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These Peppermint Gooey Bars are like brownies but better! They have the best chocolate taste with peppermint flavor and they are perfect for the holidays.
The Best Peppermint Gooey Bars
Not only are these classic gooey bars, but they are gooey bars made with chocolate cake mix with gives them such a chocolatey, and fudgy flavor. These are seriously so easy to make; they take 10 minutes from bowl to oven and they simple, easy ingredients! They have crushed peppermint on top to really make them true to their peppermint name and the peppermint adds so much to this recipe, texture and taste wise! They would be prefect on any holiday dessert board with other peppermint recipes!
Ingredients Needed
- Chocolate Cake Mix – Use any brand that is approximately 15 ounces.
- Butter – unsalted or salted, make sure it’s softened.
- Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips: Adds the perfect peppermint flavor – if you can’t find these you can chop up some peppermint bark.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – regular or fat-free is fine.
- Crushed Candy Canes: Gives these bars a bit of a crunch and another layer of flavor!
How to make Peppermint Bars
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×9” pan with foil and spray really well with cooking spray.
- Place cake mix, egg, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (You can also use a hand mixer, it will just take longer.) Mix until the dough forms into a ball.
- Place about 2/3 of the dough in the bottom of the pan and press to form the crust.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips and Andes Baking Chips over the top. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the chips.
- Drop pieces of the remaining dough evenly over the top of the pan. Press lightly to adhere.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes until the edges get golden and the cake top is no longer shiny. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Note: the candy canes will slightly melt into the top of the bars. Not all of them will stick. This is optional, and just to make them look pretty. You can omit the candy canes. (You can’t bake the candy canes on top or they will melt.)
- Cool completely, chilling if needed to speed up the process, then cut into bars.
Expert Tips
- The crushed peppermint will not totally stick to the top, the smaller pieces will though because you will add them right out of the oven! We cannot add them before the oven because they will melt.
- The dough is thick and can take awhile to mix together, especially if you’re using a hand mixer. If you have a stand mixer, use that fitted with the paddle attachment.
- This recipe works with any flavor cake mix! I love making gooey bars in tons of flavors, like chocolate chip gooey bars or even pumpkin gooey bars!
FAQs
Can you freeze these bars?
You can! Freeze them in an airtight container for up to 2 months!
Peppermint Gooey Bars
These are easy semi-homemade cake mix bars with tons of peppermint flavor.
Recipe Video
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 approximately 15 ounce box chocolate cake mix
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup (85g) chocolate chips semi-sweet or milk
- 1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
- ½ cup (118ml) sweetened condensed milk
- ⅓ cup coarsely crushed candy canes about 10 minis, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×9” pan with foil and spray really well with cooking spray.
- Place cake mix, egg, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (You can also use a hand mixer, it will just take longer.) Mix until the dough forms into a ball.
- Place about 2/3 of the dough in the bottom of the pan and press to form the crust.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips and Andes Baking Chips over the top. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the chips.
- Drop pieces of the remaining dough evenly over the top of the pan. Press lightly to adhere.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes until the edges get golden and the cake top is no longer shiny. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Note: the candy canes will slightly melt into the top of the bars. Not all of them will stick. This is optional, and just to make them look pretty. You can omit the candy canes. (You can’t bake the candy canes on top or they will melt.)
- Cool completely, chilling if needed to speed up the process, then cut into bars.
Recipe Notes
- The dough is stiff – it’s helpful to use a stand mixer.
- If you can’t find the Andes chips, you can chop up some peppermint bark or use peppermint baking chips (like chocolate chips; often in the baking aisle).
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1bar | Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 72mg | Potassium: 58mg | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 220IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
When I made these I experimented… I halved the butter but added the same quantity back using canned pumpkin. I had a previous recipe that didn’t use the whole can & I hare wasting it. Of course, all the chocolate and peppermint flavors mask the pumpkin but it kept the cake moist!
Totally! And it makes them healthier! I’ve done that with avocado, same result (you don’t taste it, but it’s better than butter!) Thanks for the comment Laura!
I loved the picture you posted on Instagram with your camera in the middle of this photo shoot! Way too cute Dorothy. 🙂
I love crunchy peppermints. I would love these!
I am not a big fan of candy canes but the gooey chocolate factor is doing me in!
Me either Mallory! But they just complement the flavor on these. The Andes chips in the center make the gooey bar!
You have proved your psychic abilities!!! Peppermint and chocolate have been on my mind 🙂 This is on the “to do” list!
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