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Friday, January 28, 2011

M&M Dream Bars

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Am I the only person who over-buys holiday-colored m&ms? Walgreens always sucks me in with their m&m sales and I end up with 5 or 6 different bags of m&ms. We usually work our way through a few each season, but this Christmas we had such an abundance of cookies, truffles, and fudge that we found ourselves with a few lingering bags of m&ms after the holidays. I've had this m&m dream bar recipe saved for awhile and though I felt a little funny using red and green m&ms well into January, I decided to go for it. 

My friends didn't mind that these looked like they belonged on a Christmas cookie tray...we were too busy oohing and ahhing over the taste and texture of these. I've already spoken about my love for oatmeal crusts, so it's no surprise I loved these as well. The peanut buttery layer in here makes these extra decadent! I added regular and peanut m&ms, but I think peanut butter, dark chocolate, or even the pretzel variety would also work well. Next time you find yourself with a few too many bags of holiday m&ms...whip up a batch of these!



One Year Ago: Carrot Cake Pancakes

M&M Dream Bars
adapted from Sara's Sweets

Ingredients:
-2 cups oats
-1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup coconut
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup melted butter
-1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
-1/2 cup peanut butter
-1 cup peanut m&ms
-1 cup milk chocolate m&ms

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Mix oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, coconut, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter, mixing until crumbly mixture forms. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of the crumbs. Press remaining mixture into a foil-lined and greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 12 minutes.
2. With a mixer, combine sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter until smooth. Carefully spread dollops of mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle with m&ms. Top with remaining crust mixture, lightly pressing down. Bake for an additional 20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

This post is linked to Eat at Home.