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Mars Bar Cookies

Mars Bar Cookies. A super quick and easy, chocolate and caramel version of Rice Krispie treats using melted mars bars! 

Mars Bar Cookies square framed close up shot photo of a single cookie on a wooden cutting board

Mars Bar Cookies

Today’s recipe is simplicity itself. It really is a bit of a variation on Rice Krispie treats, in that they are just as easy to make.

They are very similar too in their crispy yet chewy texture. That’s the secret to the enduring popularity of this classic treat, in my humble opinion.

Cut up Mars Bars with candy bar package

Cut up Mars Bars to use in the recipe.

The difference here, of course is the melding of great flavours in this particular recipe. There’s really nothing like it.

I’ve seen this particular treat many times in local bakeries in the province, and sampled a few in my day as well. It’s a simple recipe that’s been around for a long time.

Melting Mars Bars and Butter

Melting Mars Bars and Butter

This however, was not a recipe we commonly made in our house growing up. I think the fact that there were 6 kids in the household was a big reason why.

It would have been practically impossible to sneak chocolate bars into the pantry as an ingredient for these cookie bars. One of us would certainly have sniffed them out and they would have been history.

Mars Bar Cookies wide shot photo of cookies with Mars bars on a wooden cutting board

Mars Bar Cookies

I was again reminded of these when a follower messaged me to ask if I had this recipe. I then thought, it was strange that I had not added this one. Especially since Rock Recipes is quite the resource for No-Bake Cookies.

Mars Bar Cookies; getting them right.

I looked at several recipes online, which were all basically the same. I whipped up a trial batch but found them to be not quite right.

They were crispy enough, sure, but not quite as chewy as I would have liked.

Fully melted Mars Bar mixture

Fully melted Mars Bar mixture.

Then, I immediately thought about the shrinking chocolate bar phenomenon. It seem to me that all chocolate bars have gotten smaller over the years. 

Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing! I know better than anyone, the importance of portion controlling when it comes to sugary treats!

Mars Bar Cookies being pressed into the prepared pan

Press the mixture into a prepared 9×9 inch pan.

What I did think though, is that, if they were smaller, that would impact the recipe. Therefore, I experimented to see if using more bars would improve the texture.

My second reason for doing this was to slightly increase the size of the recipe to fit a standard 9×9 inch pan. In my experience that size is far more common than the 8×8 inch pan mentioned in many recipes.

Many people think these two sizes are interchangeable. However, when you calculate the area, the 9 inch pan is actually 27% larger than the 8 inch pan. That’s a considerable difference in my opinion.

I’m happy to report that the changes accomplished both my goals. They were just the right balance of crispy and chewy textures. 

With the Holiday season now just weeks away, this is another super easy addition to your freezer cookie list.

If you liked this recipe, you many want to check out this great collection of No Bake Cookies that was incredibly popular during our last Holiday season.

20 no bake cookies for Christmas 

Like this Mars Bar Cookies recipe?

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Mars Bar Cookies photo with title text for Pinterest

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Mars Bar Cookies square framed close up shot photo of a single cookie on a wooden cutting board
Yield: 24 cookie bars

Mars Bar Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Additional Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Mars Bar Cookies. A super quick and easy, chocolate and caramel version of Rice Krispie treats using melted mars bars! Simple, but oh so tempting!

Ingredients

  • 6 Mars Bars (52 g size)
  • 2/3 cup butter
  • 4 cups Rice Krispies cereal

For the chocolate top layer

  • 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup butter

Instructions

  1. Begin by lightly greasing a 9x9 inch baking pan and lining it with parchment paper.
  2. Chop the Mars Bars into small pieces.
  3. In a medium sized saucepan over low heat, melt the 2/3 cup butter.
  4. Add the Mars bars and stir constantly until the candy bar pieces are fully melted and smoothly incorporated into the butter.
  5. Remove from heat and quickly stir in the Rice Krispies cereal.
  6. Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan and chill for about an hour before adding the chocolate top.
  7. !To prepare the chocolate top
  8. Simply melt the 1/3 cup of butter over low heat in a double boiler.
  9. Then add the chocolate chips (see note) and stir constantly until the chocolate is completely melted.
  10. Pour evenly over the cookie base and let set until firm, before cutting into squares or bars.
  11. Easily store the cookie bars, in airtight containers, in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes

I have used milk chocolate chips for the topping on these cookie bars, because I thought it was more in keeping with the chocolate on a Mars candy bar. However, If you want to use semisweet or dark chocolate chips, that's perfectly fine too.

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Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.

Nutrition Information

Yield

24

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 190Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 20mgSodium 105mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 1gSugar 13gProtein 1g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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A.J.

Wednesday 6th of November 2019

I make something similar to this but without the butter in the top chocolate layer, and with the addition of toffee along with the Mars bars and butter mixture. They get requested a lot. 😄

bernadette

Wednesday 6th of November 2019

Love the recipes I receive from this site. Thank you.

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