These fun and festive Halloween Cookie Bars are chewy, chocolatey, and totally delicious!
It’s the best time of the year! Whoo! Not only is Halloween the official kickoff to the holiday season, but it’s my all time FAVORITE holiday of them all.
With less than 2 weeks to go until the big day and just a few days until our annual Halloween party, I’ve been planning out recipes to keep things gloriously on theme.
These festive cookie bars were a total breeze to make and were absolutely delicious! I served up the test batch at our last game night and people literally fought over them.
I wound up cutting them into smaller pieces than in the photos so we had more to go around but they still vanished super fast. Total crowd pleaser!
Spooky Serving suggestions
These bars are chewy and flavorful once cooled *AND* they’re also stellar while they’re still warm.
Bonus points if you top a still-warm cookie bar with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream. The combination is legendary!
Much like the sprinkle situation, the serving size is totally customizable as well. You can cut them into 9 large bars, 18 spooky rectangles, or 27 mini squares that are perfect for a party!
Halloween Cookie Bars
Go light on the sprinkles or make these bars a total sprinkle-palooza, it’s up to you! You can use any combination of sprinkles you like (the long jimmie style sprinkles are my favorite to eat) and even add some fun sprinkle eyeballs on top for a monster vibe.
I also love pressing in some mini M+M candies and some extra chocolate chips on top right after baking for a picture-perfect cookie bar that looks as good as it tastes!
Halloween Cookie Bars
Equipment
- 8×8 inch metal square baking pan (not glass)
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter (113 grams)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (20 grams)
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed (100 grams)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (67 grams)
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour (165 grams)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips (255 grams)
- 3-4 TBSP halloween sprinkles
- 3 TBSP mini or regular M&Ms (optional)
Instructions
PREP
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- For easy dough assembly, measure out all the ingredients first.
- Prepare a 8×8 baking pan by lining it with foil and spraying (or rubbing) with a little oil. Even baking and easy cleanup is the name of the game here!
MAKE THE COOKIE DOUGH
- Melt butter in a large heat-safe bowl and stir in cocoa powder.
- Add both brown and granulated sugar to the butter mix until smooth. Next add eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Next stir in the baking soda and salt and mix well.
- Sprinkle the flour on top and slowly mix into the wet ingredients until incorporated, taking care not to overmix. Next sprinkle almost all of the chocolate chips into the dough, saving a few spoonfuls for adding on top of the cookies at the end. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
GET BAKING!
- Press the dough into your prepared baking pan in one even layer. Top with sprinkles.
- Bake at 350℉ on the center rack for 20-24 minutes. Check for doneness at the 20 minute mark and go from there. The bars will be done when they lose their glossy sheen on top and barely jiggle when the pan is scooted side to side.
- While they're still warm from the oven, press the remaining chocolate chips and optional M&M candies into the tops of the bars and allow them to cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Dorothy at Crazy for Crust. Check her out!
Q: Can I double the Recipe?
If you’d like to double the recipe and make it in a 9×13 pan, you totally can! The bake time and temp will be similar in a 9×13 metal baking pan as it is in a 8×8 or 9×9 pan give or take a few minutes. I provided a small baking range in the recipe card (20-24 minutes) and you can start checking for doneness at 20 minutes.
PRO TIP: Make sure you use a metal baking tray and not glass. Glass baking dishes are notoriously terrible for baking because of their uneven heat distribution and inability to properly conduct heat.
Q: What kind of cocoa powder should I use?
These cookie bars call for regular unsweetened cocoa powder. You are also welcome to use dutch-processed cocoa powder if preferred. Both options work great here!
I like to bloom the chocolate when making baked goods. This enhances the chocolate flavor even more! To do this, you will skip adding the cocoa to the dry mixture and instead whisk it into the warm butter after it has melted. If you added it to the flour while measuring, no worries! The recipe will still work.
For the kiss of vanilla flavor in these cookie bars, both vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract are interchangeable. Use whichever you have on hand!
Make-Ahead Cookie Bars
If you are prepping for a party and want to make these in advance, you absolutely can! Up to 3 days in advance you can make the cookie dough for the bars and keep it in a lidded container in the fridge. When you’re ready to bake, set the dough out for 1 hour in advance and then break off chunks of the dough and press it into your prepared baking pan. I use this same trick with my cookie cakes and love how it’s such a party prep time saver!
Once baked, the bars will stay nice and chewy for up to 1-2 days, possibly 3 but I haven’t had them last that long before they’re all devoured.
Hungry for More Halloween Recipes?
I also make the cutest little Halloween Hummus dip. Love it so!
If you get a chance to try these haunted Halloween Cookie Bars, let me know! Leave me a comment or review using the form below. I can’t wait to hear all about your tasty creation!
Questions & Reviews
These are so delicious! My family and I absolutely loved them! So fun and festive for Halloween too!