Man oh Man, I am sorry for being out of the blogosphere for way too long.  As usual, things have been busy around here!  Vacation, busy with work, busy with activities and then to top it all off…my poor little lion had a run in with a tramp…o-line and ended up breaking his leg.  The good news is that he is such a little trooper and continues to have a smile on his face even though this is a royal pain in the butt (for me and husband).  He is rocking that cast like no body’s business!

The lion sporting his leg cast.

Since I was on a business trip when it happened, you can imagine I have been experiencing massive guilt because I wasn’t there.  I realize this is ridiculous because life is going to happen but my heart still hurt and I felt terrible for my little man.  So what’s a mom going to do with all that guilt and feeling sorry for her little dude???  Make him an epic treat of monster proportions!!

Today i’m going to be sharing my recipe for Monster Bars which are really my lazy way of making a boat load of monster cookies but in the form of a bar.  I have found that making this recipe allows me to serve up some awesome treats but also take half of the cookie sheet and freeze it for when you need a treat in a pinch or when company comes over!! *don’t ask me how long they freeze for because they never actually last long enough in the freezer to get freezer burnt.

Knowing that things are crazy, I hope you will forgive me for my lack of pictures during the cooking process.  I am going to do my best to describe it.  It’s super easy so don’t worry!!

First you want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a standard cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.

Next, in a large bowl or a stand mixer, add your brown sugar, butter and nut butter (I used peanut butter) and cream together until fully mixed.  Add your eggs and vanilla extract and mix again.  If you don’t have a stand mixer, use a hand held electric mixer or get your daily workout.

Next take your oats and baking soda and add it to the bowl.  I like to use old fashioned oats.  You can use a combination of quick cooking oats and regular old fashioned/rolled oats but try not to use more than 1 cup of quick cooking oats or these bars will get a little mushy.  When you go to mix everything together, you will need to mix by hand using a big wooden spoon.  Then you can add your mini m&m’s and chocolate chips. Keep about a quarter of the bag of mini m&m’s out so that you can add them to the top at the end before baking.

Take the mixture and press it in to your cookie sheet.  Try to get it as even as possible.  I sometimes press it in and then use a cup to roll over the top to make it a bit more even.  Now you want to take those left over M&M’s and sprinkle over the top.  Press them in to the dough so that they don’t end up falling off when you go to eat them.

Bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes.  You want them to be golden on the outside edges and gooey in the centre. Don’t over cook these or they will be rock hard.  You want these bars to be chewy.  I normally bake them for 18 minutes and they are perfect…but it depends on your oven.

Here is what they look like when they come out of the oven

A whole tray of deliciousness

Here is what they look like cut up and ready to go

I’m ready to go cookie monster on these bad boys!!

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1.5 cups of nut butter (I used Peanut Butter)
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 1 Tbsp of vanilla extract
• 3 Eggs
• 4.5 cups of rolled oats/old fashioned oats
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1 bag of M&M’s (found in the baking isle, I think it’s about 1.5 cups)
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. In a standmixer, cream together brown sugar, nut butter and butter until everything is fully mixed together.
3. Next add vanilla extract and eggs and continue to mix until combined
4. dump in your oats and baking soda and use a wooden spoon to mix by hand
5. Add 3/4  of the bag of mini M&M’s and your chocolate chips and continue to mix
6. Press cookie dough mixture in to the cookie sheet until it fills up the whole sheet
7. Sprinkle m&m’s on top and press in to the dough
8. Bake for 17-20 minutes until edges are golden.
9. Remove and let cool before cutting in to bars.

Well moody friends, this recipe was a definite hit with my little lion!!  It’s also a hit with my time!!  They are so super simple to prepare, they make a tonne of bars and the great thing is you can freeze them in slabs and take them out when you need a treat in a pinch or have unexpected guests.

Sympathize with all the little monsters in your life and make them a special treat.