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Christmas Goody Bars are the most festive red and green treat for Christmastime – with a sweetened condensed chocolate fudge center and a buttery oatmeal pecan crust. These cookie bars will steal the show on your Christmas cookie plate or at a cookie exchange.
Sweet & Salty Christmas Goody Bars (Red and Green Christmas Treat)
These Christmas goody bars are one of the easiest treats that I love making every year for cookie plates for neighbors, or for a cookie exchange party.
One mixture makes up the crust and the crumble on top, and then in the middle is a simple sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chip mixture that is so soft and fudgy.
Simple to make and I am always sure to grab a bag of the miniature red & green Christmas mix mini M&M’s when I see them finally hit stores – just so I can make these goody bars.
Ingredients Needed
- All-Purpose Flour : I use unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Quick Oats : These are the quick, 1-minute cook oats that have a finer, smaller texture to them. I don’t recommend using the whole old-fashioned oats in this recipe.
- Light Brown Sugar : Make sure you pack it into the measuring cup when measuring it out.
- Salted Butter
- Chopped Pecans
- Salt : I prefer baking with sea salt but kosher salt will also work.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Miniature Red & Green Christmas Mix M&M’s : These are easily found near the other Christmas candy or in the baking aisle. If you can’t find the specific Christmas pack, try buying regular Mini M&M’s and just picking out the red and green colors.
How To Make Red & Green Goody Bars For Christmas (Printable Recipe Card)
Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, quick oats, light brown sugar, melted butter, pecans, and salt until combined well and crumbly. Remove a heaping 1 cup from the bowl and set aside for later (this will be for the crumble topping).
Press the remaining mixture firmly into the prepared baking pan to form an even crust.
In a saucepan, over medium heat, add the condensed milk, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and butter. Let it cook, while stirring occasionally, until it’s completely smooth and melted.
Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the crust in pan. Sprinkle with the reserved crust mixture (set aside from earlier). Sprinkle the mini red and green m&m’s over top. Press down lightly with clean hands (this helps the m&m’s and crust mixture stay in place).
Bake for 22-25 minutes. The edges should be lightly golden brown and pulled away from the edges of the pan, but the bars should not look completely set yet.
Remove the pan from the oven and let the bars cool inside the pan, at room temperature, for 1-2 hours before cutting into squares.
Pro Tips From The Test Kitchen
- The bars won’t look completely set and done when the cook time is over with – but that is exactly what you want. Trust me. Take them out and let them sit at room temperature for 1 hour. I promise you that they will set up perfectly while resting at room temperature after baking. These are not one of those treats where you can eat them warm or serve them warm; you must allow for the cooling and resting time.
- For easy removal for cutting, I love to line the 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper. I first spray the pan and then lay the parchment paper inside it. The spray helps the parchment paper adhere and stay in place. I use the pre-cut cookie sheet parchment papers and just lay it inside the pan (from the top long side to the bottom long side, so I lay the sheet vertically inside the pan).
- If you want sweeter goody bars then use milk chocolate chip instead of semi-sweet. You could also use dark chocolate chips instead for a less sweet bar.
More Festive Christmas Treats You’ll Love
- Christmas Tree Cookie Cups
- Christmas Gingerdoodle Cookies
- Christmas Tree Brownies
- Christmas Cookie Pizza
- Christmas Cookie Dough Cheeseball
- Peppermint Cheesecake Cookies
- White Chocolate Peppermint Pie
Christmas Goody Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups quick oats
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter melted
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup Christmas Mini M&M's
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, quick oats, light brown sugar, melted butter, pecans, and salt until combined well and crumbly. Remove a heaping 1 cup from the bowl and set aside for later (this will be for the crumble topping).1½ cups all-purpose flour, 1½ cups quick oats, 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, 1 cup finely chopped pecans, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Press the remaining mixture firmly into the prepared baking pan to form an even crust.
- In a saucepan, over medium heat, add the condensed milk, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and butter. Let it cook, while stirring occasionally, until it's completely smooth and melted.1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons salted butter
- Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the crust in pan. Sprinkle with the reserved crust mixture (set aside from earlier). Sprinkle the mini red and green m&m's over top. Press down lightly with clean hands (this helps the m&m's and crust mixture stay in place).1 cup Christmas Mini M&M's
- Bake for 22-25 minutes. The edges should be lightly golden brown and pulled away from the edges of the pan, but the bars should not look completely set/firm yet.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let the bars cool inside the pan, at room temperature, for 1-2 hours before cutting into squares.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love to see it! You can share it with me on @togetherasfamilyblog and follow on Pinterest @together-as-family-blog-recipes or Facebook @togetherasfamilyblog for more!
In reading over your December 2, Christmas Goody Bars, recipe, I cannot find in the instructions where you put the pecans. Is it at the beginning when you make the crumbly crust or is it in during the second part when you heat the condensed milk mixture?
Hi Denise! Thank you SO MUCH for catching that. It’s at the beginning before you reserve the 1 cup. So sorry for the confusion, I have fixed it in the recipe. Thanks again 🙂
I now make these every Christmas, and many times throughout the year too haha. SOOOOOOO good! Can’t go wrong with sweetened condensed milk. My friends love them, I love them.
I love when a recipe is a repeat! So glad you love it!
Your cookie posts always make me soooo hungry! You make delicious looking cookies and bars!
thanks Carlee 🙂 so sweet of you
These bars look delicious! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
what can you use as a substitute for pecans due to nut allergies?
I would just not add them. The bars will be sweeter because they won’t have that sweet & salty thing going on, but they’ll still turn out just fine without the nuts.
Something is missing- when you put the dry ingredients together and add melted butter- how much? The 2 tablespoon sugar is used later- so you missed something.
Meant the 2T butter is used later(not sugar).
So sorry! Thank you for catching that. You will need 1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter for the flour & sugar mixture. The additional 2 tablespoons is for the saucepan mixture with the condensed milk. Hopefully that clears it up. I’ll fix it when I’m on my desktop ?
Could I use regular size M&M’s?
Yes, you can 🙂 Enjoy!
Can you freeze these and not lose the fresh taste?
I’ve never frozen these so I’m not sure. You could always try freezing one square to test it ?
This is a wonderful recipe. I made them last year to give away and they were devoured quickly. So pretty with the Christmas M & M’s. Oatmeal makes everything better in my opinion.
Tasty recipe. I however am going to change up a bit and drizzle chocolate on top to hold the m&m’s down as they fall off. Nothing is holding them down.
That would work! Try gently pressing down the m&m’s when you add them on top of the bars before baking. That should help.
These were very good! I might try adding a little peanut butter to the recipe next time.
These are sooo good and easy. I didn’t have any plain M&Ms (accidentally bought peanut butter ones) so used dark chocolate chips on top. Definitely making again everyone loves them.