Candy Cookie bars

Holy. Cow. That's all I have to say about these everything-you-could-ask-for cookie bars. My friend Kathy keeps sending me new recipes to try, and every single one of them has been delicious! It's about time I shared one of them with you! 

Snickers, Reese's, pretzels, and peanut butter.....do I have your attention yet? Good, because if you like all of these goodies, you will love this easy to make dessert!

While this isn't the healthiest treat to eat during the summer, I'm a firm believer in keeping your core diet healthy so you can indulge from time to time. And this particular treat is worth every bit of indulgence. 

The first time I made this recipe, we had planned to bring them to Portland for my brother-in-law's wedding. Chris and I decided to taste-test one beforehand, and next thing you know half the pan was gone! These are so easy to make, I whipped up another batch in no time to bring with us. Crisis averted :)

Printable Recipe (here)

As always, you can print the recipe above or follow the step-by-step photo instructions below!

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then press your cookie dough into the bottom of a 9x13" pan. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the dough is a light golden color. Let baked cookie cool completely. I like to put the pan in the freezer for a few minutes to speed up the cooling time.

While the cookie is cooling, prepare the peanut butter spread.

Mix together peanut butter, powdered sugar, and milk until the consistency is easy to spread, then layer onto cooled cookie crust.

Next, chop up your toppings! I didn't really even measure how much I was using of each, I just sprinkled it across the cookie as I saw fit. 

I've made a few variations of this recipe, but for today I chose to use salted peanuts, reese's cups, mini snicker squares, dark chocolate chips, and pretzels.

After you've pressed all of your toppings into the peanut butter, slice into cookie bars as big or small as you'd like. I divided mine into 12 bars.

Last but not least, enjoy your finished cookie bars!!

I love this recipe because it allows you to get as creative as you'd like! I even tried drizzling carmel over one of the squares- per Christopher's request ;) It was actually really good! Very sweet, but good!

You can use a pre-made caramel sauce from the grocery store, or make your own homemade version (recipe here).

Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers to avoid the chocolate from melting. I found that I actually like these bars even more after they've been in the freezer for a couple of hours!