Reese's cookie bars

A deliciously chewy, buttery and vanilla forward sugar cookie bar meets milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and seasonal peanut butter cups for the most delicious and festive treat!

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I originally made this recipe to celebrate Halloween because I knew I had to make something with my all time favorite - Reese’s pumpkins! I used mini Reese’s pumpkins for this recipe, but you could easily swap in another type of peanut butter cup. It’s the perfect recipe for leftover Halloween candy, but I've also included the gram measurements so it will be easy to swap in other peanut butter cups too.

I based the cookie dough off of my Chewy vanilla sugar cookie recipe. It’s one of my favorites because the ingredients are simple, but the flavor and texture is everything you would want in a sugar cookie. It has just the right amount of vanilla flavor, and it’s crisp around the edges and extremely chewy on the inside. In bar form you can expect a very similar texture and it pairs incredibly well with the added peanut butter and chocolate!

For these bars, I used a mixture of milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and chopped mini Reese’s pumpkins. You could easily swap in all chocolate by doubling the amount of chocolate chips called for in the recipe, or doing all Reese’s of course! The peanut butter filling melts a bit into the dough (in the best way). I chose to do a mix of peanut butter cups and chocolate chips because you really do get peanut butter in every bite, but I love getting the bites of milk chocolate too.

For topping your bars, I recommend adding the chopped peanut butter cups prior to baking and then you can press the extra peanut butter and milk chocolate chips in after they leave the oven to avoid burning the chips. It's okay to add them before but just know you do risk burning the chips (though the taste will still be amazing).

If you wanted to swap in a different type of chocolate candy, or even a different type of Reese’s (minis, pieces, full size cups) I provide the weight of chocolate that I used so you can easily swap in a similar amount. I also share the carb info for the dough only so that you can add in the carb info for a different candy or chocolate if you make a change. For the mini Reese’s pumpkins, I put mine in the fridge to firm them up a bit after chopping them into thirds for the mix ins (and smaller for the toppings). You don't want to chop the mix ins too small because they will continue to break up when you mix them into the dough.

I used a stand mixer for this recipe, but a hand mixer would work as well. I do recommend using a mixer if you have one available to you, but you could certainly do this by hand, especially if your butter is truly at room temperature and soft to the touch. If you choose to use a hand mixer, just switch to a spatula when you mix in the chopped Reese's and chips.

For the best results, I highly recommend using the gram measurements provided

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup, 12 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature 170g

• 1 cup granulated sugar 192g

• 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk

• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 210g

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 oz (1/3 cup) milk chocolate chips

• 2 oz (1/3 cup) peanut butter chips

• 6 mini Reese’s pumpkins* 3.7 oz, 106 grams

• Optional: if you'd like to top your bars with additional mix ins you'll need a total of 3 oz peanut butter chips, 3 oz milk chocolate chips, and 8 Reese's (you'll use 1 oz of each type of chips and 2 Reese's pumpkins for the topping)

*You can swap in 6-8 of any other holiday mini Reese's. The instructions and carb info will remain the same!

Prep time: Under 30 minutes

Bake time: 24-27 minutes

Chill time: 2-3 hours

Quantity: 16 bars

Cooking instructions:

Prepare your mix ins. Chop 6 of your Reese's pumpkins into thirds and add to a bowl with your milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Set in the fridge to firm up. Note: if you plan to add extra mix ins to the tops of your bars, you can measure out the additional mix in ingredients now, and you can chop these 2 additional Reese's a bit smaller.

Place your room temperature butter and granulated sugar into your stand mixer with the paddle attachment secured. Note: if your butter is not at room temperature already, you can either place it first into the microwave for 5-10 seconds, or mix your stand mixer at a low speed for 30-60 seconds until your butter is softened.

Bring your stand mixer slowly from a low to high speed and allow it to combine the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, pausing halfway through to scrape down the sides of your bowl and paddle attachment to ensure that no pockets of butter and sugar go unmixed.

Next, pour in your egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract to your butter and sugar. Slowly bring your stand mixer back to a high speed and allow it to combine your mixture for 2-3 minutes.

Slowly reduce the speed again, scrape down the sides of your mixture and paddle attachment. Add in your dry ingredients, flour, baking soda and powder, and salt, and start your mixer at a slow speed. Bring it up to a medium speed, mixing until just incorporated. If needed, you can pause, scrape down, and mix again or finish combining with a spatula, but be sure not to over mix at this stage.

Remove your mix ins and into your mixer (reserving the extras you set aside if you chose to do this). Turn your mixer on at a low speed for 10-15 seconds at a time. You can also finish this by hand, being sure to scoop down to the bottom of your bowl. This will also help to avoid your chocolate peanut butter chunks from getting too small.

Line a 9x9 square pan (an 8x8 will work too, you just may need to increase the bake time a bit) with parchment paper. Scoop in your sugar cookie dough and spread using a flat tool or your hands to make sure the surface is fairly even. If you chose to reserve extra mix ins, gently press your chopped peanut butter cups into the top of your cookie dough. You can also sprinkle the chips on now or reserve them for after the bars are done baking to avoid any potential burning.

Place your pan into the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours uncovered prior to baking.

When you're ready, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake your bars for about 24-27 minutes. The top should be lightly golden across when done and your bars might just barely jiggle in the very center. Remove your bars from the oven and if you haven't yet, carefully press your extra chips across the top of your baked bars and gently press in to secure.

Allow your bars to cool before slicing - I typically wait at least an hour, though you can speed this up a bit by placing them in the fridge or freezer. I like to cut my bars into 16 squares, but you can cut yours into any shape you’d like! Enjoy while warm or store in an airtight container in the fridge once fully cooled and they’ll remain fresh for at least 5 days.

You can always pop them into the microwave if you’re looking for the melty chocolate, or you can even store your bars in the freezer and defrost in the fridge or at room temperature to enjoy at another time.

Carb and serving info:

Servings: 16 bars

No extra toppings

Carbs for full recipe: 520

Carbs per serving: 33

Carbs from chocolate chips: 36

Carbs from peanut butter chips: 42

Carbs from Reese’s: 57

With extra toppings

Carbs for full recipe: 580

Carbs per serving: 36

Carbs from chocolate chips: 55

Carbs from peanut butter chips: 64

Carbs from Reese’s: 76

Carbs for dough only (no chocolate chips or Reese’s): 385

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.