Who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies [in any way or form]? I’ve done chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookie pie, chocolate chip cookie bars, chocolate chip cookie cups one way, and then a second way and let’s not forget the chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake! Did you figure out I LOVE chocolate yet?!
… and so when I came across an idea online for making chocolate chip cookie bars using a cake mix, well… it’s been on my mind since. I couldn’t wait to try it. Using a cake mix and pudding to get the moistness in the bars? Love it. I added my own twist with adding [mini] M+Ms to it.
It didn’t disappoint. It helps that I’ve been having a major sweet tooth issue lately…
What I used:
- 1 box of yellow cake mix [I used Betty Crocker today]
- 1 small box of instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1/4 cup of oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup of mini M+Ms
Not a big fan of cooking with oil [and don’t very often], but I keep forgetting to get applesauce and use it as a substitute in baking since I rarely cook with oil. I did, however, use a lot less oil than what is usually called for [similar ideas usually suggest at least 3/4 cup of oil]… Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.
What I did was:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray your [9 by 13 inch] non-stick pan with non-stick cooking spray for extra precaution.
- Mix together all of your ingredients– the cake mix, pudding, water, oil, eggs, chocolate chips and mini M+Ms.
- Move your [thick] batter into your baking pan.
- Bake, in your preheated oven, for about 20-25 minutes. I took it out at about the 23 minute mark.
- Let it cool, slightly, before cutting them into bars. The hardest part, for sure!
Have fun with it: change up the flavor of the cake, the M+Ms (or use something else) and the chocolate chips… add nuts… whatever you want! Other combination suggestions:
- milk chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding mix, and Reese’s peanut butter chips [hmm, I have all these ingredients in my pantry right now…]
- chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding mix, chocolate chips and walnuts.
- yellow cake mix, chocolate pudding mix, M+Ms, chocolate chips, and toffee bits.
- yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, Reese’s’ mini peanut butter cups
- What I’ll probably use next: yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, 1/3 cup each of [milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and toffee bits].
P.S. This post is a part of my “What’s for Dinner” series, where I share what I’ve been cooking and my recipes.
