Kids in the Kitchen Wednesday: MONSTER Cookie Bars

The youngest sous chef in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen is in four year-old Kindergarten and is fortunate enough to have one of the most patient, creative, kind teachers we've ever seen. Seriously... she has two classes of twenty, four year-olds a day, and she doesn't lose her sanity. I don't know how she does it.

Anyway, when we were asked to contribute a dessert to a dinner the PTA was hosting for the teachers during parent teacher conferences, we couldn't say no. And once we saw a delicious recipe for Monster Cookie Bars from Bakerella; we were all over it.

Monster Cookie Bars
Recipe courtesy of Bakerella.com

2⅔ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
⅔ cup butter, softened
1½ cups light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup dark chocolate morsels
1 cup white chocolate morsels
1 cup M&M’s
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. In a medium bowl, use a wire whisk to mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar together until blended. Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Then add vanilla and mix.

4. Slowly add the flour and mix until combined. Stir in dark and white chocolate morsels, M&M’s, dried cranberries and coconut.

5. Spread into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes until done. If the top starts to get too brown, you can cover the top with a sheet of aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.

6. Once cool, cut into 20 bars.

This recipe was incredibly easy to make, and the finished product was delicious. We're hoping these delicious treats take some of the stress out of parent teacher conferences this week.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew