around the edges.
- Cool: Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for five minutes before removing them. Then, cool them completely before storing an airtight container.
Tips
- Choose your favorite candy bars and mix-ins for this recipe but remember only to add two cups total.
- The cookie dough must be chilled for at least one hour. If you skip this step, your cookies will spread too much.
- Once you’ve scooped all of the cookie dough balls, you can chill them overnight in the refrigerator, or you can freeze them for up to two months.
- If you freeze the cookie dough balls, let them sit out at room temperature to thaw before baking or bake them from frozen and add a few minutes to the baking time.
- Storing: Baked cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to three days at room temperature. You can also freeze baked cookies!
Mini Candy Bar Cookies FAQ
Yes, the dough needs to be refrigerated. The butter needs to firm up before baking the cookies, so they don’t spread too much while they bake.
Any candy you like will work well in these cookies! Chopped candy bars, M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, and peanut butter cups are just a few you could try. Feel free to experiment!
Once they are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container, and they will keep for up to three days at room temperature.
Yes, you can freeze them. Place the cooled cookies in a freezer bag or container, and they will freeze well for up to three months.
Too much flour in the dough can cause this, so use the spoon and level measuring method. Also, if you chill the dough for more than four hours, you should let the cookies sit at room temperature while you preheat the oven. This will soften them, so they spread the right amount.
Butter (or other fat) is what causes cookies to spread. So, the correct ratio of butter to flour is critical. If you have too much flour, the cookies won’t spread enough. If you have too much butter, they could end up very flat. The temperature of the butter also matters. Warm butter will cause the cookies to spread more, while chilled butter will spread slower. So, if a recipe says to chill the dough (or not), be sure to follow that direction for the best result.
I love cookies, but cookies with candy bars in them? They are next level and my second favorite way to eat candy! The first being straight from the bag, of course. So, if you have some candy on hand, give this candy bar cookie recipe a try!
More Desserts with Candy You’ll Enjoy
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Candy Overload Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (200g) packed brown sugar
- 2/3 cup (134g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 cups (372g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (170g) chocolate chips
- ½ cup (98g) M&Ms
- ½ cup (62g) chopped Crunch Bars (5 fun sized)
- ½ cup (56g) chopped Kit Kats (4-5 fun sized)
- ½ cup (66g) chopped Snickers (4-5 fun sized)
Instructions
- Place melted butter and both sugars in a large bowl. Stir to combine (you can also use a mixer).
- Stir in eggs, vanilla, salt, baking soda, then stir in flour.
- Add chocolate chips and candy and stir.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat. Scoop 2-tablespoon size balls of dough and place them on the cookie sheet, no need to space. Chill at least 1 hour. If chilling longer than 4 hours, cover with plastic wrap. Can be chilled up to overnight or the dough balls can be frozen for up to 2 months.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line additional cookie sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats and spread cookies 2-inches apart. Bake 11-15 minutes, or until they just lose their glossy sheen and are light golden around the edges. Cool at least 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months or freeze for up to 2 months.
Recipe Nutrition
Candy Bar Cookies are a next level dessert – candy and cookies! It’s a different way to eat your favorite chocolate candy, but these might be your new favorite way.
If candy bars are cooked in w/ the cookies will the candy bar chunks melt into the cookies .Someone made this at our church years ago I have always wanted the recipe …theirs was filled with big chunks of choc, nuts and m&ms all over the cookies .How did they do that without melting the chunks .I really want to make them
I just made these! The dough is cooling in the fridge. But I realized I can’t bake them until later tonight because I have to get the meatloaf into the oven. I’m hoping they will be OK!
They’ll be fine Lisa! If you can, let them sit on the stovetop while the oven is preheating, so they can warm up from refrigerator temp!
i love packing my cookies to the brim with all sorts of add-ins. 🙂 and you chose my favorite candy bars! and M&Ms in cookies are always a win. I love your visual recipe index Dorothy! I’m currently having one designed for myself. Can’t wait!
Now I need to add all my featured images. Sigh. 🙂
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