An easy, gluten-free bar cookie recipe for a fun, yummy and crowd-pleasing dessert! Soft and chewy, just the right amount of peanut butter (substitute your favorite nut or seed butter) and gluten-free oats, and lots of chocolate chips and M&Ms!
Gluten-Free Monster Cookie Bars
An easy, fun and crowd-pleasing gluten-free dessert!
One of you in the Healthy Gluten-Free Community reached out and asked if they could be made into bar cookies.
Just like us, this person loves a good bar cookie because they are so quick and easy to whip up!
I said it was worth a try and gave a recommendation for size of pan, oven temperature and baking time. I also decided to try for myself.
They turned out fine. My taste testers and I all thought they tasted really good but personally I thought they were a little more cakey than I wanted in a bar cookie.
SO… I reworked the recipe a bit and the New Monster Cookie Bars are perfect!
So let’s make them!
All you need is ….
butter or dairy free butter
brown sugar
cane sugar
vanilla extract
eggs
peanut butter
gluten-free flour (we used GF Jules, affiliate link)
baking soda
gluten-free baking powder
salt
gluten-free oats
chocolate chips
M&Ms (or a similar brand chocolate candies)
As an aside, you may have noticed that we are affiliate for GFJules. To learn more about why we love GFJules flour and why we have used it for 10 years, click here.
Bonus: at the bottom of that post is a one-time use affiliate Discount Code.
And importantly, purchasing through an affiliate link does not change your cost at all. It generates a small percentage of the sale for me, and purchasing through an affiliate link helps me fund this website and all the recipes I share, so thank you!
A note about Oats: Oats are naturally gluten-free BUT they are prone to cross contamination in the growing process which is of concern for people who are gluten-free for medical reasons such as celiac disease.
The safest gluten-free oats are grown via a process known as purity protocol to eliminate cross contamination.
As the demand for gluten-free products has grown, many manufacturers use gluten-free oats that are sorted and there are questions surrounding this practice.
Gluten-Free Watchdog has done lots of research and writing about this topic to which I’ve linked to if you want to read more.
Back to the Gluten-Free Monster Cookie Bars …
They are super easy to whip up!
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer (we love our Kitchen Aid-amazon affiliate link, as you know!) or even mixing by hand, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla.
Then beat in the eggs and peanut butter.
Add in the flour.
Then the oats. Then stir in the chips and M&Ms.
Spoon into a 9×13 baking pan, top with extra m&ms and they are ready to bake!
The entire process takes 15 minutes or less!
Bake for just 25 minutes and enjoy!
The bars are soft & chewy, decadent tasting and soooo yummy!
They’ve been a huge hit with all our taste testers!
An easy, recipe for a fun, yummy and crowd-pleasing dessert! These bar cookies are soft and chewy, just the right amount of peanut butter (substitute your favorite nut or seed butter) and gluten-free oats, and lots of chocolate chips and M&Ms!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper, or grease pan very well. Set aside.
Using a stand up mixer or hand mixer, mix butter, sugars and vanilla until well combined and creamy.
Add eggs and beat thoroughly.
Beat in peanut butter.
In a separate small bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix with a fork or pastry cutter. Then add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until combined.
Add in oats and mix till combined.
Add in chocolate chips and m&ms and gently mix till combined.
Spoon batter into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Top with additional m&ms, pressing gently into the batter.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden and a tooth pick comes out clean. You do not want to over-bake.
Let cool in the pan for 45 minutes or longer. Lift the entire parchment paper out and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 24 squares
Store in an airtight container. Store well at room temp for 5 days. Freeze well.
These are incredible! I love monster cookies — but love these even more because of the simplicity of throwing the dough/batter in one baking pan and done! Will have to make another batch soon because our first batch is almost gone!
Hi! My name is Karen, and I’m the mom in our Healthy Gluten-Free Family. My posts and pictures here and on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter are labors of love that allow me to share a very personal journey with you, one our family has taken together — learning, experimenting and sharing how to raise a healthy happy gluten-free family. Read more ...
These are incredible! I love monster cookies — but love these even more because of the simplicity of throwing the dough/batter in one baking pan and done! Will have to make another batch soon because our first batch is almost gone!
Thank you Katie! SO happy you love them! And thank you for inspiring me to make them! I am obsessed with them now too — a new go to recipe!